Comedy Festival Charity Poker Event at Caesars

The always entertaining poker pro Daniel Negreanu held his own on Friday night in the company of The Comedy Festival cast at Caesars Las Vegas PURE nightclub for an evening benefiting the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

"I'm a huge fan of comedy," says Negreanu, "and I'm very excited to be a part of the charity poker tournament."

Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Mark Wahlberg, and Chris Albrecht of HBO were the official hosts, while Negreanu and FBI counterintelligence expert Joe Navarro coached players participating in the no-limit Texas hold'em tournament.

"This event is for a wonderful cause," said Navarro. "Look how many celebrities are here tonight and they chose a poker tournament as their fund-raiser. It's great."

Anteing up the $15,000 for charity were Entourage cast members Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Jeremy Piven. Other celebrities who participated were HBO Curb Your Enthusiasm's Susie Essman, Las Vegas's comedy queen Rita Rudner, Last Comic Standing's Ross Mark, renowned Olympics and boxing sports broadcaster Jim Lampley, The Wire cast member Andre Royo, and Roseanne Barr.

Kevin Connelly was the first player to hit the rail only minutes after tournament director David Riedisser announced "shuffle up and deal."

"That was a quick way to exit," said Connelly as he headed for the bar.

Robin Williams went all in with K 7, against another player holding A K. The flop came 3 2 Q, putting Williams' tournament life on the line, but giving him a possible flush draw. Although his opponent had the advantage going into the turn, the tables turned quickly as the next card on the board (7) gave Williams a pair, and another 7 on the river gave him trips, doubling him up early in the competition.

Kevin Dillon was the chip leader going into round 2, though Adrian Grenier was hot on his heels. Fellow Entourage cast member Jerry Ferrara found himself short-stacked on the big blind. After going all in and losing the race, he made his way to Connolly who was waiting for him at the bar. "I had no choice," said a sulking Ferrara. "I had no chips left."

Roseanne Barr monopolized Negreanu for most of the third round, but Negreanu's efforts paid off, as Barr outlasted 45 other players to make the final two tables. Playing nearly every hand, Negreanu had to make several clever decisions, but eventually, with only a weak ace, not even Negreanu could save Barr, as she pushed her chips all in and lost a huge pot. By the next hand, Barr was out of the match and joined her peers on the sidelines. Grenier, Sopranos cast member Bobby Bacala, and Billy Crystal were the last comics standing on the verge of making the final table.

Surprising even himself, Bacala looked around the room and realized that the tournament was breaking down, and that he was still in with a substantial amount of chips. But his enthusiasm waned when his straight draw couldn't hold up to an opponent's ace that paired on the turn. Bacala went out in eighth place.

After a series of back-to-back all-ins by Crystal, he too was eliminated on the bubble, just missing the final table. It was up to Grenier to represent Hollywood's finest as he joined five other players at the feature table.

Four eliminations later, Grenier was heads up and all in against his opponent. He lost the hand, but claimed the A 2007 Custom Harley Davidson FLSTN Softail Deluxe as second prize. Then, in a commendable gesture, Grenier immediately turned around and auctioned the vehicle off to the audience, donating the proceeds to the Los Angeles Children's Hospital.

Besides The Comedy Festival trophy, the first-place winner received two Black Diamond passes, including travel and accommodations, to every event at the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. Other prizes awarded were a walk-on part on the HBO hit series Entourage, AG (Adriano Goldschmied) VIP outfitting for two, and a two-day World Series of Poker Academy package.

Last year's event generated over $350,000, and HBO CEO Chris Albrecht was confident that 2006 projections would exceed that amount.

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is an international leader in pediatric medicine and has been a vital resource for children and families in Southern California since 1901. Proceeds from The Comedy Festival Poker Tournament will go toward the construction of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles' new hospital building.

Card Player was the exclusive poker medium covering this event. To see more photos taken during The Comedy Festival Charity Poker Tournament event, click here to go to CardPlayer.com's multimedia link.

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