GreasieWheels Blog

MMA Legend Randy Couture Hosts Charity Poker Tournament and Halloween Bash at Golden Nugget

Third Annual “Operation All In” fundraiser for Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation

Mixed Martial Arts legend Randy “The Natural” Couture will host the third annual “Operation All In” charity poker tournament and auction fundraiser benefiting the Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, Saturday, Oct. 30 starting at 2 p.m in The Grand events center.

This event is open to the public and will include; a celebrity charity poker tournament featuring professional poker players, MMA and Hollywood celebrities; live and silent auctions offering MMA memorabilia, and dinner with Couture and a one-hour personal MMA lesson; autograph sessions with photo opportunities; raffle prizes; and a Halloween after party inside Gold Diggers. Proceeds will benefit injured US soldiers.

Confirmed participants include MMA fighters include Randy Couture, Tyson Griffin, Ryan Couture, Martin Kampmann, Gray Maynard, Jason Ron, Ray Sefo, Mike Pyle and John Alessio, David Zayas of “Dexter” and “The Expendables,” pop artist Michael Godard, and professional poker players Howard Lederer,  Andy Bloch, Layne Flack, Jon Friedberg, Gavin Smith, Perry Friedman, Antonio Esfandiari, James Mordue, Todd Brunson, Nick and Michael Binger, Dutch Boyd, Lacey Jones, Matt Savage, and “Donk Down Radio” personality Bryan Micon and “Raw Vegas’” Dave Farra.

The winner of the “Operation All In” charity poker tournament will take home $10,000 in cash and top finishers will win valuable sponsored product prizes.

The buy-in for “Operation All In” is $225 with $100 multi re-buys. Tournament participants will also receive free entry to the first annual Randy Couture Halloween bash starting at 8 p.m. inside Gold Diggers nightclub overlooking the Fremont Street Experience. For those not wishing to participate in the poker tournament, general admission tickets to the Halloween bash will be available for $25 at the door.

“Operation All In” is sponsored and supported by Deepstacks, Poker Players Alliance, Full Tilt Poker, Xtreme Couture MMA, Lord Griffon, Godard Art, and the Golden Nugget.

Seats are limited. Tournaments seats may be purchased in advance inside the Golden Nugget Poker Room, by calling (702) 386-8383 or (800) 777-4658, ext. 8164, or by email at poker@goldennugget.com. Participants may also register on the day of the event. For more information visit www.xtremecouturegifoundation.org or www.goldennugget.com.

Jimmy Button Rides Across US For Spinal Research

On October 6th, former motocross champion Jimmy Button and, then, trainer Cory Worf were joined by more than a dozen other riders, starting their trek across America on bicycles. The estimated 2,428 miles from San Diego, California, to Daytona Beach, Florida. Their objective is to raise money for spinal cord research.

In January 2000, Jimmy was a Factory Yamaha motocross racer and Cory was his personal trainer and best friend. On January 22nd of that year Jimmy suffered paralyzing injuries when he crashed during practice for the San Diego round of the AMA Supercross series. The injuries sustained was a pinched spinal cord in the C-2 to C-6 region of his neck leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, and considered an incomplete quadriplegic. After many months of rehabilitation he was able to regain movement and be one of the very fortunate few that ever recover from these types of injuries. During this time, Cory was ever present in the long rehab process.

Now, ten years later, Jimmy and Cory are teaming up to ride bicycles from the place of his accident (Qualcomm Stadium) to Daytona International Speedway to raise money for those people that were not so fortunate after suffering a spinal cord injury. The goal is to raise money for the very important research that is going on that could end the suffering a person goes through after having injured their spinal cord.

At approximately 2428 miles and averaging 60 miles per day, the ride is expected to take nearly 2 months.

Follow Jimmy's quest at www.milesformiraclestoday.com