Breaking Bad Star David Costabile wins Stars CALL for Action Charity Tournament for $100,000

Breaking Bad and Billions star David Costabile took down the Stars CALL for Action celebrity pro-am tournament on PokerStars this weekend, winning $100,000 for the coronavirus relief charity of his choice…

Costabile, who played methamphetamine chemist Gale Boetticher on Breaking Bad and is currently starring as Mike Wags Wagner on Showtime’s Billions, was among a host of A-list celebrities taking part in the event.

Friends’ stars Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer, film actors Edward Norton and Macaulay Culkin, as well as footballers Neymar Jr and Chelsea’s Wayne Bridge all ponied up the $10,000 buy-in, with host site PokerStars adding $1million to the prizepool.

The celebrities battled it out at 6-player Shootout tables to join a slew of well-known pros in the final 23 – 2003 WSOP Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker and poker/chess maestro Jennifer Shahade among them – as well as half-a-dozen qualifiers, including Arlie Shaban and Felix Schneiders.

The tournament, organised by Hank Azaria of Simpson’s fame and film director Andy Bellin, as we previewed earlier in the week, came down to a final six.

Bryan Cranston bubbled the half dozen who would all win money for their chosen COVID-19 relief charities - Costabiles fellow Breaking Bad star running into Juventus and Brazil winger Douglas Costa’s pocket rockets.

Moneymaker fell in 5th at the hands of Casey Affleck, nevertheless booking $20,000 for a good cause, and Costa disposed of chess International Master and Chinese poker expert Jen Shahade, despite being dominated in a big ace vs ace battle, the flop and turn sealing Shahade’s fate in 3rd place.

♦ ♣ ♠ ♥

Shahade: A♣ Q♣

Costa: A♦ 10♣

Board: 8♦ K♦ J♦ Q♦ A♠

The heads-up finale saw Costa losing a big chip lead, Costabile fighting back and closing out the win in a classic small pocket pair versus Big Slick showdown.

Final Table Results

Additionally, the celebrities that finished second at their shootout tables were invited to a special “Second Chance” tournament where the winner was awarded $50,000 to donate to charity. English footballer Wayne Bridge wound up winning that tournament to close out a fun day of festivities.