Liv Boeree's WSOP Bracelet Auction Earns $10,200 for Charity

(Photo: Ebay.com)

Over 70 gold bracelets were handed out to winners of poker tournaments at this year's WSOP, but event organizers had some bling left over and donated a bracelet to Liv Boeree's charity where it fetched over $10K at auction.

The word on the street is that Phil Hellmuth, who failed to win a WSOP tournament this summer, placed the winning bid on the bracelet in order to add to his collection of 14 and increase his lead over the rest of the world.

All kidding aside, the bracelet was an extra from Event #2, the $10,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em Championship, a tournament that allowed teams to consist of anywhere from two to four players. Boeree and her significant other, Igor Kurganov, won the event as the only two players on their team.

Bids for Bling

WSOP organizers apparently readied four bracelets for the winning team, creating a surplus and no new owners to claim them. Instead of letting the unused bracelets simply gather dust and go to waste, one was given to the Raise for Effective Giving (REG) charity founded by a handful of poker pros that includes Boeree and Kurganov.

The next step was to auction the coveted jewelry on eBay where a total of 37 bids were placed over a span of ten days with a starting price of $2,000. The winning bid came in at $10,200 on July 18.  

The unnamed buyer now has a poker memento from the 2017 WSOP that can encourage him or her to perhaps win a gold bracelet of their own, or failing that, display the keepsake proudly as it obviously makes a heck of a conversation piece. Of course, let's not forget a good chunk of change going to a worthwhile charity.

Good REG, as Opposed to Bad Reg

REG was established in 2014 by a group of poker players as a way to give some of their winnings at the poker table back to the community. REG members (who don't have to necessarily play poker) typically donate 2% of their income to charities around the world that aim to fight poverty, save animals, and combat technology that poses risks to humanity.

Unlike some charities that use donated funds to pay exorbitant salaries of project directors and others, 100% of the funds collected by REG are earmarked for worthy causes.

Kurganov and Boeree also pledged half of their winnings from the Tag Team Event to REG, likening the funds to the portion that would have went to the third and fourth players on their team.

Poker players and others who would like to become REG members can do so at the organization's website.