The World Series of Poker (WSOP) features players at the top of their games, with the “Main Event” the culmination of months of tournament play. In years past, the tournament’s approximately 80 games took place over the course of eight weeks. This year, due to COVID-19, the entire format changed, with games played over a series of days and held in a hybrid online and in-person format.

Gershon Distenfeld, of Bergenfield, has been playing poker as a hobby for close to 20 years, participating in three or four tournaments a year. This year, the hybrid format of the Main Event afforded him the opportunity to play in the WSOP tournament, “arguably the biggest poker tournament in the country,” he said. He made it through the early games, held last week, and emerged in the sixth spot overall, winning a seat at the nine-person table for the penultimate game in the tournament, to be held in-person in Las Vegas on Monday, December 28, and televised on ESPN. While ESPN will show the game on a delay, it can also be viewed on pokernews.com, where it will be live blogged beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern time that evening.

“I’ll fly out Motzei Shabbos,” Distenfeld said. “I’ll get tested and then enter quarantine until the game. They are creating a bubble for all ESPN staff and players.” No family will be allowed, and no spectators will be permitted at the game itself. “If anyone tests positive for COVID they will be disqualified,” he added.

In a phone interview with The Jewish Link, Distenfeld emphasized that he plays poker for the “thrill of the challenge, not the thrill of winning money or the thrill of gambling.” He noted that he “is very opposed to teenagers gambling” and “does not want to be considered an ambassador for the game of poker.”

“To me, poker is an intellectual challenge where I can use skills that I also use in my profession, like probability. Poker is an achievable sport,” Distenfeld said. “I will never be a basketball or football star, but poker uses skills I already have. There is definitely skill involved, plus an element of luck.”

He was quick to point out that gambling can be addictive for some people. For him, however, “poker is a game, a hobby.”

“Playing in a high-stakes tournament is not for most people,” Distenfeld said. “It works for me. I do it on a limited, controlled basis.

“This is a great accomplishment for me,” he continued. “I hope I go out there and win it.”

Distenfeld’s chances of winning are about one in 12, he said, since he is going in as the sixth seeded player. “I could come out of this in third place, or ninth, but I’ll win something for the charities,” he said. Participants in the December 28 game will take home anywhere from $100,000 to $1.5 million, depending on their success.

“I am not in this for personal financial gain,” he stated in a release. “I will be donating 100% of my poker winnings, net of any taxes, to charity. The charities I have chosen thus far encompass many of my and my wife Aviva’s personal areas of interest, which include organizations with proven track records in helping those less fortunate and more vulnerable improve their lives.”

Distenfeld has designated several charities to each receive a portion of his winnings: Minds Matter, an organization that helps “driven, low-income students succeed in college, create their future and change the world”; Yachad, dedicated to enhancing the life opportunities of Jewish individuals with developmental disabilities or other learning challenges; Project S.A.R.A.H. (Stop Abusive Relationships at Home), which works to overcome cultural, legal and religious barriers confronting victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse; and NCSY Relief Missions, harnessing teen volunteers to address disaster relief and food insecurity. The NCSY missions were named to honor the memory of Distenfeld’s parents.

Additionally, he will contribute a portion of his winnings to the Bergenfield food pantry. Distenfeld will be identifying other charities in the coming days to receive allocations from his winnings; the donated amounts will total anywhere from approximately $10,000 for each charity if he places ninth to as much as $285,000 for each if he wins the entire tournament. The Main Event winner will take home an additional $1 million, plus the “gold bracelet.”

“If I have not allocated all of my winnings by the time I am awarded the funds, I will contribute any excess amount into a charitable gift fund to be distributed at a later date,” Distenfeld noted.

For this year’s tournament, the early games were played on December 13 and 14, using a virtual format. Due to national and state gambling regulations, only residents of Nevada and New Jersey were permitted to participate, as online gambling is illegal in all other states. A second tournament for international players was held simultaneously, as there are laws prohibiting U.S. and international players from competing together in online play. Approximately 700 players competed nationally, and nearly 650 players participated in the international tournament. The nine participants who won the most chips in the U.S. tournament will compete live in the December 28 game; and the final game, which will be played in person on December 30, will feature the winners of both tournaments competing live.

Distenfeld, a global asset manager with AllianceBernstein and father of four, is a member of Congregation Beth Abraham. He is known in the community for his efforts to spearhead the campaign to start Yeshivat He’Atid, and is active in both shul and community affairs. He is also the author of a blog, The Right Side of History, at https://gershondistenfeld.blogspot.com.

By Jill Kirsch

