Nearly everyone has caught the March Madness fever. The annual series of tournaments for NCAA men’ basketball is one of the most followed sporting events on television. It is also one of the most successful gambling opportunities in the world right now. Now, poker seems to have been infected by the so-called madness with the introduction of the March Madness poker tournament – the first one was just recently concluded.
SolveForWhyAcademy, a poker training site operated by Matt Berkey, is just recently concluded hosting a single-elimination heads-up poker tournament that ran from March 12 to March 14 in Las Vegas. The single-elimination heads-up poker tournament brought together 16 highly skilled poker pros who faced off towards the ultimate showdown. 50 percent of the proceeds from the event will go to the Raising for Effective Giving (REG) charity while the remaining 50 percent was put in the prize pool.
A decent number of well-known names in the poker world attended the event. For instance, Katie Stone, Jordan Young, Mike Del Vecchio and Jess Sylvia were among the participants of the $1,000-entry event. Also, commentary in the playoffs was be provided by Jason Somerville and Chris Soto on Twitch.
Furthermore, the public was also allowed to get involved via Berkey’s website where players were allowed to enter predictions for the winner in each match. Prizes available included a travel package for the upcoming March 23 Run it UP Reno tournament. In addition to this, any participant who donated to Raising for Effective Gaming (REG) during March Madness will be given the opportunity to participate in a drawing for additional prizes that includes a football jersey signed by Joe Montana.
Matt Berker expected to raise at least $8,000 for REG and the timing was perfect as he was able to take advantage of the NCAA tournament series to push his campaign. All the proceeds raised for the REG will be matched up to $10,000 by semi-pro high-stake poker player Dan Shak.