For the second year in a row, members of the Kings and Ducks Alumni descended upon San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino for a No Limit Hold’em Charity Poker Tournament. Held a few weeks ago in Highland, CA, 500 Kings and Ducks fans played against each other, the alumni, poker pros and celebrities.
On hand from the Kings side were guys like Marcel Dionne, Gary Edwards, Daryl Evans, Jim Fox, Marty McSorley, Glen Murray, Bernie Nicholls, Luc Robitaille and Ian Turnbull.
And for the second year in a row, the event was sold out ahead of time – with all proceeds from the $35 buy-in supporting the Kings Care Foundation and Anaheim Ducks Foundation. Specifically, the Kings Care Foundation received nearly $19,000.
LA Kings fan Greg Smyser won the tournament and others in attendance also shared in the $10,000 in total prizes. Perhaps it was a little redemption from the Kings side though, after a Ducks fan won the event last year and also picked up a team-signed Kings stick in the raffle.
How did the Alumni do? Well, Nicholls was out early – after going ‘all in’ with a pair of Kings. Seriously. Meanwhile, Fox and Edwards won their tables and made it the final 100. McSorley, who was the only member of the Alumni to advance last year, didn’t make it past the first table this time around.
But, the star of the show was probably Bailey. The crowd around his table during the first round was huge and the applause were louder each time he knocked somebody out. As one fan noted when replying to some live tweets from the event, Bailey probably has the perfect poker face – nobody can read what he’s really thinking.
Here are some brief highlights and interviews courtesy of Kings Vision…
NHL RADIO REPLAY: Mayor’s Minutes on Petersen, Trades, Sturm and the LA Kings
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Enjoy a free replay of this week’s Mayor’s Minutes on NHL Network Radio, where John Hoven joined host Jim ‘Boomer’ Gordon to discuss a myriad of topics, including – the call up of Cal Petersen, Jack Campbell’s injury, Jonathan Quick’s return, coach Willie Desjardins, the arrival of Marco Sturm, trade speculation regarding four players… […]