Temecula, CA – Pechanga Resort & Casino is joining together with Exit 131 Productions and Hollywood Poker for a Texas Hold ‘Em charity poker tournament, the third of ten “Hold ‘Em Poker Gone MADD” events, taking place around the country. The tournament gets underway inside Pechanga Resort & Casino’s Grand Ballroom at 4pm on Saturday, August 26th. Celebrities from the worlds of film, television and sports are scheduled to appear and play in the event. This means tournament players could be sitting right next to one of their favorite screen or sports stars. Past celebrity supporters included Jon Favreau (Swingers, Rudy), Willie Garson (Sex and the City), Vince Van Patten (World Poker Tour) and Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under). Pechanga Resort & Casino has guaranteed a $20,000 prize pool for this event, and entries are expected to well exceed that number. The buy-in for this event is set at $150 + $25 registration fee, with 10 percent from every entry and re-buy going to the MADD supported cause. Registration for this tournament begins August 1st. Call the Pechanga Poker Room at (951) 770-2472 or log onto www.Pechanga.com for complete details.

Larry Miranda, VP of Table Games at Pechanga Resort & Casino, and filmmaker Kyle Gates Pagach of Exit 131 Productions, organized the tournament to promote his “Education through Entertainment” initiative. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has agreed to be the charity of choice for the Fall 2006 production of Kyle’s original screenplay titled “Exit 131” and this enables the filmmaker to produce and promote the project, with the organization as a beneficiary, from charitable donations, corporate sponsorships and charity driven events. In return, the film will become part of MADD’s School Outreach Program and the organization will use the film as a catalyst for teenagers and adults to create dialogue focusing on the negative effects of underage drinking and impaired driving.

Founded in 1980, MADD is a non-profit organization with approximately 2 million members and supporters nationwide. MADD’s mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. www.madd.org or 1-800-GET-MADD; victims/survivors’ should call 1-877-MADD-HELP.

“Exit 131” is the story of an ex-high school football star, returning home in search of forgiveness for the death of 15-year-old girl he knew in high school. The film explores the serious topic of underage drinking and drunk driving from many angles, examining the effect the crash has had, not only on the family and friends of the victim, but those of the driver as well. “Exit 131” looks to continue the success of the School Outreach Program by expanding the format to include fiction as a way of educating and informing teens. “MADD has taken on a great task in our culture and their name has become synonymous with driver responsibility. With great responsibility comes great opportunity,” says filmmaker Kyle Gates Pagach. “We are very excited and honored by MADD’s involvement with our film and look forward to the incredible opportunity and responsibility we face in educating teens and parents through storytelling”.

“Young people today are being inundated with images that promote the use of alcohol and other drugs,” observes Steve Emerick, manager of MADD’s School Outreach Program. “We believe “Exit 131” creates an opportunity to draw teenagers into a story with characters that they can relate to. “Educating through Entertainment” is a powerful approach that is working for us on many levels.” Emerick goes on to say, “We are excited about supporting the presentation of “Exit 131” as an example to youth about what can happen as a result of making poor decisions. By showing audiences a story inspired by an underage drinking incident, they will see the painful effects instead of just hearing statistics.” MADD’s School Outreach Programs’ multimedia assembly shows have reached more than 5,500 schools and five million students.

Pagach produced the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Competition film “One Point O”, starring Jeremy Sisto and Deborah Unger. As an actor, he was recently seen playing "Smooth White Boy" in the film, “The Gristle”, currently airing on HBO and distributed by Warner Home Video.

Pechanga Resort & Casino is located at 45000 Pechanga Parkway, just off the I-15 freeway, in the beautiful Temecula Valley. The resort is California's first resort and casino to be awarded the AAA Four Diamond rating and offers luxurious hotel rooms and suites, non-stop casino action, eight exceptional restaurants, entertainment and health club. Complimentary valet service is available, as well as acres of self-parking. For more information, call (877) 711-2WIN or log onto Pechanga Resort Hotel and Casino.