CELEBS PLAY POKER
BY SHELLEY RUBENSTEIN
MAY 2008
Poker playing celebrities such as Jamie Oliver, Dexter Fletcher and Teddy Sheringham joined forces with some of the UK's top players, including WSOPE runner-up John Tabatabai, Women's World Open Champion Beverley Pace and Irish Open final tablist Tim Blake, to raise over £200,000 for the One to One Children's Fund, which helps children in the United Kingdom, Middle East, Africa, Kosovo and India and Indonesia.
Returning once again to London's glamorous Sketch restaurant for a night of poker and backgammon, the annual event raised over £200,000 for children in need. The £365 entry fee (which represents the cost of sponsoring one child for a year at £1 per day) included a champagne reception plus the buy-in to either the PKR.com sponsored poker tournament or the Omar Sharif Backgammon Tournament.
Non-playing spectators were also invited to attend and enjoy the champagne reception and auction. The highest bidders donating to the cause took home such goodies as signed Arsenal and Chelsea team shirts plus front row club seats, gourmet feast for two at Fifteen, signed copies of Harry Potter, walk-on part in the next Terry Pratchett film and a fully-staffed luxury yacht cruising round the Caribbean.
During the auction of the Fifteen dinner, Jamie Oliver took over from the auctioneer inciting a bidding war between two altruistic foodies. Generously maximising funds raised, Jamie promised both bidders the meal for two with paired wines and signed book, with the added bonus that he'd cook the dinner himself, making the £4500 and £4800 bids worth every penny.
Proving he's not just a whiz in the kitchen, Jamie also kicked off the poker tournament with the early chip lead, swapping tales of hands throughout with fellow celebrity bounties Dexter Fletcher and Jason Flemyng. Others with bounties on their heads were Coronation Street's Charlie Condou, Norman Pace, Teddy Sheringham, Benedict Wong and American TV Chef Adam Perry Lang. On hand to watch the fun and cheer his friend on was Jamie Oliver’s celebrity sommelier, Matt Skinner.
A highlight of the evening was when John Tabatabai asked Jamie Oliver for some culinary pointers: “I just started cooking at home and a friend got me Jamie Oliver's book as a birthday present. I cook now in between sessions to calm down, and I love food. I made one of his recipes, Sea Bass with Thai Rice the other day. When I ordered the sea bass fillets online however, I got the whole friggin' sea bass! I didn't have a clue what to do with it, so I just asked him what's best for a beginner like me. He duly informed me, 'just shove the lot in the oven and fillet it once cooked.'”
Commenting on the annual event, John added, “One to One is a great charity that helps a lot, and I don't think any of us really realise how lucky we are and to give just a little back is a pleasure.”
After hours of solid play displaying some nifty moves, the tournament was won by Leticia White, daughter of another famous chef - Marco Pierre White. As well as the £4000 first prize, Leticia also won the championship trophy, presented to her by Hardeep Singh Kohli
misterhsk: @Charliecondou how are you darling?x
Charliecondou: @misterhsk I'm good but this is silly now. WHEN??
misterhsk: @Charliecondou septembre (that's french)
Charliecondou: @misterhsk perfect! I'm going to be less busy in sept x
Charliecondou: RT @jackcullenuk: Get the new GT here for my feature "7 Grindr Shags in 7 Days" : http://t.co/VsWCp8x as condouned by @CharlieCondou (see what I did there?)
Charliecondou: I've just found out I'm the same age as @SachaLParkinson's Dad. This has made me thoroughly depressed
Charliecondou: Cameron accuses the police of "major miscalculation when violence erupted". Is that why he stayed on holiday?
norahsmoon: @Charliecondou yes poor old buck must get a bit dizzy... he gets passed around so much.
Charliecondou: @norahsmoon so true
Charliecondou: RT @SoSoGay: Opinion: Mums the word - the reality of gay parenting - http://ssg.tc/psZhie
Charliecondou: RT @Clean_Up_London: @Charliecondou We need more volunteers Please RT - If you would like to help with the #riotcleanup follow @Clean_Up_London for more info.
