Wounded Warriors

I often write about winning concepts and principles. One principle that you might not associate with poker is “giving back.” But this past month at the World Series of Poker, SunPoker gave back in sponsoring an event for charity in which everyone came away feeling like a winner. The charity is called the Wounded Warrior Project and you can find all the particulars of the program through their website www.woundedwarriorproject. org and www.sunpoker.com.

I like the way Heath Calhoun, a young wounded warrior himself, describes the emblem on their logo. It’s one American, carrying another wounded American on his back. That is at the heart of this program. Political views aside, these young soldiers are all over the world risking their lives in carrying out their missions for America. Every day they come home missing arms or legs and, many of them still teenagers, have to adjust to civilian life. This can be traumatic, not only for the soldiers but also for their families. The Wounded Warrior Project is a nongovernmental agency that relies solely on private donations to assist in this effort.

I am proud to be the spokesperson for SunPoker.com; SunPoker took the lead in reaching out to the poker community for its support. I got goose bumps seeing pro after pro walk in the door at Caesars Palace, all showing their support. Caesars Palace graciously donated the facilities and dealers for the charity event, which was brilliantly run by Paul Lord. It was a $1,000 buy-in, with 100% of the money raised donated to the project. David Benyamine was the last one standing when the first annual “Helping Hand” tournament concluded later that afternoon, but I’m sure everyone felt like a winner, including Roland DeWolfe, Gavin Smith, Dan Pugliese, Erica Schoenberg, Chad Brown, Marsha Waggoner, Hassan Habib, Travis Green, Kathy Liebert, Mel Judah, and Ali Eslami, who were just a few of the pros supporting this great cause. Many donated gifts for the silent auction, which took place at the Palazzo Suites at the RIO All-Suites Hotel and Casino, later that evening.

The bidding was actually kicked off by an eight-year-old named Camden. He had been talking with Heath Calhoun, who was there representing the Wounded Warriors. Heath had lost both his legs during a bombing in Iraq. Camden was moved to the point of asking his mom if he could donate one year of his allowance ($1,000) to help the cause. This example of giving moved everyone to start raising the ante as the other items came up for auction. The top prize of $13,000 for a custom designed poker table went to Dan Puglise, producer of the show The Ultimate Poker Challenge, who then re-donated the item for future auction on one of the shows, with further proceeds going to the project. Item after item went up until the wee hours of the night. In between, we sang Karaoke, shared stories, and drank and ate some more. It was such a good time that some people refused to leave and ended up crashing on the couches. There was certainly plenty of space!

The total raised that day was over $70,000, and Mike Sexton’s generous donation of $100,000 from his Tournament of Champions win brought the total to just over $170,000 for this great charity.

This party didn’t rock like some of the other Vegas pimp style parties, but it rocked in a different way: a way that hit home and made us appreciate what we have, which really gave us cause to celebrate – and we did! Thank you to everyone who attended and lent their support to our young men and women, so that they can return home proud of their service and sacrifice for our country.