On Friday, May 17, 47 generous – and lucky – poker players arrived at Moorea Beach Club Beachside Casino at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to participate in the exclusive $10,000 buy-in Tiger’s Poker Night presented by the World Poker Tour benefiting The Tiger Woods Foundation. As part of the two-day Tiger Jam charity event, which has raised more than $14 million for programs of the Tiger Woods Foundation through its sold-out performances and one-of-a-kind auction items since 1998, the poker tournament drew in some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.
Among those in attendance were the event’s namesake Tiger Woods, entrepreneur philanthropist Mark Cuban, NBA star Chris Paul, rock star Kid Rock, actor Mekhi Phifer, WPT Host Mike Sexton and poker pros Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Dan Shak.
Both Tiger and Ivey found themselves at the same table for the start of the tournament, and even though Tiger was first to be knocked out of the event – amateur Melinda Fey rivered a boat to beat Tiger’s jack high flush – he stayed for the duration of the event to hang out with players, chat with guests and spend time with girlfriend and Olympian Lindsey Vonn, who was in the room cheering the players on.
The tournament eventually came down to the classic World Poker Tour battle between the well-known poker pro and an amateur poker player. This time, the amateur triumphed over the pro when Scot Dillon took down Dan Shak to win a Pro-Am spot with Tiger at the AT&T National. Shak didn’t walk away empty-handed though as he won a Masters™ tournament experience as the last-standing pro player at the event.
World Poker Tour filmed the event for appearance later this year during a ‘WPT Foundation On Tour’ segment in an episode of World Poker Tour World Championship Season XI on FSN.
PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Giron for World Poker Tour
