Poker champ Jamie Gold and actor Rob Riggle teamed up at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles Wednesday night for a charity poker event to help raise money for special needs children.

The 12th annual Variety Poker and Casino Night sponsored by Commerce Casino was a huge success. Hundreds of celebrities and poker players showed up for a charity poker tournament, silent auction, food, drinks, and most importantly, to raise money for Variety - The Children’s Charity of Southern California, a nonprofit that helps provide funding, healthcare, and mobility for special needs children.

Red Carpet, Auctioned Art & Movie Stars

Before the tournaments got underway, guests in shiny sport coats and tailored dresses made their way to the Paramount Pictures lot filled with blackjack, roulette and poker tables and treated themselves to cocktails and a feast of chicken wraps, falafels and baklava catered by Zankou Chicken.

In typical Hollywood fashion, guests also had a chance to walk the red carpet in front of logos of sponsors that included Dolby, Fandango and Universal. Those who strutted under the southern California sunset included 8 Mile actors Mekhi Phifer and Omar Benson Miller, R&B star Ray J and former NFL player Omar Bolden.

Next on the red carpet were several children sporting helmets and eager smiles as they peddled special needs bikes to the Paramount gates, waving and giggling as they were greeted with applause and cheer.

After that, a live auction took place that saw the sales of a blown-up Andy Warhol Marilyn Diptych silkscreen painting and a signed print of Muhammad Ali’s famed knockout of Sonny Liston.

Playing Poker for a Good Cause

Finally, it was time to shuffle up and deal. Two charity tournaments took place at the outdoor lot: one a mid-stakes ($250) game and the other a high-stakes ($500) tournament.

The high-stakes field was stacked with some familiar faces to the poker community, including Hustler Casino Live co-owner Ryan Feldman, recent Life Outside PokerpodcastguestsDan “Jungleman” Cates and Princess Love, and longtime PokerStars personalities Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan, co-hosts of the Poker in the Ears Podcast and The Big Game on Tour.

Stapleton built up an early stack before losing a race in a huge pot to bust. Hartigan, however, finished in second place in the high-stakes tournament. PokerNews had three players competing in the marquee event — Jon Sofen, Liam Black, and Connor Richards—but they all busted long before the final table.

Sofen had the earliest departure as he moved in blind during the first orbit. Richards survived a table change to battle against poker content creators Tiffany Michelle and Hesham “Kiero” Elkhouly, who finished in fifth place, but only got to play a few hands at the poker-media-heavy table before busting.

Black lasted the longest of the PokerNews crew battling at a table that included Silicon Valley star Haley Joel Osment but soon learned how quickly the blinds go up in charity tournaments. Down to a big blind, Black shipped it with ace-queen to be involved in three-way all-in against sevens and another hand. An ace-high flop left Black far in front, but a seven on the river made for a tough exit for the video and social executive.

Brandon Jones was the winner of the high-stakes game, while Raffi Varozian took down the mid-stakes tournament. Both players received huge gift bags from Paramount and World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) entries at Commerce Casino in November.

“It’s Turned Into Something Pretty Large”

The event was a huge success, and Gold told PokerNews at the charity event that he was honored just to be part of it. And he’s proud of how much the event has grown over the years.

“It started out as a very small thing, and it’s turned into something pretty large,” Gold said. “It gets bigger and bigger every year. It’s sold out every year. It’s such an amazing charity.”

Gold sung praises of the Variety charity for its transparency. He said that 85 cents on every dollar raised at events such as this go directly to the children in need.

Riggle, the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion’s co-host at the charity tournament, said he doesn’t play a ton of poker, but does enjoy the game. He often appears at charity poker events such as this one and competed in the Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl Party tournament that benefited the Special Olympics in February.

“Jamie can play a lot of poker, I can play a little poker,” Riggle explained. “But I did make it to the final four tables, so I consider that a major win for me.”

Riggle, a comedian who has co-starred in films such as The Other Guys and Step Brothers, said he had “more fun at this tournament than I’ve had in many, many years,” about the Variety charity event.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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