This tournament, btw, part of the Second Annual Tony and Eva Parker Celebrity Casino Night, is now, I’m almost certain, the biggest charity event in Texas — one of a few, if not the only one, that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars at a pop.

Awesome, and good for the beneficiary, Eva’s Heroes.

The guy instrumental in making this event happen, btw: Phil Hellmuth

Dallas (and Houston) people will note that first prize for this $500 buy-in event is a $10k WSOP main event seat. That sort of real-money-value prize is exactly what caused problems for La Riata — Dallas’ highest society charity poker event (also hosted by Phil Hellmuth), which had raised more than a million dollars before a few yahoos from the TABC successfully convinced charity organizers that prizes had to be awarded by raffle, as opposed to tournament outcome. (We told them they were bluffing!) As you can imagine, that can really kill incentive to rebuy. And sure enough it killed La Riata, which is no longer part of the Texas Stampede.

Poker people might find interesting the brands willing to tie their names together for this event — a major national grocery chain, the maker of industrial tractor equipment, and NBA franchise, and Ultimate Bet.

Brian the commenter down below inquired about whether or not you could have charity tourneys with money prizes in Texas, and whether or not you could advertise and promote them. The answer, of course, is … hard to say.

But I definitely have noticed a change back to the older, better ways. Back in the day, tourneys like La Riata used to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars by throwing a terrible-blind-structure event with lots of overpriced rebuys as wealthy Dallasites (and a few Batfaces) competed for a prize that generally consisted of a seat to the WSOP main event. But then the TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) started threatening event hosts with liquor license gankage if they gave away a prize with any money value to the tournament winner — only a raffle was allowed, they said … and this of course was coming at the same time TABC was arresting drunk people in bars.

Anyhow, all this — which really, was fueled by some shady business practices of non-underground tournament operators, not any clear interpretation of the law — led to the bigger events to remove any competition for a prize … Dale Hansen canceled his huge fundraiser at Lone Star Park, Phil Hellmuth had to cancel an event in Houston that stood to raise at least a quarter-mil for the Susan B. Komen Foundation, and big charity events that carried on, like La Riata, basically had to take away every incentive for rebuys, which crippled fundraising efforts.

But after laying low for a couple years, charity events and the lawyers counseling their organizers seemed to re-reinterpreting Texas charity laws, hosting (and promoting) their poker-for-good-causes nonetheless — with real prizes! The Boys & Girls Clubs, Bea’s Kids … they all went off without a hitch. And earlier this summer, probably the biggest such event took place in San Antonio, with Tony and Eva Parker hosting a star-studded red-carpet charity tourney (emceed by Phil Hellmuth, of course) — resetting a standard that suggests it is indeed OK to give away a $10k+ prize package to raise hundreds of k.

More than 1,200 people showed up for the sold-out, $300 buy-in event … wild rebuys were flying around … and though I don’t have exact fundraising numbers, in the end it looks like they reached their goal — or at least came very close to it — of $300k for Eva’s Heroes.

Citizen report here. [SpursReport.com]
San Antonio Express-News here.
And here (with red-carpet pics).

Keep scrolling below for the scraps of a post I started but never quite got finished. The point of this post was drop a lot of celebrity names for SEO purposes going to be about how this event was presented by UltimateBet.com (not even dot-net!) … and pointing out the uber-legitimate businesses willing to partner with UB for it. AeroMexico, Citibank, HEB, the San Antonio Spurs, and more than a dozen others. Wow — awesome.

I still think that component is interesting. But I suppose the more immediately pressing question the Tony Parker event raises is whether or not it’s a sign of better charity poker to come (back) in Texas.

