Above the Rail: “Gavin is the first to win the esteemed triple crown, which is a first place win at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the World Poker Tour, and the European Poker Tour. These are the three largest and most recognized poker tournaments in the world. In 2004, he won a World Series of Poker bracelet, winning over $200,000.00. He then followed that up with a European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Grand Final, winning first place with over 2 million. Now, he won the World Poker Tour Borgata Winter Open, and took home over 1.4 million.
Gavin: “I expected to create some awareness, but winning the tournament and everything that followed it was a huge boost. I was on the cover of CardPlayer, the biggest magazine in poker, and a couple of other magazines as well. Every interview I’ve done since then has had some mention of the Avon Foundation or breast cancer awareness. It’s been really great to be a part of raising awareness for breast cancer.”
Above the Rail: “Gavin did a tremendous thing by bringing breast cancer awareness to a massive amount of people. With the invention of the “hole-cam”, which allows viewers to see hidden cards live on television, the poker boom exploded. Most networks show tournaments including NBC and ESPN. In terms of Cardplayer, they distribute over 100,000 copies a year.
Gavin: “In 2004, my girlfriend, Kristen, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She survived and is living a happy and healthy life now. If she hadn’t caught her cancer so early, I never would have met her and my life would be much different.”
Gavin: “In the future, both Kristen and I plan to continue being advocates for breast cancer awareness by donating to charity, speaking about it in interviews, and perhaps in the future by hosting charity events.”
E-Advocate: Realities for Children is a nonprofit in Colorado which holds poker tournaments as its primary fundraiser for its Triumph Award Scholarship Program.
Gavin: “I don’t think that as a whole the poker community is charitable. Mostly this is because of the nature of our profession. I think that is presented with a cause directly they will give money to it, but most won’t give time or effort to promote a charity. There are obvious exceptions such as Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Gordon. I would like to see more poker players take up causes and get involved with charities. I’m not sure how we will accomplish this, but I look forward to a time when more poker players are aware of the problems outside their own world and do something about them.”
Realities for children: “It was fun. The event was not for professional players. It let us reach out to a new donor base that we would not know otherwise. We met new supporters because of the social nature of the event, and these relationships could be cultivated from there. ”
Realities for Children: “The time spent to create a charity poker tournament event is important. Historically, a non-profit could create a poker tournament and take a percentage of the profits. The challenge now is to create an event that is not considered illegal gambling. To be considered a gambling event you must remove one of three aspects: chance, reward, or cost. We removed cost by making the donation optional. We had to work with the gaming department and the sheriff’s office to ensure that the event was correct. Now we have a format.
Realities for Children: No. What we did to ensure the event’s success was to create a high end event at the Hyatt hotel with a higher entry donation. We brought in sponsors for the event for added donations. Another aspect that we added was a “blind-a-thon” in which entrants would get pledges for each blind level that they get to.”
Above the Rail: “Realities for Children came up with a great idea with the blind-a-thon to raise money. In poker tournaments the blind is a forced bet by the players before each hand is played. The blinds go up at intervals as the tournament goes on, which makes it easier to get knocked out.
Realities for children: “The poker tournament helps abused and neglected children as they grow into adulthood. The event was created to fund our Triumph Award Scholarship for young adults. It is the crown jewel of our program and it is designed to break the cycle of abuse. Children in our program reach personal goals and then receive collegiate support that acknowledges their accomplishments. They also receive a mentor who acts as a role model through young adulthood. The children who we work with are amazing youth who deserve support into their adulthood.
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