GDC: ISM Charity Poker Tournament Raises $17K For Starlight

Interactive Studio Management (ISM), an agency providing business management services to game developers, raised $17,000 with its third annual charity poker tournament at the 2009 Game Developers Conference. The money raised will go to the Starlight Children’s Foundation, a charity group committed to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education, and family activities. Over 120 players from a broad spectrum of companies in the video game industry attended the tournament, with cocktails and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's game Wanted: Weapons of Fate available for spectators to enjoy. The winners of the poker tournament are as follows: 1st - Leon Walters from Pkr.com 2nd - Michael Woolf from Left Field (Nitrobike) 3rd - Gary Foreman from an unannounced company. Founded in 1996, ISM specializes in interactive video game development and represents several of independent studios and titles. In its 13-year history, the company has produced over $500,000 in video game development investments on behalf of its clients. “We are delighted that the poker tournament has become a GDC tradition for so many people in the industry,” says ISM Agency senior partner Stewart Kosoy. “We'd like to extend our thanks to the players and our generous sponsors at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Slingbox Media for supporting the tournament.”