When you hear about NBA players and gambling, it’s usually not anything positive. Stories about the extravagance of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley as they blew millions at the Vegas casinos don’t exactly paint the stars in a favorable light. But at least they fared better than Antoine Walker, who is millions of dollars in debt and facing various charges due to his unwise gambling practices, unwise business ventures, allegedly committing fraud and more. That’s why I wanted to share this story about Shawn Marion’s poker tournament, because it’s something positive for the NBA and gambling.

For those who don’t know Shawn Marion, he’s a forward who is currently with the Dallas Mavericks but has spent most of his time with the Phoenix Suns. He is known for being as extraordinary on offense as he is terrible on defense. It seems that he also loves playing poker and giving to charity, which made hosting a celebrity poker tournament a no-brainer.

On August 14, the Shawn Marion Celebrity Poker Tournament was held at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. At the tournament, players raised nearly $70,000 for the Shawn Marion Foundation. The poker tournament has a Texas no-limit hold’em game that drew 181 poker players from around the nation. Aside from Marion, the only “celebrities” I can count in attendance are Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and two poker players who have starred in the reality TV show Amazing Race, Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle. Professional poker players Annie Duke and T.J. Cloutier were also in attendance.

Even without a lot of big-name celebrities, the poker tournament was still a success. Though the charity was the main attraction, the top players in the tournament still won prizes. The guy who won it all took a seat in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. By the way, his name is James Dean, but I don’t think he’s related to the actor or the sausage guy. The poker player who came in second won an all-expenses paid strip to Hawai’i. The third-place finisher won a seat in the T.J. Cloutier/Choctaw Poker Classic. The player who finished fourth won a nice watch and the fifth-place finisher won two tickets to a Mavericks game and dinner with Shawn Marion. All of those prizes were donated by sponsors.

The Shawn Marion Foundation is dedicated to helping single-parent families and providing life-changing opportunities for the children. That is accomplished by providing grants and scholarships to the children, among other things.

There has long been a debate about whether poker, or specifically Texas hold’em should be considered gambling. The term “gambling” seems to imply taking part in a game of chance. Poker, on the other hand, requires a lot of skill, especially the Texas hold’em variation.

Last fall, a South Carolina Circuit Court overturned the convictions of 5 Mount Pleasant poker players, stating that since Texas hold’em is a game of skill and strategy, it is not affected by the state’s ban on gambling. The 5 poker players likely celebrated the ruling, possibly by having a huge poker night, but the fight isn’t over.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has appealed that court’s ruling. Normally, the appeal would go to the Court of Appeals, but the AG skipped that step and went straight to the state Supreme Court. His reasoning is that the legal issue deals with the wording of the constitution in regards to gambling.

In the earlier ruling, Circuit Court Judge Markley Dennis stated that a private game of Texas hold’em in one’s one home does not violate the state’s anti-gambling laws. The attorney general disagrees, stating that whether or not a game requires skill does not make a difference. Soon there should be a third opinion and one that counts much more than those two: one from the state Supreme Court. We’ll keep you posted.