Competitive Private Poker Games With Top Celebrities For Seriously Pricey Prizes.
Published: Friday, June 24, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
PRICEY POKER
Deep pockets and a yen for competitive celebrity hobnobbing? This could be for you...
The Las Vegas Sun reported on a new and expensive twist to the poker phenomenon - competitive private games with top celebrities for seriously pricey prizes.
The publication recounts that a couple of weeks ago, a Connecticut businessman sat at a poker table at Wynn Las Vegas with actor Matt Damon, sports legends Pete Sampras and Wayne Gretzky and investment maven Warren Buffet. Around him, other wealthy individuals were deep into their games of no-limit Texas hold 'em.
There was no media frenzy or cable television crew on hand. The poker tables were set up in a ballroom far from the incessant ring of slot machines and the steady buzz of the main casino floor.
For these affluent businesspeople, the prizes at stake - which included a ride in a Boeing business jet, a Maserati sports car and Dom Perignon champagne - were besides the point.
About 200 businesspeople got a chance to play high-stakes poker, TV-style, at the private poker tournament, organised by NetJets Inc., a Buffett-owned jet ownership company.
NetJets invited some of their best customers to participate in the tournament, which was hosted by Wynn Las Vegas using free "chips" and luxury prizes donated from NetJets clients.
State law allows private poker games that do not involve a "rake," which is a percentage of bets taken by the house, the way most Las Vegas poker rooms make money.
Private poker tournaments are becoming more of a trend at a time when companies are looking for new ways of jazzing up corporate meetings, rewarding customers or recognizing valued employees, observers say.
On any given week a Las Vegas casino is hosting a private poker tournament, said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter for gamblers.
"Companies looking to set up an event are looking for something other than getting a talking head or a private rock concert," said Curtis, whose company is expected to begin organizing such tournaments to meet demand.
"Poker is the new cigar, the new martini," he said. "It fills all these needs and it's got the flavor of Vegas. People who've never tried it get off on it. They're like giddy little kids."
Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which is now hosting its World Series of Poker tournament at the Rio, has been approached by several business groups that want to offer private poker events.
"A number of corporations, sales forces, investment banking firms and auto dealer associations ... are trying to catch the wave and do these things," Harrah's poker tournament Director Gary Thompson said.
NetJets founder and chairman Richard Santulli said the poker event went so well that he expects it to become an annual event at Wynn Las Vegas.
Santulli said he came up with the idea during a plane ride with Steve Wynn, a NetJets customer.
"We thought it would be an interesting way to get people to see Steve's spectacular hotel and have fun the way we see poker on TV," Santulli said.
Players who were knocked out of the running waited around to watch those remaining until some 200 people were left watching the final table. NetJets set up stands so guests could watch and broadcast the action on a television monitor in the style of a major televised tournament.
