Meet the Players

Andrea Arzt is a licensed clinical social worker in private psychotherapy practice in Brooklyn, New York. She has worked for over 35 years with individuals with chronic illness and disabilities and their families, with a particular focus for over 20 years in Multiple Sclerosis. Andrea worked for 21 years at the National MS Society overseeing individual and group counseling services as well as engaging closely with healthcare professionals treating people with MS. During that time, she also provided many trainings on MS mental health and wellness topics for professionals and for people living with MS. Andrea received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work. She obtained a Certificate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy from the Brooklyn Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. She is a Partner in MS Care with the National MS Society and is certified as a Multiple Sclerosis Certified Specialist by the Consortium of MS Centers. Andrea lives in Brooklyn with her husband Walter Tegtmeier. Her son Zachary is a software engineer living in Manhattan. Andrea is thrilled to serve on the board of MS Hope for a Cure, as it allows her to utilize her knowledge and expertise to help this wonderful organization fund essential research for a cure to MS and enhance its critical support of area MS Care Centers.

Jonathan Hunt first attended the All-in for a Cure Poker Tournament in 2013, alongside fellow committee member Peter Vermette. He has supported the Poker Benefit Committee since 2014 and joined the Committee in 2023. After 25 years as a real estate and infrastructure investor at Goldman Sachs, Jon now serves as a director on the boards of infrastructure companies. He lives in New York City with his wife, Emily, and their three children.

is the very proud father of EJ. He is the former Chairman of the NY State Housing Finance Agency and the State of NY Mortgage Agency and is currently Vice Chairman of Westbeth Artists Housing in the west village. Judd is the founder and former President of CDT, the country’s only affordable housing REIT. In 2017 he played in the WSOP Seniors Tournament with 5,388 players and finished 55th (top 1.1%) and won $9,239! He now plays Omaha Hi/Lo 8 and in April 2024 finished fourth at the Borgata Spring Open. Then in June, just two months shy of his 82nd birthday, he finished First in the Venetian Deep Stack Championship in Las Vegas and won $40,465!

is the Founder of CatMac Global Media, leveraging her background as an Executive Producer at ABC News (including GMA3: What You Need to Know) to help clients turn culture into content and moments into impact. She is a founding board member of MS Hope for a Cure. Cat met EJ, cheering their favorite NFL teams at Blondies sports bar. She is "all-in" on finding a cure for MS and believes it will happen in our lifetime.

first met EJ in 2018 while she was working part-time for a financial advisor and part-time as an after-school nanny for Matilda. After volunteering at her first poker tournament, EJ convinced Sarah to quit her part-time jobs and work full-time for MS Hope for a Cure which she did for 4 years. She’s thrilled to continue to support MS Hope and champion a cause close to her heart by joining the Benefit Committee this year. Though poker isn’t her forte, Sarah looks forward to this event each year and enjoys seeing how a night of fun can create meaningful change. Sarah lives in Burlington, VT with her fiancé and now works in skincare manufacturing.

is a Managing Director at Blackstone. Owen was first introduced to the event in 2018 and has participated ever since in honor of his grandmother who passed away due to complications with MS in 2017. Owen, and his wife Shannon, are excited to be members of the benefit committee and to raise money through this amazing event for such a worthy cause.

feel so lucky to be involved with MS Hope for a Cure. Stacy sits on the MS Hope for a Cure Board of Directors and also serves as the Board Chair of the Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan. Jonathan is the President of Starwood Capital Group. They live with their two boys and dog in NYC. Stacy's father suffers from the primary progressive form of MS, and the Pollack family knows that a cure for MS will be found with money raised from events like this!

is a Partner and Global Board Member at A&O Shearman, where he co-heads the Firm’s Environment & Climate Group and the International Trade Group. He is Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School and has served on numerous boards. Currently he is a board member (and former Board President) for the Human Needs Food Pantry, Inc.

is the lucky guy married to cochair Eden Lopez-Robles. Their love of poker is one of the things that brought them together and Anthony actually asked Eden to marry him at the poker table. He planned an elaborate proposal at a poker room in Atlantic City and when the dealer turned over the flop, turn and river, it was a Straight Flush (hearts) with the words Eden - Will - You - Marry – Me printed on the cards. When Anthony is not sweeping Eden off her feet he is helping clients find their dream homes as one of the founding partners of the Scott-Robles Team at Douglas Elliman. They are ranked among the top 250 real estate teams in the country. Anthony and Eden live in Westchester with their three children, Briana, Maxwell and Dylan.

is a partner in A&O Shearman's New York office and is the Global Head of Energy, Natural Resources, Energy and Infrastructure. He started playing in the charity tournament in 2013, and although the cards have not been kind to him in the past, he is hopeful that this is the year he will make it to the final table. As a member of the benefit committee, Kent is committed to raising money to find a cure for MS, for his niece and the hundreds of thousands of people around the world living with multiple sclerosis.

joined the fight against MS in 2001 after his wife Karen was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS. Realizing he didn’t have the aptitude for medical school, David turned to raising money and awareness, forming the MS Walk team “Got Wine?”, which won the award for best new team that year, marking the first and last time he ever beat EJ in anything fundraising related. David is a proud founding member of MS Hope for a Cure’s Board of Directors and is dedicated to the work the organization has accomplished. He is eager for the research we fund to put us out of business, as quickly as possible. Professionally, David is the Vice President of Partner Enablement at Pax8, helping IT Service Providers grow and build value in their companies. He and Karen live in Stamford, CT with their two cats, who are home-schooled.

met EJ playing poker in NYC home games over 10 years ago. She was immediately inspired by EJ’s story of perseverance, hope, love for life and her ability to turn her MS struggles into a positive powerful movement. May has played professional high stakes poker on the East Coast, Vegas and Macau. She has cashed in 17 World Series of Poker events and earned a 3rd place finish in 2014 and a 5th place finish in 2022 in the WSOP Ladies Tournament. May founded Poker for Good in 2018 with a mission to integrate the positive power of poker with nonprofit initiatives to make the world a better place for all.

first attended the tournament as a guest in 2016, and after ten years, has finally learned how to resist the urge to laugh when he’s bluffing at the poker table. As a member of the benefit committee, he has focused his efforts on bringing a new wave of donors and contributors to the tournament each year. Michael is a born and bred New Yorker, but now lives down in Miami, Florida. When he’s not facing elimination from poker tournaments at lightning speed, he works in the institutional capital markets advisory practice at Walker & Dunlop.

met EJ through his work as a Board Member of the NYC Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society which he joined in hopes of helping to find a cure for his dad, Greg, and everyone else living with the disease. He attended the tournament for the first time in 2013 and has since joined the committee and made this an annual event with his friends and colleagues. Peter lives with his wife and their three children in Westchester.