Perlmutter did not strike it rich
By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 27, 2008 at 9:43 a.m.
Updated August 27, 2008 at 9:43 a.m.
COORS FIELD -- Congressman Ed Perlmutter does not plan to give up his day job to become a professional poker player.
Still, the first-term Democrat from Golden said he had nothing to be ashamed of after playing in a celebrity tournament for nearly an hour-and-a-half Tuesday night before losing his money.
Perlmutter paid $500 to get into the charitable tournament benefiting the Paralyzed Veterans of America at Coors Field and ended up at a table with, among others, actor Ben Affleck and Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Both, he said, were very serious and very talented players.
Colorado's congressional card-shark was about 90 minutes into the game when he got a king-high flush and found himself in a betting war with a pharmaceutical representative across the table from him. She went all in, a confident Perlmutter went all in, and then she laid down an ace-high flush.
"And then this gal that I thought I was going to clean out, she cleans me out," was the congressman's morning-after report.
The tournament, which featured celebrities like Richard Dreyfuss, Sarah Silverman and Seth Meyers, raised about $50,000 for the veterans' organization, Perlmutter reported.
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