FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#117 – Fool in Paradise, Part VI – Jennifer Harman’s Pet Project

Posted by Editor | Filed under Dogs (esp. Harpo), Jennifer Harman

There was a HUGE turnout for Jennifer’s tournament. It looked like over 200 entries, and probably a quarter of them have World Series bracelets.

This was a gigantic money maker for a very worthy cause. Jennifer Harman is a real lover of animals. I’m not a vegetarian and I believe medical testing on animals is important to researching certain diseases. But the humane treatment of animals is one of those great causes with which no one can quarrel.

Jen worked with the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The prizes – an entry to the WSOP Main Event, some little items for others at the final table – were donated. So were the items in the live auction. Upper Deck ran the silent auction so I don’t know the story with that. I also don’t know if the dealers and the room were donated. But everything else went to the bottom line – no-kill animal shelters in Nevada.

And how much was “everything else”? A LOT. It was $330 to enter, plus rebuys and an add-on went for $200 apiece. There were over 200 entries, and people were pretty liberal with the rebuys, considering they really weren’t competing for anything.

Then the auction items brought a lot of money, too. It was a great day for a great cause.

I asked Jennifer if she was worried what kind of turnout she would get. “Are you kidding? I was terrified. I was afraid no one would show up.”

A lot of people helped out, though I don’t really know who did what. Lisa Wheeler, I could see, was one of the heroes, coordinating just about everything, from the invitations to the items in the auction. It sounded like she put in a lot of hours turning Jennifer’s love of animals and commitment to the SPCA into an event that leveraged her reputation and address book into a six-figure day for needy animals.

Another of the stars of the day was Frank Frisina, from Lifesabluff.com Frank is a talented artist, cartoonist, and storyboarder. He loves poker and his site features his work and that of some other talented artists, centered on their goofy poker adventures, with appearances from some of poker’s biggest names. For my previous blog, Michael Craig’s Journal on Pokerworks.com, he drew me. Unfortunately, the timing was such that I left that site for Full Tilt about six minutes after he completed his work, so it hasn’t had much visibility.

I’ve been trying to get Frank connected with BLUFF – wouldn’t BLUFF and LIFE’S A BLUFF be a natural? – or illustrate some of my adventures in The Full Tilt Poker Blog. Naturally, the matter of how Frisina actually gets paid for any of this is something I’ve treated as SEP (Someone Else’s Problem).

Frank donated several pieces of original art and prints. An extremely cool auction item was Jennifer and some other top pros at a final table, sitting with several animals. He also illustrated the event so you can find his “take” on the tournament on his site.

I recommended that he auction one of those “final table” drawings and leave space to draw in the winning bidder and/or the bidder’s pet. He liked the idea and may pursue it next year.

I don’t know Frank Frisina very well, but I think I’ve established that I can find him a lot of interesting work that won’t pay anything. If he suddenly discovers he is heir to a dynastic fortune, I think I can shoot him straight to the top of the poker art world.

[Post script: I heard from Frank and he wanted to correct my misimpression of his actual drawing abilities. "I am the creator/writer but I do not draw. A fellow named Brandon does more of the actual drawing, and my portrait was drawn by another member of the team named Taj. So instead of referring to Frank as "a talented artist, cartoonist, and storyboarder," I should have called him "a scamster who boogyboards on the backs of talented artists, cartoonists, and storyboarders." In my world, that's actually more impressive than what I wrote to begin with!]

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