The 58-year-old gave Hollywood Reporter details on how he’s
giving away his huge fortune before he passes away.
“I have more money than I’m interested in spending,” he
said. “Everyone in my family is taken care of. And I enjoy this.”
Much of the money has gone to Save the Children, PETA and
his own foundation, which benefits hungry people and dogs in need of rescue.
Of course, we know him in the poker world as one of our own,
as he’s been a mainstay at the World Series of Poker for a number of years.
Little did I realize, before doing some Hendon Mob research,
that Simon has played tournament poker for two decades. His first listed
cash is a victory in a $100 Seven Card Stud event at the 1995 Big Poker
Oktober.
I’ve never spoken to Simon, but I semi-railed him as the
players at the 2007 WSOP main event made it close to the cash. I was getting some
color for a PokerWorks blog post that day, floating around the Amazon room at
the Rio.
As any of you who have witnessed that period during the main
event knows, it’s a heady, nervous time, as players on the bubble try to creep
into the money. There’s a massive difference for most players between going
home with zero and about $20,000.
As I watched, none other than fellow WSOP mainstay Norm
McDonald was standing on Simon’s rail, the poker player celebrity club rooting
for each other. I chatted some with
McDonald (I had met him at the previous WSOP) as he followed his friend, who
would occasionally walk over to talk to the comedian.
Simon would make it through that day, going on to finish 329th
for $39,445. He’d cash several more times in future WSOPs, including a 20th
place in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship in 2009 for $24,066 and 500th
in the 2011 main event, netting $23,876.
It’s not like he needed the cash. He had his hands on “Taxi”
and “Cheers,” among other television classics. The man is worth a mint.
It’s a pleasure to see a man in Simon’s position be as philanthropic
with his money as he has been, and I for one will pray that he can beat this
cancer and sit at the green felt at the WSOP once again.