David Costabile wins top prize
Actor David Costabile won the Stars CALL for Action celebrity charity tournament on Saturday, banking $100,000 for charity.
The man known for his roles on Breaking Bad, Billions, and The Wire, is donating his prize to World Central Kitchen, an organization which aims to “create smart solutions to hunger and poverty.”
PokerStars put up $1m in total prize money for the event
Costabile defeated soccer player Douglas Costa heads-up to take down the tournament, held on PokerStars.net. Costa, though, still won $75,000 for the charity of his choice. The other final table players and their charity winnings were Jennifer Shahade ($40,000), Casey Affleck ($30,000), Chris Moneymaker ($20,000), and Mike Tindall ($10,000).
PokerStars put up $1m in total prize money for the event, all of which went to charity.
Celebrities, non-celebs meet in finals
The structure of the Stars CALL for Action celebrity charity tournament was a departure from the norm, but was created to give as many people as possible the chance to win money for charity.
The celebrities – there were about 90 of them – played at six-handed tables. Their portion of the tournament was a shootout, with each table playing down to a winner who advanced to the “final tournament.”
A select group of poker fans, one for each celebrity participating, competed in a “regular” multi-table tournament. The final six players got to mix in the final with the celebrities who won their shootouts.
The final tournament was another standard multi-table tournament.
The celebrities who finished second at their shootout tables got to play in a second-chance tournament. Soccer player Wayne Bridge won that one and $50,000 to his cause.
All told, $500,000 was set aside to give to CARE International, while the other $500,000 was earmarked for the celebrities’ charities.
From brains of Hank Azaria, Andy Bellin
The tournament was dreamt up by actor Hank Azaria (best known for voicing characters in The Simpsons) and his poker buddy Andy Bellin, author of Poker Nation.
In an interview with the PokerStars blog, they said they had been planning a live charity poker event in New York, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, that couldn’t happen. Bellin ended up contacting PokerStars, which agreed to host the tournament and contribute $1m.
“If there was ever a time to design an online charity poker tournament, this is it,” Bellin said.
Azaria said they had to “scramble” to get other celebrities to play, but Bellin added:
I doubt we’ve gotten a ‘no’ from anybody.”
They got the group from their home poker game to participate, including Michael Cera, David Schwimmer, Eric Bogosian, and Rounders co-screenwriter Brian Koppelman.
The lineup was as star-studded as one will find in a celebrity poker tournament. Among the other celebrities who played were Bryan Cranston, Amy Schumer, Don Cheadle, Michael Ian Black, Jack Black, Jason Alexander, and Rounders star Ed Norton.