Friday, April 6, 2007

• Email
• Print

Montreal charity event cashes big

By Erin Warner

Poker enthusiasm hasn't worn off in Montreal, where Canada's largest Texas Hold'em tournament saw a surge in both entrants and money raised for charity recently.

The televised Miriam Foundation Montreal Open collected $650,000 for people living with intellectual disabilities, topping last year's $400,000 total. Credit for the boost can be assigned to an increase in the number of players, which was up to 1,200 from 800 at the inaugural event.

After three days of poker, the event settled who would be going on to the tournament's elimination round in Las Vegas in May. The top nine winners from that event will receive entry to the World Series of Poker Main Event.

The top finalists were Robert Casey, Lynette Chan, Howard Chao, Chris Cioban, Pierre Daigle, André Dries, Pierre-Alain Dubois, Elan Ellison, Martin Gadoury, Billy Gerontakos, Mathieu Gouin, Samer Hawwa, Nectarios Lazaris, Issie Markowicz, Martin Maroun, Jean-Cedric Martel, Marc-André Provost, Daniel Quevillon, Jeff Rosenblatt and Carl Valente.

Also on hand for the tournament were noted pro players Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Canadian Gavin Smith.

The event was held March 26-29, in an effort to raise money for programming, residential services and renovations for Miriam Home - a residence for people living with intellectual disabilities.

Related Articles: Montreal Charity Tournament Fires Up in March

More News

• UB to host richest charity tournament in Canada
• Ante Up For Africa goes online
• Ante Up For Africa raises $600k
• MMA and poker's best team up for troops
• Damon, Affleck return for Ante Up for Africa
• Harman to host charity event for Kidney Foundation
• Tiffany Michelle wins R2R Charity Tournament
• FTP hosts Road 2 Recovery charity event