Celebrity Poker Player: Benji Madden

It seems that the gambling habit can affect anybody! Celebrity poker players have been spotted all over Las Vegas in the run up to this years World Series Of Poker – some happier to be spotted betting on the turn of a card than others!

Like these back up singer, guitarist of the pop punk, alternative rock band “Good Charlotte”, a record producer, a DJ an actor and a good poker player, Benji Madden.

Benji Madden was spotted playing poker at the 7th Annual World Poker Tournament Invitational in Los Angeles' Commerce Casino. Benji Madden by passed the red carpet but was seated smack in front of the entrance to the tourney, too bad for the press-shy guy.

The celebrities poured in last night at the 7th annual World Poker Tour Invitation last February 28, 2009. Some Celebrities sighted where Joel Madden, Nicky Hilton, Marlon Wayans, Mekhi Phifer, Don Cheadle, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Jon Hamm, Michael Vartan, Jennifer Tilly, Oliver Hudson, Danny Masterson, Camryn Manheim, supermodel Helena Houdova, Jose Canseco, Ricki Lake, Marlon Wayans, Shannon Elizabeth, Tia Carrere, Lou Diamond Philips, Vanessa Branch and Shanna Moekler were among the many celebrities at the tables trying their hand against poker pros like Mike Matusow, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Chip Jett, Andy Bloch, Gavin Smith, Jaime Gold and Erik Seidel.

Benji Madden also showed up in the Ante Up For Africa Europe Celebrity Charity Poker Tournament. Threatening to make this important fundraiser a standing-room-only celebrity festivity.

The charity event held in conjunction with the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo, and started at 6pm last April 27th at the Sporting Casino in Monte Carlo, the night before poker action in the Grand Final begins.

Benji also joined in the Sundance Poker Festival together with his twin brother Joel Madden, Shannon Elizabeth, Gina Gershon, Kevin Smith, Emile Hersch, Good Charlotte's Benji and Joel Madden, Dave Navarro, Lance Bass, DJ AM, Summer Altice, Anne Heche, and poker pros Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Phil "the Unabomber" Laak, and Antonio "the Magician" Esfandiari, to name a few. The crowd was watching us play in a huge white tent, with a DJ and with video monitors covering the action.

He also arrives at the BosPoker.com $100,000 Celebrity Poker Tournament at a private residence on September 9, 2005 in Los Angeles, California.

Another is the 3rd Annual Stars and Strikes Celebrity Bowling and Poker Tournament with his twin brother Joel Madden in Studio City, Las Angeles last March 5 2009.

The event was for raising funds and awareness for A Place Called Home, a locally based non-profit youth center that provides opportunities for education, counseling, free meals, and arts education to thousands of at-risk children living in South Los Angeles.




Dozens of celebrities came out to the event, including Wilmer Valderrama, Crews & Tequan Richmond of the CW’s Everybody Hates Chris, Keke Palmer of True Jackson; all the Laker Girls and more. The event consisted of a professional level No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament hosted by the “Dealer Dolls” and World Series of Poker Championship dealer Jolyn Haviland. Tere was also dancing, bowling, a raffle and a silent auction.

It looks the event was a lot of fun and raised quite a bit of money for an important cause.


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Hollywood's A-list At The RIO Las Vegas

Some of Hollywood's biggest stars are expected to go all-in for the 3rd Ante Up For Africa (AUFA) Celebrity-Charity Poker Tournament.

Annually the largest celebrity poker tournament in Las Vegas, the event is accessible for the public to play with their favorite stars or watch as spectators.






A full house of celebrities will join and taking the center stage for the event is the Academy award nominee Don Cheadle and the duchess of poker and World Series Of Poker Bracelet winner Annie Duke at the event taking place during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Rio in Las Vegas on Thursday, July 2 at 2 PM.

Stars like: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brad Garrett, Mekhi Phifer, Brad Garrett, Cedric The Entertainer, Charles Barkley, Danny Masterson, Hank Azaria, Herschel Walker, Jason Alexander, Kenny Smith, Marlon Wayans, Montel Williams, Reggie Miller, Tia Carrere, Sarah Silverman, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Cheryl Hines, Mekhi Phifer and Rob Schneider and top poker professional Phil Hellmuth Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Tiffany Michelle and Erik Seidel have joined the growing list of celebrities who plan to play in the Ante Up For Africa charity tournament July 2 at the 40th World Series Of Poker.

