A celebrity poker tournament with a possible top prize of $60 million is scheduled to be held in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on May 19, 2007, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the nearby Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.

Ten top international film stars and other celebrities are to compete in the charity tourney, which is to offer a total of at least $1 million for the participants’ charities.

As a bonus, if any tournament participant comes up with a royal flush in hearts during the competition, that participant’s charity is to receive a whopping $60 million bonus.

Event organizers are calling the tournament “The Game of the Century.”

To guarantee that every celebrity participating in the tournament comes away with someting for his or her charity, the prize money breakdown will be as follows: 1st place-$500,000; 2nd place-$175,000; 3rd place-$100,000; 4th place-$75,000; 5th place-$50,000; 6th place-$30,000; 7th place-$25,000; 8th place-$20,000; 9th place-$15,000; 10th place-$10,000.

The event is to be hosted by Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu, and is scheduled to be televised in the U.S. in June on CBS, and on other networks in other countries.

Among the celebs expected to particpate in the tourney are actors Laurence Fishburne and Ben Affleck, actresses Jennifer Tilly and Salma Hayek and musician and singer Bono.

As for the bonus, the odds of hitting a royal flush of hearts are “about one chance out of 260,000,” according to one of the event organizers.

“We are going to play a maximum of 260 hands, therefore, our players will have approximately one chance out of 1,000 to hit the jackpot,” he said.

“This is not bad if you compare it to some other games. For example, you have one chance out of 75 million to win the Euro Million, one chance out of 52 million to win the U.S. Power Ball and one chance out of 45 million to win the French Lottery.

“You have a better chance to win our grand prize than to win a jackpot in any casino in the world. So let’s face it, the odds are more in favor of this game’s guest players and they are pretty good odds.”

Article Written by Tom Somach