Phil Gordon Talks About Bad Beat On Cancer At 2011 World Series of Poker

This summer, poker players from around the globe will gather at the Rio in Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker. Each will hope to avoid bad beats from the competition, but Phil Gordon is hoping that the players will help him put a bad beat on cancer.

Since 2003, the Bad Beat on Cancer initiative has raised over $3.4 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, an outreach program that promotes research and community education for early cancer detection.

“Bad Beat on Cancer is a charity initiative that Rafe Furst and I started at the 2003 WSOP,” Gordon said. “We began by asking that players pledge 1 percent of their winnings and the response we got was overwhelming. Right off the bat, we were able to get a pledge from Chris Moneymaker, who donated $25,000 after winning the $2.5 million first-place prize. In the following years, we’ve actually had two or three players at each of the main event final tables.”

This year, Bad Beat on Cancer has the full support of the WSOP and has planned 11 free poker seminars featuring some of the most brilliant minds in the game.

“This is just going to be a great opportunity for fans of the game, and especially students of the game, to learn from the best,” he said. “Anybody can come and learn. All we ask is that they pledge 1 percent of their winnings.”

You can view the entire schedule of seminars below.

The push for cancer awareness and prevention is of particular importance for Gordon, who lost a loved one to the disease.

“The woman who taught me to play poker was my great aunt, Lib Lucas. She died of cancer the day I won my first World Poker Tour event. I visited her the week before she passed and got a chance to play her heads-up one last time. Of course, she busted me, but I wanted to do something that memorialized the gift that she gave me.”

Poker players who want to attend the seminars or pledge a portion of their winnings can do so by visiting the booth just outside the Amazon Room or by visiting www.badbeatoncancer.org.

Poker players have no problem shelling out big chunks of their bankroll for tournament buy-ins on a long shot, but are notoriously stingy when it comes to other expenses. That being said, the support for Bad Beat on Cancer has been nothing short of spectacular and Gordon isn’t surprised.

“It’s a real testament to the generosity of the poker community,” he explained. “Everyone knows someone that’s been affected by cancer, whether you are a 21-year-old in your first event or an 87-year-old veteran. Hopefully you can buy yourself some good karma and have an opportunity to make a real difference.”

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