Middle aged white men may have outnumbered hot porn babes by about 30 to one Tuesday evening, but hey, it was all for a good cause — the first annual Adult Celebrity Poker Tournament, held in part to benefit Protecting Adult Welfare (PAW).
Held in a ballroom at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel as part of the Adult Novelties Manufacturers Expo (ANME) taking place there, the Texas Hold Em’ Tournament was sponsored by Pipedream Products, Red Light District, Playgirl, Allure Leather, Paradise Marketing, New Beginnings, Williams Trading Co., Filmco, and Legend Video, and was hosted by Ron Jeremy. (Cousin Stevie was slated to co-host, but was nowhere to be seen, at least in the early portion of the event).
The tournament attracted its share of adult movers and shakers, primarily of the male, poker-playing persuasion, each of whom paid a $100 entry fee to participate. They included Red Light District owner David Joseph, Wicked directors Jonathan Morgan and Michael Raven, director/performers David Christopher, Sean Michaels and Rob Spallone and publicist Harry Weiss. The men far outnumbered the women (this was a poker tournament after all), but the few industry babes who did attend were a welcome sight nonetheless. The only active performers spotted in the early part of the evening were Shy Love and Sunny Lane, though Jacklyn Lick, Rebecca Bardoux, Flick Shagwell and publicist Janie Liszewski were also there, though none of the women actually participated in the tournament.
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| Click here for gallery.(Photos: Mike Ramone) |
“Me and Michael Raven here are representing Wicked, and hopefully we won’t be the first ones out,” Morgan cracked.
“I have space on my mantle next to my AVN Awards for the little poker trophy,” Raven said, laughing. “I already cleared a spot.”
On a more serious note, Morgan noted that, “In this time, with the government seeming to come down upon us, anytime I can pitch in and help a good cause, it is well worth it.”
Adult veteran William Margold, who runs the adult performers support group PAW, said a portion of the proceeds will go to his organization, “and I am very beholden to that. They also gave me a booth in the other room.”
After Jeremy officially kicked off the event, the players, drinks and buffet food in hand, settled into about twenty or so poker tables and began playing to the piped in sounds of (but of course), Sinatra, and others.
Trophies and prizes were to be awarded to the top finishers at evening’s end. AVN.com will report who the winners were Wednesday.
At evening’s end, the tournament winner was determined to be Peekay’s Brian Barnett, who was awarded a trophy and a $1,000 Best Buy gift certificate, Liszewski said.
Pictured: Sunny Lane.
