When Josh Chudnovsky walked into the PokerOrg Legends Lounge, two things stood out to those of us at the front desk. First, he looked really familiar. Second, he was clearly struggling to even stand up.
"It's worse when I'm tired," he explained.
His motorized scooter was out on the casino floor, and Josh had just labored his way up the three steps into the lobby. After a couple of minutes he asked if he could pull up a chair. That's when we remembered how we knew him.
Two years back, PokerOrg had profiled Josh's struggle with Parkinson's and how he overcame it to come to the World Series. Not long after that, poker pro Angela Jordison offered to put Josh into an event, and Josh accepted with the caveat that anything he earned would go to charity. Little did he or any of us know where that would lead.
Running, rats, and revival
This year, Josh, a mixed game player, was back at the World Series grinding as long as he could, and sometimes too long, he admitted. As he sat down, he looked at his shaking hands, bemused at his inability to control them. He'd played too late the night before, and he was paying for it. But then he smiled and broke into a bit.
Apart from being a golfer and poker player, Josh spent a long time on stage as a stand-up comedian. He kept his poker face as he wound through a story about finding himself on the subway in an empty car... empty except for what he thought was a rat, but...well, we'll save the punch line for when he tells you the joke (it's worth it).
"It took me six months to write that one," he said.
Fatigue and Parkinson's have nothing on the guy. He'll grind a game as long as he'll grind on a joke. And when he gets an idea, he runs with it. As he'll tell you, with Parkinson's, he finds it easier to run than he does to walk.
His most recent idea was reviving his charitable efforts. He formed a nonprofit he calls Shaky Bets (and yes, that's a Parkinson's joke, he says, and it's not offensive, it's amazing). The money he raises goes directly to people with Parkinson's who need financial help to get through their daily lives.
From dirty subway cars to the Dirty Diaper
With meds and rest, Josh can control his Parkinson's, but nothing stops his brain. Nothing stops the ideas. He made a ton of different shirts to support his charity, and then came The Dirty Diaper.
Fascinated by Nick Rigby (the poker player famous for his infamous "Dirty Diaper" hand), Josh created a t-shirt to celebrate the larger-than-life poker character. And then this year, he ran into Rigby again and pitched him an idea: a new t-shirt immortalizing Rigby, The Big Rig. There would only be two of the shirts in the world — one for Rigby and one that Rigby would sign for a charity auction.
Now, that shirt is up for auction on eBay. All proceeds will go directly to helping people with Parkinson's.
Josh has now left Vegas and gone to LA to see his doctor, but he vows he'll be back to the WSOP next year. And in the meantime, he'll be continuing to run whenever he can and as far as he needs to help people like him.
PokerOrg's Chris 'Lefty' Land and Will Thomas sat down with Josh to hear his story. Give it a watch at the top of this article, and then go bid on the shirt here.
