30 Oct 2013
Posted by admin 
By Bell Lettrist
TThe Second Annual Charity Poker Tournament to benefit the East Harlem Tutorial Program took place on Wednesday, October 23rd. All proceeds from the event went toward placing students in the program on a path toward college graduation.Said Event Chair K. Don Cornwell, “Poker is a passion of mine. So is supporting the education of our youth. Being able to combine the two and have a bunch of fun in the process is pretty special. The work that EHTP does is incredible and being able to help them – even if just a little bit – is an honor.”
Organized by WCMG Events and held at Soho House NYC, the Texas Hold’Em-structured night raised over $29,000, an increase of over $10,000 from the year prior. Sharks and novices alike came poised to gamble so that children living just twenty blocks north of Upper East Side affluence stand a better chance at not having to gamble on their future.
Benevolence innerved the sixty-plus players to purchase seats at $300 per. The prospect of winning a trip to South Beach, tickets to New York Fashion Week 2014 or private poker lessons with two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and World Poker Tour Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger probably had a little something to do with their eagerness to throw in another $150 for unlimited buy-backs.
Thanks to the generosity of Caesars, WCMG Events, The Chester, House Play, VIP Room, Sean Gallahger of Serge Normant Downtown, Dalmore Scotch, Poker4Life and Saxon and Parole, a total of seventeen prizes were donated. Event committee member Samantha Shefts sweated the final table and came out a winner in the end. Bienvenido a Miami, Miss Shefts.
EHTP began as an after-school program in 1958. Nurtured over five decades by numerous dedicated professionals, including current Executive Director Jeff Ginsburg, the community building resource just opened its second charter school this year. East Harlem Scholars Academy I currently enrolls K—third grade and East Harlem Scholars Academy II enrolls up to first grade, with additional grades being added each year in line with aptitudinal progression. For information on how to donate or become involved as a volunteer, please click on the following link: EHTP.
A special thanks to Marco Valerio and the folks at EHTP for capturing the evening on film.
