WPT Celebrity Poker Invitational To Feature Hollywood A-Listers Again

The ever-so-stealthy Donnie Wahlberg was one of the participants in the 2006 WPT Celebrity Invitational. (Bodog Beat Image)

In just a few weeks, the stars of the poker world and Hollywood will both be shining brightly in the same place, a veritable supernova of talent. For the sixth year in a row, the WPT Celebrity Invitational will come to the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles and will once again feature some of the biggest names in the world. Period.

Last year's event saw 420 players come out for a freeroll tournament that only pays out the top five and has a paltry $200,000 prizepool. Usually the biggest poker players won't come out for anything less than a million, but for this tournament they came out in droves to rub elbows with fame.

Paris Hilton and sis, Nicky Hilton, Don Cheadle, Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Norm McDonald, Donnie Wahlberg, Mena Suvari, Hank Azaria, Laura Prepon and... Marlon Wayans all came out and were subsequently sent home by a collection of your usual suspects from the poker circuit.

In the end it though, it was neither a celebrity nor a poker pro who won. Adam Weinraub bought his seat as part of a charity auction and donated 10% of his winnings to charity. Who says nice guys finish last?

The Invitational is tacked onto the end of the WPT LA Poker Classic and many players from that tournament stick around to check the high-caliber talent in the poker room once the WPT event wraps up.

What's that you say? You would like to go to the LAPC, maybe play a little poker and rub elbows with the celebrities? Well it just so happens that you are in luck because Bodog can give you that chance. A wide variety of qualifiers are available at Bodog Poker to win a seat to the WPT LA Poker Classic with a Bodog "Player's Choice" package. Buy-ins start as low as $1 for the Player's Choice Qualifier and top out at $270 for the Player's Choice Semifinal, which guarantees at least one package with one more added for each additional $12,000 in the prize pool. For more on Bodog's Player's Choice Package, qualifier schedule and list of WPT and EPT tournaments winners can choose from, visit http://www.bodoglife.com/poker/tournaments/overview.html.