This No Limit Hold’em poker tournament has an entry fee of $ 5,000 and provides entrants the opportunity to walk away with a six-figure payday. The event allows players to rub elbows with top Hollywood stars, athletes and poker professionals while contributing to a great cause.

Celebrities and athletes will join poker’s most notable players to raise public awareness and funds to support the victims of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.




This event, as is every World Series of Poker tournament, is open to the public for viewing and admission is free. The event will take place in the famed Amazon Ballroom in the Rio Convention Center, just one day prior to the start of the World Series Of Poker Main Event, the game’s most prestigious poker event.


The first event Ante Up For Africa Europe event was staged in Monte Carlo as part of the European Poker Tour's grand final week, with players such as rap star Nelly, TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher and F1 driver Nico Rosberg raising a total of €160,000 (£135,084).

We love when celebrities do great things for amazing causes. Ante Up For Africa is a big charity event taking place at the World Series of Poker this year, and lots of poker-pros wannabes are headed to Vegas to raise money for charities that provide aid and assistance to the survivors of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

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Celebrity Poker Player: Chris Masterson

Poker is exploding in Hollywood these days! And I've already spotted quite a few of these stars playing poker; some of the others have shown incredible skill playing on the Celebrity Poker Showdown, and some like Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire , Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth are playing in the BIG time!

And now Chris Masterson is now making his name in the list of great celebrity poker players. Chris Masterson has been acting from a very early age just like his brother, and he actually lost a role because of his brother. They were both cast in "Beethoven" but not as brothers! The producers didn't even notice the resemblance until the whole film was finished, and ended up having to hire a new actor to re-shoot all of Chris's scenes!

Don't worry, though, he's done alright for himself since then, appearing in movies like "Cutthroat Island" and "Scary Movie" with James Woods and Shannon Elizabeth. Now he plays Francis on "Malcolm in the Middle” in 200 teaming up with Jane Kaczmarek. Now, Chris Masterson is now hitting the poker limelight. He was doing really well when he was on Celebrity Poker Showdown. Playing against Sean Astin, Lauren Graham, Matthew Perry,and Sara Rue.

However, before finally being toppled in a heads-up match with Lauren Graham when he unwisely bluffs all-in with an unsuited 7-2.

After the appearance and got hooked up in poker, Chris Masterson took part in some celebrity poker tournament. He joined in the Celebs Drop Dollar For Charity At The World Poker Tournament. Joined a star-studded celebrities and poker pros in the 7th Annual World Poker Tour Invitational last March 2009, the tournament that combines Hollywood's glitz and glamor with Las Vegas' grit and gambling.

He also joined in the Sundance Poker Festival together with his brother Danny and girl friend Laura Preppon, Shannon Elizabeth, Gina Gershon, Kevin Smith, Emile Hersch, Good Charlotte's Benji and Joel Madden, Dave Navarro, Lance Bass, DJ AM, Summer Altice, Anne Heche, and poker pros Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Phil "the Unabomber" Laak, and Antonio "the Magician" Esfandiari, to name a few. The crowd was watching us play in a huge white tent, with a DJ and with video monitors covering the action. When we hit the final table, Chris Masterson had the lead with $40,000 in chips.

Unfortunately, when Masterson made a huge reraise with Ah-10s from the big blind. Reagan Silber then moved all-in and Masterson called. Masterson was now a two-and-a-half-to-one favorite to win with his Ah-10s, but Silber hit a nine on the 9s-4s-3h flop. When the Ks hit on fourth street, there was suddenly hope for Masterson; he had twelve winning cards, and needed one of three tens or one of nine spades to win the pot. It was not to be. The Jd on the river secured the pot for Silber what a bad beat for Masterson!

