Martin and his Islanders teammates raised $350,000 for a cause near and dear to all New Yorkers.
Fans paid to play poker with the players, and if they knocked them out, they got a signed jersey. But they were buying in to give back to those who give so much to us -- first responders.
"I'm a dog lover and I'm a first responder lover. We wanted to try to get service dogs for people in need of them," Islanders forward Matt Martin said."On average, it costs about $35,000 to get one dog fully trained. Our goal tonight is to have at least four service dogs from this event," said Bryan Calka, director of the Matt Martin Foundation.
"We call this our premiere event because there is no money taken out of anything," said Michael Kaminsky, owner of MTK Casino Parties.