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On Sunday, June 10, the World Series of Poker will kick off the $1,000 no-limit hold’em Ladies World Championship. But Event #17 isn’t just another women’s poker tournament, as the second Queen of Hearts crusade has become a personal one for me. Three weeks ago my mother completed her last radiation treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer over the holidays.

This year, Lisa Tenner and her private army of associates joined forces with WSOP Commissioner Jeffery Pollack for a second year to raise awareness and money for two special causes - The Nevada Cancer Research Institute and the American Heart Association.

I had the pleasure of meeting with all eighteen players and representatives of the NCI and AHA last night at a cocktail party and dinner hosted by Pollack at the elite Brandon Ogden restaurant inside Caesars Palace. Seated next to NCI Vice President Clark P. Dumont and his lovely wife Annie, their words of inspiration helped to calm my fears of competing in my very first WSOP event. We women were reminded of our purpose, and

Eighteen women will make up the Queen of Hearts Team led by Lisa Tenner and Mimi Rogers. And this year’s line-up will battle it out on the felt to raise record-breaking funds for two very worthy causes. Joining the ranks are Jennifer Tilly, poker pros J.J. Liu, Vanessa Rousso, Clonie Gowen, Isabelle Mercier, 2006 winner Mary Jones, and back-to-back WSOP bracelet winner Susie Isaacs. Also representing are Jennifer “Jennocide” Leigh, founder of the Ladies Poker Tour Crystal Osgood Gray, high powered real estate broker Elizabeth Shepherd, attorney and Florida magistrate Mary Magazine, the president of luxury watchmaker Corum USA Stacie Orloff, accomplished amateur champions Anne Spinetti and Mylene Leitner, along with “yours truly.” We’ll all be donating a good portion – if not all – of our winnings to the American Heart Association and Nevada Cancer Institute.

With an estimated 1.3 million new cases of cancer being diagnosed each year, it’s likely that the disease has affected you or someone you know. The statistics are sobering, to say the least, but the good news is that research, early diagnosis and effective cures are making a difference. For over 30 years, scientists have declared an all out war on cancer. Each battle to identify new variations leads to the discovery of effective treatments or cures. And just as important to the fight against cancer are organizations like the Nevada Cancer Institute that are raising awareness and providing hope.