And the winner is...the KIDS! #WPBT Gives Back

The stars finally aligned. The money has been delivered.

From the beginning, I had worried a lot about the perception of this charity tournament. There's a lot of scammers in the poker world. I always hoped that this tournament would go smoothly so I wouldn't be stuck holding a pile of money that was meant for the kids or give anyone the idea that this wasn't what it seemed.

As it turns out, my wife used to work with the Administrative Assistant at the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester. The always beautiful OhCountess called her old friend and got me the low down on how we could arrange to deliver the moolah.

Did I mention what the final total was?

I've never been more proud of this group of people. By group of people I mean many of you reading this. 61 people registered for the tournament. So right off the top, we created a donation of $305, not too shabby at all, but you know what, we didn't stop giving. (This is the part that actually chokes me up)

BloodyP shipped me some extra money before the tournament ever started. He wanted to give more then the $5 the tournament was collecting so added more to the donation. Drizz missed registering for the tournament so he shipped the money he would have donated playing. After busting but continuing her BuddyDank duties, Joanada didn't feel like she gave enough, and added more too.

And it didn't end there (cue the misty eyes):
I was having a nice run of cards and still very much alive in the tournament, so Full Tilt was still open on my laptop. Peacecorn busts and pop! The "Money has been transfered to your account" window popped up. All of Gracie's winnings were now in my account...and then all of TBA 's winnings were in my account and then again all of Blaargh 's winnings! One by one the money winners were just shipping back their winnings. Numbbono added more money while listening to Joanada tell why this was a good cause. Willwonka busted and added more too. I (always link to yourself, right JJOK?) busted, wait, my $45 was going to my account any ways...no transfer pop-up.

And then, the one that really got me. The one guy that inspired all of this. The one guy who's lovely bride wrote so well why the Ronald McDonald House is such a great place. Lightning36 shipped all of the first place money PLUS every penny of the last longer money with a reminder to me to just add all of mine and OhCountess's last longer contribution (Add $20 from us). A $126.75 transfer was in my account.

Subtotal from the actual tournament night: $655.30. My goal was $500.

But you guys weren't done yet.

Jordan, from HighOnPoker, sent money via PayPal, so did VinNay, and then MemphisMojo on top of his tournament contribution gave more too.

Holy crap!

Those last contributions brought it to $755.30.

I wanted to make sure I accounted for every penny. Complete transparency. If anyone needs them, I've kept all receipts and proofs of transfers and can provide them for you. We raised $755.30. Thank you.

Yesterday, I had the day off. I packed up the kiddos. I asked to see my wife's friend and we introduced ourselves. I explained what happened and where the money was from. I even showed them Mrs. Lightning36's blog post. They were very moved.

This is the picture of me giving them a cashier's check for the total of $755.30. Yes, every penny, no rounding. I ate the cost of the cashier's check. Big spender, I know.

I asked them to make sure to use the money so that other families can have a great experience as Lightning and his family did. It's places like the Ronald McDonald House that help make a horrible life moment a little more bearable.

Thank you.

Please note: If I posted your name and you really wanted to be anonymous, let me know right away and I'll anonymize your name and remove your link. I'm very sorry about that. No one told me they didn't want to be listed but I also wanted to make sure everything is accounted for.