Phil Gordon is a charitable poker player(credit: Wikipedia)
You’ve worked at your poker game forever and gotten really good at what you do. How about using those skills to help the less fortunate?
If you are of a mind to “give back” via charitable works there is no reason in the world you can’t do that and play some poker at the same time.
Poker and charity go together like peanut butter and chocolate, and you would be surprised at how smoothly you could put together a night of fund-raising fun and card playing.
Pick a Charity
Perhaps you already support a cause, or you know of someone in your family, neighborhood or on the job that has suffered a tragedy and could use some help. If you are having a hard time picking a charity to support, ask around at your church or at the office -- you’ll get a lot of suggestions, quick.
Pick a Date
Pick a date far enough out to plan for, but not so far that you don’t feel a little pressure to get it done. If you wind up procrastinating you’ll get stressed out in the end trying to put it all together, and that’s no fun.
Pick a Format
No limit hold’em is a winner, but there are other factors to consider, from blind levels to starting chip counts to breaks. Take a deep breath and just get started laying it out on paper -- you’ve played in enough poker tournaments to figure it out.
Pick a Price
What’s the buy in? Are you going to offer re-buys and add-ons? These are great ways to raise additional funds, but they may put off the budget- conscious poker players who don’t want to show up to a crap shoot.
Pick a Venue
Restaurants, bars and community halls are all good choices. Make sure you tell the establishment that it is for charity and you may get it for free. Also offer to help the venue make money, such as giving players an option to get more chips if they run up a drink tab.
From here it is a matter of chips and chairs (and tables); follow the same tactic as above; hit up poker supply stores for discounts or loaners, and make sure to figure up all your costs in your projected buy ins to ensure you wind up with a positive balance for the charity!
There, you done good.
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