Poker Tournament to Raise Money for Worthy Charity

It was a hot and sultry night as 120 poker buffs gathered at the Spectrum Club in Valencia for the Second Annual Texas Hold'em Invitational Poker Tournament to benefit the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children's Cancer.

World Poker Title champions TJ Cloutier and Mark Seif came from Texas and Las Vegas to lend a hand and offer support to the local players. The initial entry fee was $150 and players could purchase $50 rebuys for $3,000 worth of chips.

Additionally, 78 players paid $100 each for raffle tickets for a one-week trip to The Sanctuary Resort in Costa Rica.

Three kings beat a pair of fives as Mike Blunt, owner of Bridgeport Homelife Realty, triumphed over 14-year-old Max Blaha for the final flop at 10:30 p.m. to win the grand prize, a three-day stint at the World Poker Tour Boot Camp.

In a nod to the professionals, Blunt, an avid poker player, wore sunglasses on his red baseball cap.

The evening was not a flop as it pulled in about $38,000 from entry fees and rebuys, said Scott Schauer, executive director of the foundation. Schauer said the Hoefflin Foundation typically raises about $900,000 annually from benefits.

Chris and Sue Hoefflin started the foundation in 1996 after their 10-year-old son Michael lost his fight with brain cancer. With their motto, "Hope, Help and Healing," the foundation offers outreach and support to families of children with cancer. The foundation also sponsors medical research and public awareness of childhood cancer.

According to the foundation, one out of 330 children in the United States develops cancer by age 19. Each year, cancer kills more children between ages 1 and 20 than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and AIDS combined.

"It is a rotten disease and it is not going away quickly enough," said Chris Hoefflin, who works as an IT consultant. "Childhood cancer is a real monster, it tears at the fabric of the family unit and affects parents, jobs, everyone. The organization has grown to help more families and we are glad to be in a position to help, but it is heartbreaking to see so many more families in our community who are affected."

Sue Hoefflin, director of the foundation, said the foundation assists about 150 families per year.

July 2, 2006
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!

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