Shuffle up and deal for charity

The 2nd Annual PRSA Boston/PR Newswire Charity Poker Tournament was a resounding success. Thanks to the players and PR Newswire's generous sponsorship, PRSA Boston is once again able to give out a $2,000 scholarship to a deserving local college student.

The night was fun and was a mix of agency and corporate players. The trash talking that went on before the event via email and twitter was half the fun. We had people of all skill levels, including my personal nemesis Lauren from Racepoint who had never played before and managed to suck out twice and get runner-runner flush to beat my trips. Luckily I survived and rebuilt my chip stack (although, alas I finished 12th thanks to someone beating my all in pre-flop AK with a T9u...)

To the delight of an agency I will not name, Schwartz employees did not repeat as the 1-2 finishers. (Of course, that agency was *proud* their award was for having one of their people go out first).

Dan Evans, a great PR Newswire executive, proved he can do more than answer frantic phone calls from PR people asking about the excellent suite of PR Newswire products and took down the tourney. He is the 2008 Champion.

Darlene Hollywood (the current VP of Programs for PRSA Boston) and a talented PR counselor proved that she knows her way around the felt and finished second, taking Top Agency Player honors.

Tim Whitman from Schwartz Communications finished 3rd. (And he is still talking about how he lost with Trip Aces)

It was great to see so many new faces, and so many different agencies represented.

Following are some images from the event:


The final table. I forget one person's name her, so I am slighting you all...

The champions

David Weiner, PR Newswire
Darlene Hollywood, Top Agency Player
Daniel Evans, PR Newswire - Champion and Top Corporate Player
Mark W. McClennan, APR - Tourney organizer and immediate past-president, PRSA Boston




The winner received a special surprise, but I am keeping that for another post...