Sharks show they are not all bite

News / Editor / 13 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Two players at the World Series of Poker have managed to keep their successes in perspective to show there is more to life than the huge pot they have just taken down, writes Rob Eddy.

After three-days of gruelling action in Event 12, $1,500 Limit Hold'em, Jimmy Schultz, playing in his very first WSOP tournament, managed to see off 882 other players to land his first WSOP gold bracelet and top prize of $257,936.

Not a bad return for the mortgage broker who, by his own admission, is going through some troubled waters at the moment.

But the generous 37-year-old has decided to donate 25 per cent of his winnings to a fund for his local fire department which suffered a tragic accident in June of last year.

"This is near a year to the day of the tragedy. All of them perished. In their remembrance and to honor my community, I wear all of their t-shirts and hats all week," Schultz said.

"It's not about me. It's all about them. I said that coming in. I prayed about it and I am just thrilled to death that I can do something for my community to make it a little bit better for those folks in Charleston County."

And Schultz was not the only player to share his new-found wealth as Eric Brooks donated his entire winning purse of $415,856 to the Decision Education Foundation, which educates students in grades K-12 on the science of decision making.

Brooks' victory in Event 14, the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship, came despite a relatively short chip stack in the final table against the likes of Erik Seidel, Alexander Kostritsyn and Vassilios Lazarou, while he was also down in the count against Fu Wong but still managed to turn it around - and now his students will get to share the wealth.