The V Foundation - Reno Hold 'Em & Celeb Ski

Grand Sierra Resort & Casino - Reno, NVMarch 23-26, 2010

CHARITY NO-LIMITHOLD ‘EM TOURNAMENT

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VISUAL EVENT RECAPIn the pages that follow, you’ll see several marketing pieces, media coverage and extensive images and captions that portray the experience during The V Foundation Charity Poker Tournament.

EVENT ITINERARYThe three-day event boasted a schedule full of activities that made the experience for the celebrities so intriguing.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010> Celebrity guest arrivals> Informal gathering and musical performance from The Jacob Luttrell Trio

Wednesday, March 24, 2010> Celebrity ski trip to Mount Rose> Welcome Party & Cocktail Reception> The V Foundation Charity Poker Tournament

Thursday, March 25, 2010> Take It Downhill Celebrity Ski Off> Gemstone Winery - Winemaker Dinner at Briscola


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Above: Christian Fauria with Liv Boeree.

Below: Grand Sierra CEO Richard Silverman.

Left: Phil “Unabomber” Laak getting a massage on his legendary mug.

Top Right: Event Host Alex Outhred rocked the mic.

Above: Fauria chats with the ailing Matt Graham.

Below: Dani Stern’s not happy about losing a big pot.

Left: Maria Ho poses with McLean Karr during a break in between deals.

Below: Jeff Madsen ponders his next move as the action at the final table heats up.

Above: Antonio Esfandiari steals the mic from Outhred to call the action at his table.

Bottom Right: Local Derek Farrington gets his ESPN moment after takingdown 3 pros for the title.

Below: The V Found. mainstay Julie Constantin with final tableist Dani Stern.

Right: Power Poker couple, Liv Boeree and Allie Prescott ponder which items to bid on at the enormous silent auction selection.


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Liv Boeree ripped her way to the finals but in her interview seemed to think Antonio had an unfair advantage.

Antonio confesses his Gatorade was his lucky charm and it seemed to have worked with carves like this.

Christian Fauria and Trishelle Cannatella report from the top of Mount Rose just before Rick Fuller shoots out of the gate for his first run wearing jeans!

McLean Karr brags to Trishelle after knocking out Eric Aude from the competition, while Alex Outhred shows love to Antonio Esfandiari even though he lost by the tip of his skis.


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The Jacob Luttrell Trio kicks off the festivities at the Pre Poker Tourney Cocktail Reception.

The V Foundation’s Julie Constantin thanks the crowd before introducing

the powerful Jimmy V Speech.

At the reception even the spread was all about poker!

Julie with movie star Jennifer Elise Cox and winemaker

Michael Turner.

Phil Laak, actress Jennifer Tilly and Antonio Esfandiari pose with Tourney Winnner Derek Farrington and his wife Angel.

Below: Derek & Angel with Julie and Gemstone Winery’s

owner Paul Frank

Guests enjoyed an intimate setting and a wonderful four course meal paired with extravagant wines from Gemstone Vineyards.


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Full Tilt, Poker From the Rail:The poker tournament takes place on Wednesday, March 24th at the Grand Sierra Resort Casino in Reno, NV for a buyin of just $200 with $100 rebuys. Half the prize pool will benefit The V Foundation with the other half going into a prizepool. There will also be sponsor prizes, pro poker lessons and the winner will have a cancer grant created in their name. There are many pros scheduled to participate including Antonio Esfandiari, Alex Outhred, Liv Boeree, Lacey Jones, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Allie Prescott along with Full Tilt pro Jeff Madsen. The tournament kicks off at 7pm following a cocktail party which will entertain and loosen up bankrolls.

The following day brings an interesting twist to the standard charity tournament. Many of the pros will move from the poker table to the mountain for a “Celebrity Heads Up Ski-off” which will pit competitors against each other as they race down the mountain. It should be a great spectacle as many young guns of poker take to the slopes in an attempt to raise more money and entertain the masses. They will be paired up and begin racing at 11am on March, 25th with a BBQ to follow.

Poker News Daily:On March 24th, the Grand Sierra Resort Casino in Reno will host a $220 buy-in charity poker tournament ben-efiting the V Foundation. The event will be televised on ESPN2 and kicks off at 7:00pm local time.

