Students, faculty and staff will get a chance to prove their poker skills when one of the top poker players in the world visits campus for a tournament Sunday.
Daniel Negreanu, the World Series of Poker's Player of the Year in 2004, will be on hand to play the best poker players at OSU. Participants in the tournament will compete for the chance to play against Negreanu.
Habitat for Humanity will team up with the Ohio Union Activities Board, which will be hosting its first annual "Texas hold 'em" poker tournament in the Ohio Union Ballrooms. The charity event, which costs $10 to enter, will benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Negreanu will be giving a brief speech about the game of poker, his own strategies and tips after the tournament. He will also speak about gambling responsibility.
"People in college are at the right age where they need to be gambling responsibly," said Brent Leaman, event coordinator for Habitat for Humanity. "They need to know how to gamble responsibly and I think this is a good opportunity for people."
Leaman said about 60 participants have signed up and they are expecting about 300. He said the number of rounds they will be having will depend on the number of people entering.
The tournament will consist of tables of eight to 10 people, and the winner of each table will win a gift card to a local area business, Leaman said. The winner of the entire tournament will win an engraved gold bracelet that was purchased by Habitat for Humanity, he said.
OUAB purchased all of the tables and chips for the tournament.
Mary Stamm, coordinator for OUAB, said they were excited to get Negreanu because he is such a popular player. They had been working on getting a top-notch poker player since January and Negreanu worked perfectly, she said.
"We made a few phone calls to some poker players and when we spoke with (Negreanu) he was the most talkative and most excited about coming to Ohio State," Stamm said. "He is a big name and is great when talking with students. He even offered to come in at a cheaper price because the event is such a good cause."
Stamm would not reveal how much they paid for Negreanu's participation.
The event is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
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