Sara tramiel/VIEWLinda Smith, Opportunity Village chief development officer, left, interacts with Tiffany Hobbs, 25, at Opportunity Village, April 13. Money raised at an upcoming poker tournament will help build a new facility for Opportunity Village, which offers services to people with special needs.
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Opportunity Village will be "all in" with the community this May. The charity's Celebrity Poker Tournament takes place at the Caesars Palace Poker Tournament Room on May 12, and promises to be an event to remember.
Celebrity players scheduled to place their bets in no-limit Texas Hold'em include Ronn Lucas, Earl Turner, Jose Canseco, Louie Anderson and professional poker players Annie Duke and Oklahoma Johnny Hale.
David Sklansky will offer free poker lessons from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. "He's one of the best there is," said Brooke Dunn, senior vice president of Shuffle Master.
Players in the tournament are competing for a spot in the 2007 World Series of Poker and additional prizes and cash from M.J. Christensen Diamond Centers. The coveted spot in the World Series of Poker was donated by Harrah's Entertainment.
"It's a friendly game, and Harrah's has been phenomenal," Dunn said. "Someone who wins this will enter the biggest poker tournament in the world."
According to Linda Smith, chief development officer for Opportunity Village, Dunn suggested a poker tournament last year, but nobody at Opportunity Village knew how to play the game. Dunn gave the staff an impromptu class, and thus, the tournament was born.
"We did our first one and it was spectacular," Smith said. "He told us what to expect and which hotels had the best poker rooms."
"We get a lot of requests to help out with charities, but we don't have a product to donate like shows, meals or rooms," Dunn said. "So, we came up with hosting poker tournaments."
Check-in begins at 12 p.m. for the event, which is followed by an after party at Pure. The VIP after-party will feature a diamond fashion show, jewelry auction, open bar and hor d'oeuvres. Entry into the VIP reception and access to watch the tournament costs $50. There is a $500 buy-in for the tournament, which will host 350 seats. The event is open to anyone age 21 and over with a valid photo I.D.
"Every one of them just said, 'yes, yes, yes,' " Smith said of the event's sponsors. "We let everybody know that we need to build another campus."
The new campus would be located at Buffalo Road and Patrick Lane, and all money from the poker event will go towards the new building. Sponsors of the tournament and VIP reception include Shuffle Master, Action Gaming, Bell Trans, Southern Wine and Spirits and a slew of media companies.
"It's a great event. The Opportunity Village people put on spectacular events," Dunn said.
"We estimate that 150 to 200 people move here each month that could use services of Opportunity Village," Smith said. "Opportunity Village is just this lifeline for families. There's a waiting list of people to get in." Smith estimates that about 740 people use the charity's programs each day.
Interested parties can sign up for the tournament and VIP reception online at www.opportunityvillage.org. For more information, call 259-3741.
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