Accountant Bests Einhorn and Ackman in Charity Poker Game
Peter Doherty wins charity Hold’em tournament to raise over $400,000
Friday 15th June 2007
An accountant beat all comers including hedge-fund managers David Einhorn and William Ackman and helped to raise more than $400,000 at a Manhattan charity poker tournament this week.
Peter Doherty from nearby Chatham, New Jersey- based hedge-fund firm Appaloosa Management LP took first prize in the No Limit Texas Hold’em competition at the W Hotel in Midtown.
The event lasted until almost one o’clock in the morning and benefited Washington, DC’s Hillel: The Foundation For Jewish Campus Life. The champion walked away with a trip to next month's World Series Of Poker event in Las Vegas, where Einhorn will also compete after paying his own way.
“Las Vegas is going to be interesting because I've never played in anything remotely that size,' said the winner. “I'm just going to try to play the way I like to play, steady and slow and conservative until it requires me to become a little more aggressive.'
Einhorn, the founder of Greenlight Capital LLC, placed 18th among more than 8,700 contestants at last year’s WSOP and he joined Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, in not making the top ten.
For the charity event, Einhorn wore the lucky blue sweatshirt he sported to last year's WSOP event decorated with paint handprints of his wife and three children. He also donated his $659,730 in prize money to charity.
'I was thinking about dressing normally, maybe wearing my New Jersey Devils hat,' said Doherty.
An accountant beat all comers including hedge-fund managers David Einhorn and William Ackman and helped to raise more than $400,000 at a Manhattan charity poker tournament this week.