A bevy of poker players are slated to appear in the name of charity, including Victory Poker front man Antonio Esfandiari, UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy, two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Jeff Madsen, poker instructor Alex Outhred, Alec “traheho” Torelli, former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, Erick Lindgren’s significant other Erica Schoenberg, 2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood, actor Mekhi Pfifer, embattled baseball great Jose Canseco, Absolute Poker’s Trishelle Cannatella, and Liv Boeree.

Poker Listings: “UB and Absolute Poker’s Trishelle Cannatella are co-hosting a two-daycharity poker tournament to benefit cancer research in Reno beginningtoday. The V Foundation Charity Poker Tournament also features a silentauction, private dinner and a “Take It Downhill” Poker Pro Ski Challenge.”

Poker Road:The Grand Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada, will be hosting a special charity poker tournament this Wednesday, March 24th, to benefit The V Foundation and it’s ongoing efforts to fight against cancer, and quite a few familiar names are hoping regular folks will join them when they attend.

This special $230 buy-in (w/$100 rebuys) event, currently is expecting numerous top players and celebrities including Antonio Esfandiari, Liv Boeree, Jose Canseco and Mekhi Phifer, and is just one part of an exciting overall gathering that also features an impressive private dinner the next day prepared by top chefs, with complimentary wine from Gemstone Vineyard, as well as a special silent auction with many significant donated prizes.

Pros Step Up in Reno to Play for Cancer Research - Luck Dog Poker:“The chance to play against top-level poker pros for just a $230 buy-in (plus $100 rebuys) was a great opportunity.”

Liv Boeree: blog.UB.com:“The evening was a fun night of charity tournament rebuy madness (I managed to dump $700 during the rebuy period by getting two outed every hand)... and fun was had.”

Selection Of Pre & Post Print Media Coverage & Testimonials


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Jimmy V Foundation Charity Event in Reno/Tahoe - Adam “Roothlus” LevyLast week Katie, Amit, Trishelle, & I went on a 3-day vacation to Reno, Nevada for a charity tournament. The organiza-tion putting together the charity tournament was the Jimmy V Foundation and if you’ve never heard of them, you should definitely google the name, Jimmy Valvano. He was a basketball coach who took a Cinderella team, NC State, to a na-tional championship but unfortunately succumbed to cancer years later. ESPN endorses the foundation and it is cancer research group....

The next day we took to the slopes. It was Amit & my first time ever. After having to buy $200 worth of ski clothes and fill-ing out some waivers, we were good to go...Once we did, they told us to take the skis for a ride and somehow I didn’t fall after going down a small hill. Amit however wasn’t so fortunate. Granted he didn’t hurt himself or anything but it still was funny to watch. Speaking of watching it, you can check out my Youtube account, Roothlus1, and watch exactly what I just described plus other cool videos. Amit and I were able to get lessons from a really cool guy who was a great teacher....I fell a few times initially, not because it was hard, but because I had trouble stopping...Takes a long time to get going but once I do, look out!...Our instructor was riding a little faster in front of us. He was swerving back and forth when I started picking up steam and couldn’t get myself to slow down. I screamed “Watch out! I’m coming!”. He didn’t hear me and I crashed into him. Luckily we weren’t going too fast so we were okay. Amit was behind us both and he was able to maneu-ver around us. As we’re down on the ground laughing we hear him make some sort of a yelp while trying to dodge hitting us...We’re down on the ground watching him and he can’t stop himself. There was a fork in the trail approaching and he decided to go the uphill way but when he angled his skis that way, he turned to fast and went off the trail at a decent speed. He hit a bump and got airborne and he smacked into a stone wall with his skis first. We had to see if he was okay and once we saw that he was, we burst out in laughter...Once we finished the trail, the lesson was over and overall our first day on the slopes was a success...

Later that night we played in the charity tournament. I ended up having both Amit andTara at my table and I knocked them out in back-to-back hands. Go figure. I was ableto play with Jan from the Brady Bunch, which I thought was pretty cool. She was reallynice and made our table a lot of fun. I ended up going pretty deep in the tournamentgetting 17th. Jeff Madsen busted me and hopefully that footage will show up on ESPNwhen they air this...Matt Graham ended up going on to finish 2nd and hopefully gotsome tv time as well. A local Reno poker player scooped up first place so that wascool that a local beat out all the poker pros there.

The charity event was a blast and I would happily go back again if they decided to have another one of these. I’ll also be way more inclined to go skiing now that I learned a thing or two. Now I’m off to Fort Lauderdale to visit the fam and then Mohegan Sun on the 6th. It’s always nice to visit home and see old friends. It puts things in perspective a bit and makes me appreciate everything more. Until next time peace out!

