Casino Night for a Cause

By Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld, Staff writer | February 3, 2017

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The 2017 Bulls & Blackjack Celebrity Poker Night took place Feb. 2 before Super Bowl LI weekend. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)

Guests gathered last night at Dr. Quang and Staci Henderson’s River Oaks home for the 2017 Bulls & Blackjack Celebrity Poker Night. The star-studded crowd enjoyed the poker tournament and casino soiree with proceeds benefiting three local nonprofits: The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, WithMerci Foundation and The Wade Smith Foundation.

Event hosts were Adrian Grenier, Wade and Rita Smith, Staci and Quang Henderson, Neil and Maria Bush, Chris and Jennifer Myers, Kevin and Caroline Walter, Stan and Amanda Abiassi, Neera Patida, Jon and Amanda Weeks, Lane and Chita Craft, Bill Frank, Timothy Bedore, Angela Lipsey, Gilad Lutfak, Erin Kemp, Tracy and Harry Faulkner and Kat Kearns.

Celebrity guests spotted in the crowd included professional poker player and TV personality Maria Ho, “The Rocket” aka Roger Clemens, host of American Ninja Warrior and former Oakland Raider Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, former Houston Texans player Owen Daniels, actor Adrian Grenier (Vince Chase from Entourage), Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, former Houston Texans player Arian Foster, former Houston Texans player Chris Myers, former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, and more. Houstonians included supporters of each nonprofit and many were from Buzz neighborhoods.

The Vegas-style evening of entertainment was a fun and charitable way to kick off The Big Game weekend.

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Julie Baker Finck and Ron Finck. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Staci Henderson and Anika Jackson. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Lance Vanover and Joe Farina. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Nicole Moreno and Whitney Mercilus. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Chris Smith, Karen Winston, Nicole Moreno and Whitney Mercilus. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Paul Edmonds and Mari Salazar. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Chris Myers, Dee Ann and Marcus Thigpen. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Actor Adrian Grenier with Buzz editor Joni Hoffman. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Kim Seline Trimble, Jackie Sheahan, Nicole Moreno, Whitney Mercilus, James Miller and Karen Wiseman. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Kim Seline Trimble, Karen Winston and Chris Smith. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
James Miller, Jackie Sheahan, Nicole Moreno and Whitney Mercilus. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
James Miller, Jackie Sheahan, Guillermu Guefeu, Kim Seline Trimble and Karen Wiseman. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Chris Gerow and Kim Seline Trimble. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Harry Faulkner, Tracey Faulkner and Corbett Parker. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
Akbar Gbaja-Biamila (host of American Ninja Warrior and former Oakland Raider) with Buzz editor Joni Hoffman. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)
"The Rocket" Roger Clemens and Jim "Wild Wild" West. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)