Poker pro Tom McEvoy, who won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event 26 years ago, will be the special guest celebrity at a charity poker tournament later this week in Pahrump, Nevada, USA, the town formerly known as Stateline, Nevada, USA.

The charity tourney is to benefit the Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The event will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at the Pahrump Convention Center.

The tournament will have a buy-in of $60, with rebuys available.

The event will be limited to 100 participants and is open to the public.

The winner of the charity tourney will receive free lessons–worth $1,800–from the WSOP Academy, a poker school in Las Vegas taught by top pros.

McEvoy, who lives in Las Vegas, will participate in the charity tournament and give amateurs from the public a chance to play against a top poker professional.

According to official tournament records, McEvoy has won over $2 million in his career playing offline tournament poker.

In addition to winning the 1983 WSOP Main Event, he has won three other WSOP tournaments, giving him a total of four WSOP championship gold bracelets for his career.

In all, he has finished in the money in 37 WSOP events in his lifetime.

His most prestigious win, however, may be the one that didn’t earn him any money.

Earlier this year, at the 2009 WSOP in Las Vegas, he took part in the first-ever Champions Invitational, an unofficial WSOP event that was open only to past winners of the WSOP Main Event.

McEvoy beat out 19 other former Main Event champs to win the special tournament, earning a 1970 Chevrolet Corvette and lots of prestige, but no prize money.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.) ?