Reno Charity Tournament - Matt Graham Hey guys. Really short blog today because I broke my elbow and tore liga-ments in my elbow in a ski wipeout. I am out in Reno for a V Foundation charity tournament. The tournament was last night and I actually got 3rd despite being zoned out on pain killers the whole time...I got 3 outed vs a local player for like 85% of the chips in play. I was giving it all back to the charity anyways in the form of half straight to the charity and the other half to be used to buy items in the charity auction. I was able to get two totally awesome items though...So all in all it wasnt too bad of a day despite the injury...


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Crazy good week! - Michael Binger I went to Reno for a charity poker tournament benefiting the V Foundation. This was founded by the late great basketball coach Jimmy Valvano and ESPN to benefit cancer research. After spending a couple days with the V Foundation people I was totally impressed... this is one of the most worthy charities out there. So I was very happy to go crazy during the rebuy period: I think I was in for 15-18 buy-ins (at $100 each). I didn’t make it very far in the tourney but I had a lot of fun anyway. I also bid on and won several items from the silent auction...

The next day we went to Mount Rose ski resort. The conditions were prettygood, with 6 inches of fresh powder. I also participated in the Poker Pro skirace. Now this sounds dangerous: taking very competitive (and sometimes reckless) poker players and having them race down a mountain! Somehownobody got injured during the race, probably because it was somewhat short slalom course. I was the only snowboarder out of the 16 competitors. In hindsight, I think being on a board was a serious detriment... it was hard to compete with a competent skier. Anyway, not making excuses (ok I guess Iam), but I lost my first round race to Alex Outhred, a very good skier and great guy. Antonio went on to win the whole thing.

The rest of the day was blissful boarding. That evening we were treated to an amazing wine dinner...Seems like I couldn’t get any better...

best of luck,Michael Binger

My March Madness – Tiffany MichelleShortly after that trip I headed to Reno for another cool charity event. I joined several of my poker pro and celebrity pals for the V Foundation’s charity poker tournament. Of course, after making it deep in the tourney

I knew I had NO SHOT the moment I sat down at Brandon Cantu’s table – aka THE LUCKIEST PLAYER ON EARTH. I got all in with 10s verses his 7s and obviously he went four to a flush to knock me out... which is what we call getting “CANTU-ED”! On this trip we were all able to get out of the casino for the day and hit the ski slopes! It was pretty funny to see so many poker players out of their element, wrapped up in scarves, beanies, winter jackets and boots, trudging through the snow. ESPN was covering our “poker and powder” weekend which included a Celebrity Poker Pro ski race. I was hopeful about my first heat, racing against Liv Boeree but a last minute change paired me against Antonio Esfandiari. I

grew up skiing and thought I’d had a decent chance against that goofball, especially when the little Hustler told me he MAYBE skis once a year. Needless to say, Antonio SCHOOLED ME! It wasn’t even close. I was kinda just happy just to make it down the icy hill without a major wipeout, which the TV cameras would have been delighted to catch. I also felt like less of a loser when Antonio went on to beat every other racer and win the entire thing! Nice job Esfandiari.... WE SHALL MEET AGAIN!


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Nevada High Points:“It was a wild and exciting ride last night at the V Foundation’s Celebrity/Charity Poker Tournament held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.”

Bluff Magazine:When Derek Farrington’s wife wandered into the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino poker room this week, the last thing she expected was to end up seated next to Phil “The Unabomber” Laak playing $1/$2. The serendipitous moment did in fact occur though and it resulted in her husband taking partin the charity poker tournament benefitting The Jimmy V Foundation.

Farrington was one of 48 players who took part in the $200 rebuy event at the Grand Sierra. He was surrounded by a long list of pros including Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Jerry Yang, Jeff Madsen, Dani Stern and Jennifer Tilly. Emceed by Alex Outhred and Trishelle Cannatella, the tournament and accompanying silent auction raised in the realm of $50,000 for the organization, which raises money for cancer research.

The charity event raised both money and awareness for the cause and the representa-tives from the Jimmy V Foundation were more than pleased with the results. Board mem-ber Julie Constantin told Bluff she thought, “the event went incredibly. “You want to raise money, but you also want to raise awareness,” she added. “It’s been an incredibly inspir-ing evening for me.”

