PokerWorks

Two days before the start of the World Poker Tour’s Bay 101 Shooting Stars main event in San Jose, Todd Brunson will be hosting the Leo Brien Foundation Charity Poker Tournament on Saturday, March 8th. The event will benefit Camp Okizu, a retreat for children with cancer-related illnesses.

The day will actually begin with a charity golf tournament at 9am at the Coyote Creek Golf Course. Tournament director Matt Savage will host the tournament, and poker pros like Gavin Smith have committed to taking part in the action.

At 2pm, the poker tournament will begin with Savage as the emcee. The $300 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament will allow rebuys and add-ons, and all proceeds will be given directly to Camp Okizu. There will also be live and silent auctions with prizes that have been donated to raise additional funds.

There will be prizes for all final table finishers in the poker tournament, but the two top prizes are: First place is Todd Brunson’s official Las Vegas boot camp package for four persons, valued at $4,500, which includes hotel accommodations and transportation for a private one-day seminar hosted by Todd Brunson and Hoyt Corkins, along with a night out with Todd and his friends after the seminar; and second place is the World Series of Poker Academy prize package, valued at $1,999, which includes a weekend of advanced no-limit hold’em theory and strategy.

The charity tournament will be hosted by Todd Brunson, and numerous poker pros in town for the Bay 101 tournament will likely attend, as pros like Hoyt Corkins, Cyndy Violette, and Mark Seif have confirmed. All players will receive an autographed photo from Brunson along with a door gift. The events are open to the public at the CMT Office Building, located at 590 Laurelwood Road in Santa Clara, just 2 ½ miles north of the Bay 101 casino.

Camp Okizu offers a unique opportunity for children with cancer, along with their siblings, to attend a camp that provides a safe, trusting environment in which to learn independence, nourish positive self-esteem, and develop new skills. The word Okizu comes from the Sioux language and means unity, to come together, to heal from a hurt, and to make whole.

And the Leo Brien Foundation was started by Brien himself who lost his battle with cancer in 1997. Brien donated his own bone marrow to a young mother of three, which was only one instance of his life as a community servant. The non-profit organization set up in his name continues his support of charity work and other organizations like Camp Okizu.

For more information about the tournament or the Leo Brien Foundation, visit www.leobrienfoundation.com.