Max Pescatori goes against his buccaneering instincts, selling his World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bracelet on eBay to help earthquake victims left homeless in Amatrice, Italy.
Stuff.
I hate stuff.
My heart felt like a block of wood in a Bruce Lee dojo during my divorce. Perform open heart surgery, and you’ll find cracks all over it, alongside one or two major fault lines.
One of those fault lines appeared when my ex-wife moved all of my belongings into the spare room and gave me 24-hours to empty it or my stuff was going onto the street.
I remember standing in the middle of a lifetime of materialism, memories, and madness, thinking – what am I supposed to do with all of this stuff? Where am I going to put it all?
I called my friend and told him to take everything. I left that marriage with a few clothes, my laptop, Kindle, mobile phone, toothbrush, Bose headphones, a suitcase full of books and a TV so my kid could play his video games.
And then a funny thing happened.
I felt lighter than I had my whole life.
Like an Eskimo stripped off and ready to walk into a naked sauna for the first time.
Then I remarried, got a house, and over the years this stuff has started to accumulate again. The lightness is fading. I feel weighed down by the hypocrisy of my life – saving money for Malaria nets in South Africa and buying a pot plant, so my office looks nice.
So I started listening to the Minimalist Podcast and took the 30-day Minimalism Challenge. Josh Fields and Ryan Nicodemus have helped over 4 million people feel like a balloon, and I wanted a piece. The pair believes that the average household has over 500,000 items. It was time to get rid of some stuff. So every day, I followed the ritual, getting rid of one thing on Day 1, two things on Day 2, three things on Day 3. I am midway through the challenge, and by the end of it, I would have shifted 500 possessions from my house, my mind, and my soul.
And if I had a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, that would go too.
Max Pescatori Sells a WSOP Bracelet on eBay
When you see a listing on eBay for a WSOP bracelet, often it’s because the seller is broke. We are in the poker bubble after all. But it’s not always the case.
Sometimes people are broke, other times they are taking the Minimalist Challenge, and other times they are selling stuff and using the money to help reduce suffering in the world.
A few weeks ago, I told you that Tom McEvoy had put one of his four WSOP bracelets up for sale on eBay.
I have no idea why?
This week we have another bracelet up for grabs on the world’s largest online auction, only this time we do know why.
Max Pescatori has won more WSOP bracelets than any other European alive or doing a decent impression of Elvis Presley. And he is selling one of them. The one that’s up for grabs is the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship bracelet Pescatori won during the 46th Annual WSOP.
The Italian Pirate hit the $6,000 reserve after 48 bids, and there are still over eight days left for the price to rise even higher.
So why is Pescatori parting with one of his many pieces of eight?
Minimalism?
Bankruptcy?
Far from it.
In the summer of 2016, when Pescatori was in Las Vegas grinding bracelets, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter Scale destroyed the town of Amatrice, Italy. Close to 300 people lost their lives, hundreds more were injured, and over 2,500 people were left homeless.
“The town isn’t here anymore,” said the Town Mayor, Sergio Pirozzi.
It’s for this reason that Pescatori is parting with his bracelet. Every buck raised through the sale will go towards the charity: Capiricchia nel Cuore, who are using the money to buy mobile homes for those who’s lives are still in a mess because of the quake.
Pescatori said the Polish discus thrower, Piotr Malachowski, was his inspiration after donating his Olympic silver medal to raise funds for a three-year-old suffering from cancer.
Tom McEvoy’s bracelet sold for $15,000.
Let’s hope this one sells for a lot more.
Here is a link to the listing on eBay:
Here is a link to the Minimalist 30-Day Challenge. Why not see how much you can raise for charity? If you can’t think of one, then help the town of Amatrice.