Chris Masterson also participated at Dr. Pauly's World Series Of Poker Main Event. The annual 37thWSOP Championship event kicked off at the Rio with 2,138 players buying in for $10,000 each. Masterson and some celebrities and poker pros such as: Wil Wheaton, Tobey Maguire, Norm MacDonald, Antonio Tarver, Laura Prepon, Matthew Lillard,Chris' brother Danny Masterson, Daniel Negreanu, Carlos Mortensen, Gus Hansen, Barry Greenstien, Chau Giang, Andy Black, Andy Bloch, Mike Sexton, Richard Brodie, Tony G, Maureen Feduniak, David Benamyine, Scotty Nguyen, Hoyt Corkins, Chip Jett, Katja Thater, Denis Ethier, Dutch "Tool" Boyd, Kristy Gazes, Erica Schoenberg, Mimi Tran, Juha Helppi, Minh Ly, Noah Boeken, JJ Lui, Julian Garnder, Jim Betchel, Clonie Gowen, Amir Vahedi, John Duthie, David "The Dragon" Pham, Action Dan Harrington, Dan Alspach, Gank, David Sklansky, Mickey Applebaum, Lee Watkinson, The Grinder, Bob Feduniak, Shance Schleger, Isaac Galazan, Roland de Wolfe, Terrance Chan, Perry Freidman, Kiril Gerismov, Luca Pagono, Chris Masterson, Matt Matros, William Rockwell, Eli Elezra, Chad Layne, David Levi, Johnny World Hennigan, Mike Wattel, Brad Daugherty, Brian Haveson, David Skalansky, Berry Johnston, Bill Chen, Allen Kessler, Layne Flack, Farzad Bonyadi, Ralph Perry, Randy Holland, and Mark Vos.

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Celebrity Poker Player: Eva Longoria-Parker

Celebrities don't have to be a poker pros to get attention playing it. Some go a step or two further and have people come to them, such as the case of Eva Longoria-Parker, one of the Desperate Housewives cast, together with her San Antonio Spurs point guard husband Tony Parker and their night of charity poker.

The charity named Eva’s Heroes,- celebrated the Parkers' First Annual Tony and Eva Parker Celebrity Casino Night. Eva’s Heroes is an organization that seeks to benefit children with developmental challenges and young adults with special needs.

The Tony and Eva Parker Celebrity Casino Night took placed August 9 last year at Pedrotti’s North Wind Ranch in San Antonio, Texas, with a buy-in of $300. They gave the players a 10,000 in starting chips, and $100 additional rebuys for 5,000 in chips available throughout the first hour once players dip below 5,000 with other casino games that ran during the tournament, including blackjack, roulette, craps, slot machines, and a money wheel.

The evening included a dinner and silent auction, each of the dozen celebrities in attendance played in the tournament including the Parkers, Jennifer Morrison of the television show “House,” Adam Rodriguez of “CSI: Miami,” David Zayas of “Dexter,” Ricardo Antonio Chavira of “Desperate Housewives,” Leeann Tweeden of NBC's “Poker After Dark” and current and former Spurs' Tim Duncan and Sean Elliott among others.

The tournament drew a capacity crowd of 280 players spread throughout 28 tables in the banquet-size playing area. Some of the prizes for the players fortunate enough to make the final table included signed Tony Parker basketball jerseys, plasma-screen television sets and a seat at the 2009 Main Event of the World Series of Poker.

Ultimate Bet is collaborating with the First Annual Tony and Eva Parker Celebrity Casino Night benefiting charity organization "Eva's Heroes." Completed with a poker tournament which will be emceed by 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth Jr.

"I'm incredibly excited that the popularity of poker is able to help such an important cause and I'm unbelievably honored to be associated with this charity." Phil Hellmuth said.

To help raise additional money for Eva’s Heroes, UltimateBet has also donated an Aruba Poker Classic prize package to the casino night’s live auction. The prize package includes a seat in this year’s Main Event plus a head-to-head poker game and a lesson with Phil Hellmuth in his personal suite in Aruba. The 2008 Aruba Poker Classic gets underway on September 27th and several celebrities have already confirmed their attendance including actor Don Cheadle and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.

Eva Longoria established Eva’s Heroes after watching her sister grow up with an intellectual disability:

“She has given me so much inspiration and hope to face everyday with the strength and courage she has had her whole life. She has never seen herself with a disability and only sees the good in everyone and everything.” Longoria stated.

The Eva's Heroes is an organization dedicated in enriching those with developmental challenges by providing an inclusive interactions, grow and love.

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Don Cheadle To Host The 3rd Annual Celebrity-Charity Poker Tournament

Attention all poker players! There is going to be an all-celebrity poker game that takes place in the next few weeks – and money raised will go to charity.



Mark your calendar for the July 2: 3rd Annual Ante Up For Africa Charity Event happening in 2 in the afternoon at the Rio Resort Las Vegas.

Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle will again be hosting the 3rd Annual Ante Up for Africa : Texas Hold-Em Tournament together with the duchess of poker and the poker icon, Annie Duke. The event is in association with the 2009 World Series of Poker. The tournament merges their desire to contribute to a resolution of this crisis and their passion for poker.

The Ante Up For Africa tournament will also host an exclusive party for the players and stars at PURE, one of Vegas’ hottest night clubs. It will also be televised on ESPN on Tuesday, Aug. 11 from 8-10 p.m.

