Broadway Cares is auctioning off three poker nights with celebrity guests as a fundraiser. The auction will allow the winners to play in home games with stars that include Jon Hamm, Lisa Kudrow, Hank Azaria, Rachel Bloom, and Kevin Pollack.
Broadway Cares is a charity that raises funds in order to help those people in the United States who are affected by HIV/AIDS. The charity helps provide the lifesaving medication, healthy meals, or emergency assistance that would normally be provided by the state's safety net in a developed country.
Full disclosure to those donating with the HIV crisis in mind: it is worth your noting that since COVID began "Broadway Cares has adapted and expanded its programming to support the Broadway community through more than a year of being shut down."
The charity's expanded efforts are conducted largely through the support of The Actor's Fund. The goal of this fund is to ensure that actors can access healthcare during periods of unemployment. This is still a good cause, but donors should always do their own research.
The Broadway Cares Twitter account announced the event, writing: "Calling all card sharks! Auctions are now open to win a chance to go all in against stars like @IJasonAlexander, @HankAzaria, @Racheldoesstuff, @LisaKudrow, and more in virtual Texas Hold 'em games. Auctions close Thursday, June 10."
What money can buy
Each of the auction lots is for a two-hour game with a selection of three celebrities. There will be three seats available in each lot, so the auction-winner can bring a couple of friends along, or else split the cost three ways with a couple of strangers or frenemies.
The three lots that are up for auction are:
- Play Poker with Rachel Bloom, Jon Hamm & Jimmi Simpson on June 18 via Zoom
- Play Poker with Michael Ian Black, Brad Garrett & Kevin Pollak on June 26 via Zoom
- Play Poker with Jason Alexander, Hank Azaria, & Lisa Kudrow on June 27 via Zoom
While the charity does not permit players to take screengrabs or recordings of the Zoom call, the experience will be recorded for them. The charity will give a to each participant and may use the footage in promotional materials.
Which table to buy?
At the time of writing, there are no bids on the first two lots. If you want a romantic evening playing cards on Zoom with Don Draper, the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and one of the McPoyle twins, it's still going cheap. Though you might want to bid soon and dozens of people are watching all three auctions.
Naturally, for the one with the F.R.I.E.N.D., bidding is already underway. Lisa Kudrow's table currently stands at $5,000-did-I hear-five-five.
Lisa Kudrow tweeted about the event, "I wonder who will have the best poker face..? Find out on June 27!" Kudrow's table looks likely to be one of the softer ones.
Several of the players involved in the games are known card sharks. In fact, Hank Azaria has his own home game on PokerStars. Both Jon Hamm and Michael Ian Black joined him on that show. Brad Garrett was known to play with Ray Romano on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond and has entered a few WSOP main events in his time.
The rules say that there will be no real money-changing hands. But if you get a table with Jon Hamm or Hank Azaria, there's probably gonna be some side action going.
The auctions will all finish on June 10. If you want to bid, you can do so on the Charity Buzz website.
Featured image source: Flickr by slgckgc