TnVol19: @Confidential_CC Congrats on 100+ & @Charliecondou on 23,000 followers! Gives the rest of us something to aspire to.
fenton-stevens: Driven to work in a Prius this morning. Fascinating watching it switch from petrol to battery. Small pleasures! X
Confidential_CC: @fentonstevens Our neighbour is an Oz dealer for Prius he's slowing making a fortune with sales x
fenton-stevens: @Confidential_CC I'm not surprised x
Confidential_CC: @fentonstevens hope your run is still going gangbusters and the crowds are still swarming x My grandchild due next week Friday eeeep!!!
fenton-stevens: @Confidential_CC how exciting! Best of luck x
MissCharleyWebb: Morning everyone.....hope you all have a nice Friday!
Charliecondou: @MissCharleyWebb When are we going out????
MissCharleyWebb: @Charliecondou Yes, when are we going out? Kym is back on Monday so some serious arranging needs to begin....how are you? X
Charliecondou: @MissCharleyWebb I'm good love. Let's go for dinner/drinks next week. I'll call her xxx
MissCharleyWebb: @Charliecondou maybe even an alcoholic beverage for me! Can you believe it! X
Charliecondou: This perfectly pitched article by @rustyrockets sums up the problem with dismissing the rioters as "mindless" http://t.co/L6iEYlg
Charliecondou: RT @SteveHuison: Only hours left to place bid on my signed #Corrie portraits.Cash maintains mental health drama project. http://t.co/LCbA2OK
Charliecondou: @SteveHuison I can't seem to find the one of me
JAMESINREHAB: Just read that sleeping face down onto the pillow gives u wrinkles. So that's where all the buggers are coming from!
Charliecondou: @JAMESINREHAB Theres a pillow-biter joke in there somewhere
jamieoliver: the ideas are for who I should #followfriday ?? I need suggestions #ff
Charliecondou: @jamieoliver *Cue thousands of "Follow me Jamie!" responses*
jamieoliver: followed both mate #ff RT @phillmiddleton: @jamieoliver #ff @fused_music britain best unsigned band give us some help as a fellow drummer
Charliecondou: @jamieoliver oh, I'm assuming you already follow @misterhsk
Charliecondou: @jamieoliver Now we just need to get Dexter on here
melaniejmoss: @Charliecondou @jamieoliver he's on here, just never tweets @dexfletch
Charliecondou: @melaniejmoss Ah so he is!
jackcullenuk: AS IF the Royal Family would let Pippa Middleton become a TV star! She's the sister-in-law of our future King. Utter rubbish. @GlamourMagUK
Charliecondou: @jackcullenuk very funny piece in GT x
jackcullenuk: @Charliecondou Thanks Charlie. Which piece would that be? And thanks again. xx
Charliecondou: @jackcullenuk The one about Grindr. The bit about Rollo made me lol on the train
jackcullenuk: Such a nice image: @CharlieCondou lolling at @GayTimesMag on a train. I'm picturing Friesian cows, the sun setting, Brent Corrigan adverts.
Charliecondou: @jackcullenuk The fleshlight one! How did you know?
GrumpyGayWill: #ff @Charliecondou - much better looking in real life @Nosheel_Rahi - so much bitchier in real life @grumpygayben - much grumpier than ne1
Charliecondou: @GrumpyGayWill Why thank you kindly x
caitlinmoran: @MrsLRCooper SCREAM blimey. You're the ONLY PERSON IN THE MEDIA WHO PAID FOR IT! I should give you a NON BLAGGING MEDAL.
Charliecondou: @caitlinmoran @MrsLRCooper I paid for it!!! (This may not be true)
Charliecondou: Go on, you know you want to RT @lgfoundation: Sing someone's praises this weekend - nominate your homo heroes http://t.co/i2tKDq9
lgfoundation: @Charliecondou There is nothing like the feeling of a Friday Corrie RT! Have a lovely weekend x
Charliecondou: @lgfoundation You too! X
Charliecondou: RT @Confidential_CC: @Charliecondou CELEBRATING 100 POSTS AT CHARLIE CONDOU CONFIDENTIAL http://t.co/LPi5Wms
david_w_ross: @Confidential_CC congrats!!
nannyhollyrixon: @Confidential_CC whoo hoo! Congrats!!!
JimRitchie16: @Confidential_CC nice one I will pop over to the blog :-)
HRWright: @Confidential_CC Congratulations - happy 100th post!
TnVol19: @Confidential_CC @Charliecondou Congrats! It's a fun blog!
Dear all,
Many thanks for the congratulatory tweets. I have only placed a handful here as it stretches on and on. In 4 months the blog has amassed very good figures. Charlie's fans are certainly enjoying catching up with his daily Twitterspondence.
No comments:
Post a Comment