The celebrities will be uber famous and putting their piles of money where their moufs are. So far the list includes; Matt Damon, Jason Alexander, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Montel Williams, Herschel Walker, Hank Azaria, Brad Garrett, Marlon Wayans, Sarah Silverman,Casey Affleck and Rob Schneider, with many more in the process of being confirmed and expressing their interest to play in the coming weeks.

The tournament will feature a fast-paced structure designed to complete the competition within five hours. Seating for the tournament is open to anyone age 21 or older.

The proceeds from the Ante Up For Africa tournament will once again go to charities The Enough Project, that provide aid and assistance to the survivors of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan and support activism dedicated to resolving this crisis. Previous Ante Up tournaments have raised more than $2 million for the cause.

“I am very pleased that we have raised almost two million to date and appreciative of everyone who has participated and donated to help us on our mission of bringing the plight of the refugees of Darfur to the forefront of people’s minds,” said Cheadle.

The crisis in Darfur is entering its 6th year. The conflict has killed 400,000 people and forced more than 3 million Darfuris to flee their homes.

The recent expulsion of key international humanitarian groups by the government of Sudan in response to the International Criminal Court issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir has placed hundreds of thousands of the most needy at even greater risk and without access to medical care or reliable food supplies.

President Bashir continues to utilize starvation as a weapon of war to silence his opponents and to distract the world from the key issues in Darfur. Now more than ever, there needs to be a dynamic international effort to move beyond simply managing Sudan’s multiple crises and forge a lasting and equitable peace for all of Sudan that ensures genuine power-sharing.

Our hope is that through efforts like Ante Up for Africa, we can continue to keep the issue in the spotlight while providing real funds to support a brighter future for the people of Sudan.

You can sign up to play at http://www.anteupforafrica.org. All players are being asked to donate half of their winnings to Ante Up for Africa, which in turn will make a significant contributions to Enough and Refugees International.

If you’d like more information about this cause, be sure to head over to Celebrity Poker Players Blog!




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Celebrity Poker Player: Daniel Craig

Poker is now said to be the fastest growing phenomenon in history, throughout the world. The worldwide poker boom began in the United States following the prestigious World Series of Poker in 2003 in Las Vegas, but as its popularity as America's playground grows exponentially each year, it's now a major draw for celebrities, too.





Like James Bond, a British super spy immortalized by Ian Flemming's novels now the latest actor to wear the mantle of 007, Daniel Craig!

Daniel Craig's first outing is also in the Bond film that has held the most anticipation of them all, and one that is heavily flavored with poker.

Unfortunately, he admitted that he can't even drive a suave spy's manual Aston Martin DB5, hates gun and can't play poker in an integral gambling scene in Casino Royale.

An insider told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Daniel could not play cards - it was so funny. It is a critical part of the film, where Bond shows how cool a customer he is. But it was frustratingly ridiculous how long it took to teach the cast how to play or behave at a poker table. Everyone at the hotel has been laughing about a Bond who can't play cards.”

However, due Daniel Craig must learn to play poker for the gambling scene of the James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Craig enjoyed learning how to play poker so much, he's taken to poker in his spare time as well.

"We all had to learn the game and to look convincing playing it. And let's just say there were some extra-curricular sessions that went on off-set that were all down to the cast and crew.I think some were playing for their week's wages!" Daniel Craig said.

It's interesting to see how convincingly Daniel Craig manipulates cards according to what the actor said, while filming Casino Royale there are many extra gaming sessions where Daniel and his colleagues had a chance to practice their poker skills.

Daniel Craig has become a poker expert during the filming of gambling scenes in the James Bond movie Casino Royale.

In his following introduction to international audiences as Angelina Jolie's rival and love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001, he honed his acting skills in the United States in Sam Mendes' movie Road to Perdition in 2002, with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman others are “Sylvia” in 2003 and Stephen Spielberg's “Munich” in 2005.

However, this talented actor received the most extensive media exposure thanks to his role as the handsome ans suave secret agent 007 in the recently released Bond flick, “Casino Royale.” and “Quantum of Solace”.




This time Bond is required to participate in a high stakes Texas Hold 'em poker game and must prevent an international terrorist from carrying out his evil schemes. To make his card play seem authentic, Craig had to practice his poker skills for many long hours. Although there was a huge controversy regarding Craig's casting as Bond, the film gained tremendous appreciation from Bond fans and critics alike.

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