WPT Celebrity Invitational Champions Freddy Deeb and Adam Weinraub Reminisce about a Fun Moment in Time in WPT History

We caught up with a few of the former WPT Celebrity Invitational winners here at Commerce Casino to get their thoughts on one of the most fun tournaments in the history of the World Poker Tour. Adam Weinraub and Freddy Deeb shared their memories about the festive event, and took a look back at the final tables they won during the yesteryears of the L.A. Poker Classic.

Adam Weinraub Formed Lifelong Friendships During his Celebrity Invitational Victory in Season V

Adam Weinraub (pictured above) got his seat in the Season V WPT Celebrity Invitational by bidding on it at a charity auction for the Susan G. Komen organization. “WPT raised a lot of money for charities, which is how I got my seat in the first place. They donated a seat for the Susan G. Komen foundation, and I bid on it. I think I bid like $6,000 or $7,000, which I wasn’t doing so much for the seat as I was to raise money for the Susan G. Komen organization,” said Weinraub. When he then won the tournament, Weinraub also donated 20 percent of his top prize of $100,000. He was also glad that he won because the Susan G. Komen organization was mentioned multiple times on air to bring further publicity to their cause.

Weinraub topped a field of 420 players that included poker professionals and celebrities like Don Cheadle, Dick Van Patten, Ron Livingston, Mekhi Phifer, Maura Tierney, Ricki Lake, Jon Favreau, Vince Vaugh, and Paris Hilton. “It’s probably the most entertaining and fun tournament I’ve ever played, and not just specifically that year, but every subsequent one as well. It was a much different experience than a typical tournament,” said Weinraub.

He also enjoyed the extra mile the WPT and Commerce Casino went for that event by providing dinner and cocktails to make it a nice evening no matter where you finished in the event. “We would have cocktails, which if you’re doing any kind of fund-raising cocktails are a good thing [laughs]. It was almost kind of a party atmosphere. The first couple hours it was all party, party, party, and everyone having fun and a good time. Then you could tell when it was transitioning and getting more serious as the tournament progressed,” said Weinraub.

Weinraub fondly remembers the group of players at his final table, which had a tough lineup for a celebrity tournament. “Myself excluded, the cream definitely rose to the top. We had a pretty good and experienced final table, people that have obviously played a lot of poker. Tim West who is certainly a good poker player, and Miami John Cernuto was there who obviously plays a lot of poker and has made a career of it. There was Nick Cassavetes, who wasn’t really a tournament player per say, but definitely played a ton of high-stakes cash games. And Glenn Morshower was just a great guy; he was the actor that made it to the final table. I’ve seen him at Commerce playing cash games here and there, so it’s not like he’s a stranger to poker, he didn’t just luck box his way there. It wasn’t like it was a bunch of flunkies at the final table,” said Weinraub.

Weinraub came away from that tournament with more than prizes and a trophy, he also made some lifelong friends as well. “I think we had some nice friendships that formed. When Tim West comes to town he stays at my house. Even now, I’ll rip Tim and tell him, ‘I’m going to play in the Tournament of Champions, but you’re not allowed to play.’ It’s all in good fun though,” said Weinraub.

In addition to West, Weinraub has also become good friends with WPT Commentator Vince Van Patten. The last two years they have been working together to make the upcoming poker-based movie Walk to Vegas. “Quite frankly if it wasn’t for that tournament I wouldn’t have forged the friendship that I’ve got now with Vince, which led to this movie. It’s funny how things work out. Or for that matter I wouldn’t have become involved in ShopWPT.com. The relationship and friendship with the WPT that’s been built over the years has just been a great thing,” said Weinraub. He continued, “The whole experience was just really life changing; it was really a great, great experience for me.”

Freddy Deeb Beat Actor Nick Gonzalez for the Celebrity Invitational Title in Season VII

Freddy Deeb (pictured above) won the WPT Celebrity Invitational in Season VII. Deeb topped a field of 433 players, and his final table included Scott Clements and actor Nick Gonzalez, who actually made the heads-up final. “I played Nick Gonzalez heads up at the final table. He played good, but I just got lucky you know,” said Deeb. He also took home $100,000 for his win in the tournament as Weinraub did two years before.

Among the celebrities in the field that year were Jon Hamm (around the time that Mad Men started airing), Aaron Paul (one year before Breaking Bad premiered), Marlon Wayans, Jose Canseco, Scott Ian, and Shannon Elizabeth.

“It was fun playing with celebrities, but with over 400 players there were still a lot of good players at the same time. It was like a party tournament, it was different, and it wasn’t like people were playing serious. It was a nice tournament,” said Deeb when he was asked about the atmosphere at the tournament.

Deeb thinks the WPT Celebrity Invitational helped kick-start other charity events, and it brought great publicity to Commere Casino and the WPT. “It started a lot of charity events,” said Deeb.

Deeb also agreed with Weinraub that the dinner party hosted before the start of play was key to creating the fun atmosphere for the evening. “It was more of a pleasure tournament, people were having fun, they had dinner, and they socialized before the tournament. They had a good buffet and food so people were socializing, they didn’t just come to play poker, they socialized and had fun,” said Deeb.