Russell Westbrook’s annual charity poker night has raised $912,500 in Las Vegas, with Phil Ivey, Michael Mizrachi, Alan Keating and Bill Perkins among the poker names helping push the six-year fundraising total to almost $3 million.
The sixth Why Not? Foundation Poker Night was held at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on September 18, but the final fundraising figure and tournament details were released on September 22. It was the event’s first visit to Fontainebleau’s members-only Poodle Room and, for once, the biggest number attached to a Las Vegas poker night had nothing to do with a first prize.
$912,500 Raised in One Night
The event was staged in partnership with the World Poker Tour Foundation and brought professional players together with athletes, entertainers and supporters of Westbrook’s foundation. The $912,500 raised takes the Poker Night’s cumulative total to nearly $3 million across six editions, up from more than $2 million before this year’s event.
The money supports education, workforce development and mental-health programs in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City. That includes Westbrook Academy, the South Los Angeles public charter school launched in 2020, as well as youth camps, community meals and continuing support for families rebuilding after the Eaton Fire.
There was still a proper poker tournament in the middle of the fundraising. Professional player Michail Grigorev eventually won the 2026 title, outlasting a final table that included Princess Love and filmmaker Randall Emmett.
Phil Ivey Turns Up and Starts Busting People
The guest list was unusually strong even by celebrity charity-event standards. Eleven-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey joined Michael Mizrachi, Alan Keating and Bill Perkins, while DeAndre Jordan and Harrison Barnes were among the basketball names sitting down alongside Westbrook.
Ivey arrived late and apparently had no interest in treating the cards as decoration. He quickly accumulated chips before eliminating both Mayor Holt and Westbrook, with one featured hand seeing Ivey move all-in for 33,000 and Westbrook make the call. The result sent the host to the rail, which is one way to thank somebody for inviting you.
Ivey remains one of the defining names in modern poker and features in Poker Type’s look at poker’s most famous high-stakes players. Seeing him turn up for a charity tournament alongside players such as Keating and Mizrachi also says something about how these events work when they get the mix right: the poker has to be entertaining enough for serious players without forgetting why everybody is in the room.
A $10,000 Seat With No Traditional Prize Pool
This was not a normal high roller dressed up with a charitable label. Tournament seats were offered at $10,000, including admission for two guests and a one-night Fontainebleau stay, while general admission was $1,500 for an attendee and guest. The tournament offered prizes, but all proceeds benefited the Why Not? Foundation rather than feeding a conventional cash payout structure.
That distinction matters in a poker calendar where five-figure buy-ins are routine. The same $10,000 that can disappear in one cooler at a major festival was being used here as the entry point for a fundraiser, with the foundation turning the evening into support for programs that operate long after the chips have been packed away.
The World Poker Tour Foundation has been a long-term partner of the event. That connection gives Poker Night a professional tournament backbone while leaving room for the celebrity element, something poker has leaned on for decades when raising money for charitable causes.
Westbrook Makes the Final Hand
Westbrook was not simply the name on the invitation. The former NBA MVP played deep into his own tournament and reached the final hand of his run before Ivey sent him out. Hosts of charity poker events are normally expected to mingle, smile for photographs and avoid busting too early. Making Ivey work for the elimination is a respectable addition to the job description.
This year’s field also underlined how easily poker can bridge different corners of sport and entertainment. Princess Love has extensive televised poker experience, while Keating and Perkins are familiar faces from high-stakes cash games and Mizrachi is one of tournament poker’s most decorated players. Westbrook and the NBA contingent brought an entirely different audience into the room.
Poker Type has seen the same crossover appeal around major festival events, including the WSOP Paradise Pro-Am bracelet event, where poker is being deliberately mixed with athletes and personalities from outside the usual tournament circuit.
Nearly $3 Million Across Six Poker Nights
The useful number at the end of this one is not Grigorev’s chip count. Raising $912,500 in a single evening means the Why Not? Poker Night has now generated almost $3 million over six years, and the foundation has attached clear destinations to that money rather than treating the event as a one-night publicity exercise.
Westbrook founded the Why Not? Foundation in 2012, with its work now spanning education, youth sport, workforce development, mental health and direct community support. The poker night has grown into one of its signature annual fundraisers, and moving the event to Fontainebleau did not slow that momentum.
For poker, it was also a useful reminder of what the game can do away from rankings, bracelets and seven-figure payouts. Put Ivey, Mizrachi, Keating and a room full of competitive athletes around the same tables and people will inevitably care who wins. This time, though, the $912,500 raised before the cards were cleared away was the result that mattered.