There is the potential for the event to inspire others as well, as it was filmed by ESPN2 and will air on the network later this year in tandem with a downhill ski race featuring

poker pros and celebrities held on Mt. Rose. The finals of the tournament style ski-race came down to Liv Boeree and Esfandiari, with the Magician claiming the honor of poker’s best ski bunny.

Farrington collected the top prize of $4,877, some of which was spent on silent auction items benefitting the charity. Graham pledged half his winnings to the charity and spent the other half on silent auction items and several other players followed suit donating a portion of their winnings.

Poker News Daily:At the tournament itself, the Tweets flew as fast as the cards themselves. WSOP double bracelet holder Brandon Cantu started by Tweeting, “Jimmy V foundation charity tourney i have matt graham to my right any time he enters a pot i’m moving in.” Others would follow with their Tweets, with Liv Boeree and Tiffany Michelle chirping about their defeats at the hands of Cantu. “I swear @BrandonCantu is my poker nemesis,” Michelle commented. “Got it all in with 10s v his 7s obv he goes four to a flush. That’s what we call getting Cantued!” Boeree would prove to have no better luck when she went head-to-head with Cantu: “Playing the charity tournament. just got Cantued for big pot, obv.”

Fellow WSOP double bracelet winner Jeff Madsen had much better luck in going up against Cantu, however. “Wow beat Cantu in an all in,” Madsen Tweeted as he made his run to the final table of the event. “Final table. I make every charity final table. All of my proceeds will be donated to the Jeff Madsen Fund,” Madsen jokingly tweeted after he made it. The winner of the tournament will have a cancer research grant created in their honor.

The mountains of Reno would prove to be a tempting diversion for several of the participants in the V Foundation event. Hitting the slopes for some skiing and snowboarding were poker pros Amit “amak316” Makhija, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Boeree, prompting Savage to Tweet, “please don’t break anything!” Madsen, who was boarding with Trishelle Cannatella and Cantu, looked to get some action on the activity by Tweeting, “I put the number of broken bones in the group at over 0.5.” Apparently, all made it though the mountains without issue because Michelle Tweeted to fellow snow surfers Alex Outhred, Boeree, Cantu, and Madsen this morning, “4-6 new inches of snow on the mountain today... we might not kill ourselves YEAY!”


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TiffanyMichelle

Excellent time in Reno with these ladies, raising $ for the V Foundation. Made some delicious new friends too!

liv_boeree

playing the charity tournament. just got Cantued for big pot, obv.

liv_boeree

finished second in the ski race to antonio esfandiari... so close!!!!! Such a fun day!

AlliePrescott Congrats @liv_boeree for your near rise to greatness and appearance in the final 4...last girl standing...you will still never beat me

TiffanyMichelle

If you’re in the Reno area come join your favorite poker pros and celebs for a super fun charity tourney next week

TrishelleC

Come join me in Tahoe for a charity trnmnt

benefitting the Jimmy V foundation. March

23rd-26th should be great...

TrishelleC

At the grand Sierra for the V charity poker tourny cocktail reception with everyone. Fun Times!

MariaHo

@jb_SID V Foundation Event was great thanks to all of you guys and all your hard work!! See y’all soon!

MariaHo

@SportsIdentity It was great meeting you in

Reno and I had a wonderful time! You guys

put on a great event!!! =)

amak316

Flying to Reno with a huge crew to play a charity tournament for the Jimmy V foundation.

AlliePrescott

Arrived at The Grand Sierra. Let the festivities begin...

liv_boeree

Just tried to play some guitar with a funk-blues band in Reno. Hmmm.

Gamblindude

Out in 18th place in this charity event. I guess I have to try and win the ski race tomorrow!

TrishelleC Long day on the slopes filming take it downhill with poker pros for ESPN. Christian Fauria was an awesome co host. Resting then dinner

Gamblindude

SEA -> RNO for the V foundation charity tournament and ski race.

Gamblindude

Playing in the Jimmy V foundation charity poker tournament in Reno. Already got it all in with 75 against Maria Ho’s KK. Rebuy!

brandoncantu

Jimmy v foundation charity tourney i have matt graham to my right any time he enters a pot im moving in

roothlusuncut

Playing the Jimmy V Foundation charity

tourney. What a great cause. Have Jan

from the Brady Bunch. She’s really cool.

TiffanyMichelle Poker Pro Ski Challenge at Mt. Rose next week in conjunction with the charity event - my 1st heat is vs @liv_boeree BRING IT BRITAIN ;-)


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The V Foundation - Reno Hold 'Em & Celeb Ski

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