PokerWorks

While the December calendars of poker players are likely booked with family obligations through the end of the year, January is still available. One date that should be on the calendars of the poker community is Saturday, January 17th, which is when the All In to Win for Kids charity poker tournament will be held at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles to benefit the Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind (TLC).

The poker community is a notoriously generous one, and it need not be the season of giving to participate in a charity tournament. And with the L.A. Poker Classic preparing to get underway only days later, Commerce will be abuzz with poker fever. Not only is the poker community being asked to participate in this January 17th tournament, but Hollywood celebrities have already stepped up, with names like Brad Garrett, Daniel and Adam Baldwin, Jimmy and Dick Van Patten, and Ray Wise scheduled to attend.

The tournament is a $200 buy-in with $200 rebuys that will begin at 5pm. But the poker festivities will be preceded by a food buffet, cocktails, and poker tutorial. Commerce Casino, which is the home of the largest poker room in the world, is supplying the space and food for the event, so all proceeds will donated to the TLC Early Intervention Program and the building of the TLC Children’s Center. In addition, all funds raised by the event will be matched by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

First prize going to the winner of the poker tournament is a seat into the upcoming World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational event and $2,500 in cash. Other prizes for top finishers will be announced as the event nears.

The TLC charity tournament will be held in conjunction with the Love Across the Ocean charity, whose founder, Leyna Nguyen, will be honored for her fundraising efforts. Nguyen, who is a news anchor for KCBS and KCAL news stations in the Los Angeles area, will be toasted alongside Commerce Casino Board Chairman Haig Papaian and businessman Robert Lorsch for their philanthropic efforts with regards to children’s causes.

TLC is a community of people who have come together to provide a supporting, encouraging, and educational environment for children and adults with blindness and developmental disabilities. Having worked in the community for more than 30 years, TLC is in the process of building a new children’s care facility that will focus on physical and occupational therapy, and vision and mobility specialty needs, as well as counseling services for disabled children and their families. More information can be found at www.TLC4Blind.org.

Love Across the Ocean began as an organization to help school children in Vietnam who are in need of life’s basic necessities, such as food and clothing. The foundation also provides extra assistance during typhoon season when emergency food and medical supplies are desperately needed. Love Across the Ocean also takes the time to visit elderly Vietnamese residents in nursing homes during the holidays, bringing them gifts and entertainment, and the efforts have begun to include battered women’s shelters as well. The website, LoveAcrossTheOcean.org, has further details about the goals of the organization.

To pre-register for the Commerce Casino poker tournament on January 17th to raise funds for TLC, contact the TLC development office at (818) 708-1740, extension 125 or gespinoza@tlc4blind.org.