Charity Poker Back in Texas
Tony and Eva Parker’s Celebrity Casino Night in San Antonio

SPONSORED BY
(as of 8.5)

TABLE SPONSORS:
(as of 8.5)

Angel Staffing
APT Trucking
James Beere
Campos Family Dental
Sam Cangelosi
Clinica del Norte Pediatrics
Creative Civilization
Lone Star Car Care
Michael De La Cruz
Yvonne De La Rosa
Norma Denham
G.W. Mitchell & Sons
Glaceau-Vitaminwater
Niki Guenther
Hill Country Wealth
Luhn-McCain Insurance Agency
One for Autism, Inc.
SACU
St. Matthew’s Church
Valley Wood Products
GRAND PRIZE – a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas

CELEBRITIES ATTENDING
(as of 8.5; subject to change)

Eva Longoria Parker (Desperate Housewives)
Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs)
Ricardo Antonio Chavira (Desperate Housewives)
Katie Chonacas (Righteous Kill, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans)
Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
Sean Elliott (San Antonio Spurs)
Phil Hellmuth (11-Time World Series of Poker Winner)
Jennifer Morrison (House)
Adam Rodriguez (CSI:Miami)
Leeann Tweeden (Host of Poker After Dark)
David Zayas (Dexter)
and more…

POKER TOURNAMENT PRIZES INCLUDE:
GRAND PRIZE – a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas

LIVE AUCTION
One seat at the Aruba Poker Classic 2008 (September 27 – October 4),
includes a head-to-head poker game and lesson with Phil Hellmuth in his personal suite in Aruba

SILENT AUCTION AND PRIZE ITEMS DONATED BY:
(as of 8.5)

AnArte Gallery
Barrett Jaguar
barefootwine.com
Boudro’s Riverwalk
Brake Check
Café Paladar
Carver Community Cultural Center
Casino Fun, Inc.
Cheesecake Factory
Claudia Lobáo Jewelry
Club at Sonterra
Creative Civilization
Emily Morgan Hotel
Eva Longoria Parker
Fair Oaks Dental
Frank Walsh
Gisela Girard Photography
The Grille at Leon Springs
Gucci
H-E-B
HoneyBaked Ham
Island Liquors & Gifts
Javelina Harley Davidson in Boerne
JL Eclectic Collections
Josh Beckett
Kindermusic
Lighthouse Café
Massage Heights
Medina Bed & Breakfast
Mercedes-Benz of Boerne
Microsoft
Morton’s The Steakhouse
Nike
Nueva Street Gallery
Pampered Chef
Perico’s Mexican Cuisine
Rio Mambo
Robin Jackson Photography
Roxy and Kai Photography
Salon De Frisk
Salvatore Ferragamo
San Antonio Magazine
San Antonio Opera
San Antonio Spurs
Santiko’s
Spectrum Athletic Clubs
Stadia/Dr. Jaime Garza
Starley Murray Cosmetics
The Tailgate Crew
Terra Spa
Texas Shine
Twang
Ultimatebet.com
Valencia Hotel
The Vineyard Restaurant
Woodrose Winery
Yardley’s Salon & Spa

For information on how to donate, call 210.694.9090.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Brenner Printing & Mailing
Four Seasons Embroidery Inc.
HoneyBaked Ham
JAB Productions

GENERAL INFORMATION

Casino Games and Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament by Casino Fun, Inc.

Casino
Games include Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Slot Machines and Money Wheel
$100 per person or $1,000 for reserved dinner table (seats eight).
Includes buffet dinner and $2,000 in chips for all casino games.
Additional casino chips may be purchased throughout the evening: $10 for $1,000 in chips or $20 for $3,000 in chips
Casino games run from 6:30pm – 9:30pm.
Players may cash in remaining chips for tickets for prize drawings.

Poker Tournament
$300 per person.
Includes buffet dinner, $10,000 in chips for the tournament and $2,000 in chips for all casino games.
Tournament will run approximately 4 hours.
Each table will seat 9 players plus the dealer.
Trophies and prizes awarded to the top 9 finalists.
GRAND PRIZE – a seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas.

]]> http://pokerati.com/2008/09/26/charity-poker-un-riatad-in-texas/feed/ 7 http://pokerati.com/2007/03/06/legal-poker-coming-to-texas/ http://pokerati.com/2007/03/06/legal-poker-coming-to-texas/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2007 10:34:17 +0000 Dan Michalski http://pokerati.com/2007/03/06/legal-poker-coming-to-texas/ As Lavigne in Austin informs us, the Texas Poker Act of 2007 will be filed as a bill by Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) today.

Click here to read the entire 71-page draft. In fact, feel free to mark it up (assuming you are of intelligent mind) and share your comments here. A little power-to-the-people, yo?

