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Players, public invited to AT&T Center Sept. 23.
By Pierre Bertrand / Express News
pbertrand@express-news.net
Updated 12:02 a.m., Friday, July 29, 2011
Peter Holt, chairman of the Spurs, announced Thursday that the AT&T Center will be the venue for a charity poker tournament and casino night Sept. 23 to raise money for the construction of an education center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The Texas Hold 'Em tournament, with special guest World Poker Tour co-host Vince Van Patten, is part of a much larger nationwide fundraising campaign to fund the center, which will commemorate those who served in the Vietnam War and chronicle the history of the U.S. Army, from Bunker Hill to every current conflict involving Army troops, Holt said.
Holt and Al Frakes, San Antonio Film Studios president who joined Holt at Thursday's announcement, are Vietnam veterans and consider the fundraiser a way to honor current servicemen and women and help the education center.
“I want San Antonio to be the one place in the U.S. to say ‘Let's honor them.'” Holt said.
He is offering to double all Texas donations made to the education center, as well as donating $1 million.
So far, Holt said the Vietnam Memorial Fund, which is overseeing the project, has roughly $35 million but needs about $90 million.
“We need all the help we can get,” Frakes said.
The event will serve as a prototype for charity tournaments in other cities and states, they said.
Half the arena floor will be the charity poker tournament, and the other half will be an assortment of casino games, including blackjack and possibly slot machines, said Gerald Hoffman, owner of Gerald's Casino Parties, a local company that organizes Las Vegas-style casino parties.
Hoffman said he will supply 30 poker tables, including dealers, allowing 300 possible players. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for a reception and silent auction, and the poker tournament will start at 7 p.m.
Players will have to donate $275 to enter the tournament, and those wishing to play the other casino games will be asked to donate $75, said Frakes, who added that people will play for tickets and submit their winnings for prizes. Seating is limited; those who want to participate can register online or send checks to SA Film Studios.
Lennie Turpin, an associate of Frakes, said he hopes the effort will gather enough momentum to become a recurring event.
The winner of the poker tournament will have a seat at the World Poker Tour in Los Angeles and dinner with Van Patten and the Royal Flush Girls.
The event will be open to the general public to observe the tournament, but those who want to participate must be at least 21.
