If you didn’t like the outcome of this year’s Celebrity Apprentice Season 2, then this is your chance to join in a little good natured revenge with proceeds going to Refugees International.
The World Series Of Poker Academy was a proud sponsor of the “Sucking Out On The Rivers” charity tournament hosted by resident WSOP Academy poker instructor, poker icon and a Celebrity Apprentice finalist Annie Duke.
The Sucking Out On The Rivers Charity Poker Tournament held at the Hard Rock Casino's Poker Room in Las Vegas.
Duke is out to bear out Joan Rivers wrong with the “Sucking Out On The Rivers” charity tournament last May 27.
The superbly titled “Sucking out on the Rivers” charity poker tournament will see Duke settling down to do battle with conspicuous Joan Rivers' impersonator Frank Marino alongside a host of other impersonators from around the world.
Now Duke is giving poker players a chance to get with a vengeance on Joan Rivers and prove her statements about poker players wrong -with the “Sucking Out On The Rivers” charity tournament with co-host Joan Rivers' impersonator, Frank Marino.
Annie Duke and Frank Marino emerged on this charity poker tournament. The buy-in is $200 with re-buys and add-ons will be available through the first hour of the tournament to boost the prize pool, half of which will go to Refugees International. Expected poker professionals to come out and join the fun. There are also 20 other Joan Rivers impersonators playing along, each one with a bounty on their head for the lucky player who knocks them out.
“I think that after this poker tournament, the real Joan Rivers will quickly realize that poker players are good-natured people, professional people with respected occupations and families who really want to change the lives of those less fortunate. As poker players, we’re all banding together, not just to prove a point to Joan, but to actually change the world.” Annie Duke said.There's also a red carpet ceremony that held at 5 p.m. on the day of the tournament, with cards got in the air at 6 p.m.
As Joan Rivers told Annie Duke that all poker players were “white trash” and that none of them had last names, evoking that those who love poker are automatically linked to a crime.
“People that didn’t know anything about poker realized it was great and cool,” said Duke.
Joan Rivers’ opinion has depleted the fury of people in the poker world. The world’s top poker players and several Hollywood celebrity poker players are slated to play in the charity poker event to show that there’s a lot of good that comes from poker.
Players and fans alike can agree that Rivers has an outdated notion of what it means to be a poker player.
“Poker players are normal people: accountants, doctors, Phd’s. Our President has been known to play poker,” Annie Duke said.
Duke's reason for the charity poker tournament and her appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice Season 2 was not to win over Joan Rivers. She raised $70,000 for Refugees International, over half the total amount of what was raised on the show.
Duke says her only regret was that she didn’t get the $250,000 for her charity.
Since the show ended fans have donated $10,000 to Refugees International, sometimes in increments as small as $10.Las Vegas comedian and magician Dave Johnson, showed up and dressed like Rivers.
Johnson came to play, because no matter what, the tournament was for a good cause.
Las Vegas resident Wilma Herschberg felt it would do Rivers some good to show up to a poker charity tournament. “I think it would do her some good,” she said.
Herschberg added that she had no idea what Rivers’ rebuttal would be to a group of people raising money in a form she so openly bashed while dressed up as her.
Duke would like all the people who feel she should have beat Rivers to instead educate themselves about the 40 million people in the world who are displaced due to war and upheaval in their countries.
“When people are educated they can put pressure on their representatives to make a change,” Annie Duke said.