I haven’t read it closely yet, but from what I understand, poker-wise, this bill would let charity tourneys like [tag]La Riata[/tag] go back to giving away real prizes to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars … bars could host small cash games … and racetracks could open poker rooms. All sounds good to Pokerati. Where do we vote yes?

Now from what I’m starting to understand about this politics thing, the bill still has a long way to go. But the new reality is that gambling in Texas is officially on the table in 2007 — just as it was in previous sessions with horse racing and the lottery — and poker has been given special status in that discussion. Kudos to the Texas Card Players Association and Texas Poker PAC (and their supporters) for helping make that happen.

ALT HED: Poker in Da Hizzouse

La Riata is this Saturday.

I’ll be honest … La Riata is hurting a bit for players this year. It’s not so clear that they’ll be able to raise even $100k. Another example of Texas children being punished by Texas’ inability to allow any sort of legal poker involving money and prizes. And to some extent, the tournament itself is learning the lessons so many underground operators had to learn:

1. Bad dealers make an event not fun … and especially not worth rebuys.
2. Bad blind structures do the same.
3. Promising a prize that is not delivered also doesn’t sit well.

I know that La Riata officials took #’s 1 and 2 to heart … and they promise better pitches and better blinds. As to #3 … that was the work of a rogue/over-excited PR agent who last year spread word that Phil Hellmuth was going to buy the winner of the Riata tourney into the WSOP main event as a “gift”. Woulda been a brilliant way around the law — you can’t prevent an individual from giving a gift — but that turned out not to be the case.

Pokerati did a little research and discovered Phil Hellmuth indeed had no idea about this supposed promise. Nor did any Texas Stampede “top dogs.” The PR agent who started said rumor is not back on board this
year. And likewise, in 2006 there are no promises for anything but pride and glory to the winner of the tournament.

For the sake of good poker, I really hope this isn’t the last La Riata — which has always had a special place in Batface hearts ever since Todd made the final table in 2003, and Shane won it in 2004. (Son of Sue took 2nd that year, and I finished 26th out of 350+.) The Stampede organizers were smart, imho, by making it less about the poker this year and more about the wife-friendly gala. And that’s what it is … a big fancy swanky denim-and-diamonds affair, that happens to have a poker tourney hosted by Phil Hellmuth as part of it.

So if you are looking to make some sizable tax-deductible contributions to Texas children in need … then this event is still a pretty good way to have fun while doing so.

But with his tactful reminder, I feel like I do need to give a little something more to the readers. So here’s a recap of what’s going on right now at the Rio: lots and lots of poker. But no cash games — all tourney tables today.

Oops, my camera accidentally went off here.

Not enough? OK, I think I can find something here in the lost archives … ah, yes, here it is. There’s been much talk about Clonie’s sexy Maxim photo shoot this year. But did you know she did a lingerie photo shoot a while back with Pokerati? Sure, she may have been a little drinky at the time, and possibly unaware that the shoot was going on … but that didn’t stop the good times at last year’s La Riata in Dallas.

Oops, this time my zoom lens accidentally went off.

I don’t think I was the only one who noticed.

I always wondered if the Poker Pros really Play on Ulitmate Bet. It turns out at least one doesn’t. I was watching Phil Hellmuth play on UB when I remembered I was planning on going to go see him at the Barnes and Noble in Dallas tonight.

At 7:30pm CT I called Barnes and Noble, and to my surprise, he was there, speaking! The very moment he was playing a hand on Ultimate Bet.

I exposed the situation to the others in the Online card room, I even gave out the Phone number to Barns and Noble. Many players called and confirmed: IT WAS NOT Phil Hellmuth Playing under his UB screen name.

I play at UB and I am a big fan of the site. But having someone pretend to be a pro is a SCAM. People play against the pros for the thrill. Some even play looser than usual. Just to “beat the pro.” That is why I am so troubled by all this.

There is no proof UB is aware Phil does not play under his name. But I have the proof, on at least this nite, he does not.

I am a seasoned TV Journalist who knows how to nail down a story. And I know a Con when I see one. Those playing against the so called “Phil Hellmuth” on UB Sat Night at 7:30 were duped.

The question remains: How many other times have we been duped?

UPDATE: Phil Hellmuth responds directly to Grant’s big call-out here.