2023 WSOP Winner Auctioning Bracelet to Benefit Cancer Research
Just weeks before the 2024 World Series of Poker, one of last year's bracelet winners has put his WSOP hardware up for auction to raise money for cancer research.
Last July, Paul Berger won the summer closer $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em for his first bracelet and $212,645 after defeating a tough heads-up opponent, Brazilian super pro Yuri Dzivielevski Now, Berger is auctioning that bracelet and will donate the proceeds to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The bracelet is listed for auction on the fundraising platform GiveSmart, giving the golden band a value of $5,000. The auction is live until May 18 at 8 p.m. Pacific Time.
"Every summer poker players flock to the city of sin to try their hand at winning one of poker's most prestigious and sought-after awards: a World Series of Poker gold bracelet," the auction listing reads. "Enjoy this coveted (collectible) with case and event engraving today!"
It isn't the first charitable deed by Berger, a wildlife photographer whose Instagram shows him traveling the world and documenting nature's wonders. The bracelet winner who won six figures last year told PokerNews "I play poker for fun and donate the prize money that I win."
"To me it made sense to donate the bracelet as well," he said. "The more I can help with poker winnings the better. I’ve been very fortunate in life and this is a great way to give back and for me it makes poker more fun knowing that my winnings help others."
Berger told PokerNews the same thing in a winner's interview last summer. "The fact that I've got the biggest score of my life and it'll go to a good cause is very cool."
This is not the first WSOP bracelet to be auctioned off for charity. 2008 Main Event champion Peter Eastgate famously auctioned his bracelet to William Haughey for $147,500 after a bidding war with Tony G.
Others who have auctioned bracelets for charity over the years include 2017 Tag Team winners Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov and Max Pescatori, who auctioned his 2015 bracelets for earthquake relief in Italy.
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