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May 25, 2008
Daniel Cox
Editor, Gaming Review Online
 Los Angeles - Every one has a “Bucket List” of
one sort or another. It may be a formal list, written down and updated as time
passes or it may just be a gnawing at the back of the mind. For those whom have
not seen the Jack Nicolson - Morgan Freeman movie, a Bucket List is an
inventory of those things we want to do before we end this mortal existence. I
have had my informal list for more than 30 years and I wrote it out four years
ago. Though my list still has “See Aurora Borealis” in the number one position,
the item that has been on the list the longest was “Attend a party at thePlayboy Mansion.” It is something I have wanted
to do since I was a teenager. The closest I had come was during my early U.S.
Army days in the late seventies and early eighties. At that time I was a dues
paying member of the Playboy Club, visiting clubs inLos
Angeles andNew York City.
OnMay 17, 2008 Jaime Gold and Khloe Kardashian were
hosts of the Third Annual Urban Health Initiative Celebrity Poker
Tournament and Casino Night at thePlayboy
Mansion. World Series of
Poker Tournament Director Robert Daily was on hand to oversee the play. It was
an unforgettable experience for a worthy cause, raising over $75,000 for the
Urban Health Institute. Card Player Magazine was one of the events sponsors and
I have submitted freelance articles to them in the past, so I requested media
credentials through the event planners. As far as LA celebrity watching goes,
this was not a huge event. The fewHollywood/Los
Angeles A – List guests included Playboy icon Hugh Hefner, Playmate Holly
Madison from E!’s “Girls Next Door.” One of my favorite actors and former L.A.
Ram Fred Dryer walked over from his near-by house.
I did not recognize most of the people strytting the
photographer line red carpet, such as actress Bai Ling, boxing champion Winky
Wright, actors Andre Royo (The Wire), Idris Elba (The Wire), Glen Turman,
Dondre Whitfield (Girlfriends), Billy Burke, Claudia Jordan (Deal or No Deal),
Mellyssa Ford, Carl Payne, Gina Rivera (Soul Food), Chris Spencer, Chico
Benymon and Mad Mike (MTV’s Pimp My Ride). There was a large contingent of
hip-hop and rap stars. A few poker professionals, such as Phil Laak and Chip
and Katrina Jett, as well as Poker Commentator Oliver ‘Ali’ Nejad (host of
NBC’s Poker After Dark) joined Jaime for this international fund raising event.
The $1,500 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold’em event with
unlimited $500 re-buy set up on the side lawn. Armondo Gabrielli ofNew York City topped several hundred players as the first
place winner, receiving a coveted seat in the WSOP ™ World Championship
No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament inLas
Vegas among other top-drawer prizes. Gabrielli, whose favorite pro player is Phil
Ivey, has only been playing poker for two years. 50-year poker veteran Robert
Listaite fromHolden,Massachusetts
won the second place prize in the tournament, an all-expenses paid VIP trip for
two toBermuda. Listaite lists Phil Laak and
Todd Brunson as his favorite pros.Denver’s
Richard Edington, wearing his lucky Cake Poker hat, took home a set of Giovanna
wheels as the third place winner.
The buffet
dinner seating and bars were set upon the back lawn. The steak on skewers with
Cajun mustard sauce, Jambalaya, seafood cakes and BLT salad (Bacon, lettuce
wedges, tomato, and Bleu Cheese dressing) were especially tasty. The desert
table was a chocoholics nightmare with dozens of cakes, tarts and candies.
Matching the casino theme, there were white chocolate playing cards with
fudge-like pips. The typical casino games, such as Craps, Black Jack and
Roulette were interspersed among the dining areas. Something new was No River
Hold’em, a new casino game that gives the players three hole cards, but only
four community cards. Theoretically, this reduces the bad beat factor by
limiting the number of streets the players have to face.
After the
red carpet introductions I met up with an online friend from Card Player
Magazine’s Spade Club (a pay-to-play online card room) who had just been
knocked out of the tourney. We investigated the behind the scenes area of Hugh
Hefner’s property. We found the recreation room filled with vintage Playboy
pinball machines, video games, a pool table and a foosball table. Off the main
rec room is an alcove that puts the ‘play’ in the playroom and was the source
of wild stories in the 70’s and 80’s. With its heavily padded floors, pillows
and strategic box of tissues, it appears it is still the source of stories you
don’t necessarily tell your grandkids. We visited the wishing well where Hugh
Hefner proposed, the tennis courts and saw the satellite receiver array that
rivals SETI. After grabbing a drink and a bite to eat, we visited the second
most famous private zoo inSouthern California.
(Michael Jackson’s Neverland is more extensive.) More of an aviary than a zoo,
there are several species of birds, as well as spider monkeys in cages, and
peacocks, parrots and a few critters roaming the grounds.
 Besides the expected Playboy Bunnies
(Jordan
is pictured above), the girl or two swimming topless in the pool and cavorting
in the grotto, the unexpected were the living billboards. I have seen the
painted tops on girls at Mardi Gras in years past, but these walking
advertisements for the charity events sponsors were completely nude. The paint
jobs were so well done, it took a keen eye to determine the girls were wearing
nothing but paint. Two of the girls were wearing all black “faux body suits”
and the other four wore various painted tops and bottoms, from hot pants and
t-shirts, to g-string and teddies and a bikini. The Card Player logo was
prominently displayed on a couple of models. When I tell people I review poker
rooms around the world, they often say I have the best job in the world. I
think the guy who painted these girls may have me beat.
The event
drew a full house and the ultimate winners were the disadvantaged communities
that benefit from Urban Health Institute’s programs. Founded by Los
Angeles-based physician, Kevin Brown, UHI provides health care advocacy and
healthy-living programs, direct care, medicine, and medical equipment. Proceeds
from the event will help with funding for UHI’s upcoming humanitarian mission
toEthiopia,
as well as monthly health education seminars, quarterly health fairs and the
purchase of much-needed medical supplies for underserved communities locally
and abroad.
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