April 28, 2009 6:31 AM PDT
Hi Tammy,
I'll start with the basics...
In the classic game of poker, each player is dealt five cards. The person with the best hand wins. Couple this with a nice motorcycle ride and you’ve got yourself a genuine poker run.
The event begins when you check in and receive a score sheet and route map. Typically there are five checkpoints along the route and you will draw a card at each one. You draw a card, it will then be noted on your score sheet and you will ride on to the next checkpoint. And like a game of poker, the person with the best hand at the end will be deemed the winner.
Preparing for your poker run...
The very first thing you will need to do is to set up the stops where the riders will pick up their cards. The best case is to have a starting point, 3 stops, and an ending point (the starting and ending point can be the same place).
For the starting point I would recommend a biker friendly bar or restaurant. People will normally gather for a while before taking off and it is always good to have some food and drink available.
For the 3 stops...they can be just about anywhere (even a school parking lot) because the riders are normally just pulling in, getting their cards and continuing on. However if you can find local biker friendly buisinesses for these stops (bar, restaurant, bike shop, etc), I recommend it. You can sometime get them to contribute to the prize and donatin pots in exchange for bring them a large group of bikers.
For the ending point you definately want a place that serves food and drink, unless you can set up food and drink yourself...like a BBQ. The riders will all need to gather there until all bikes are in and the winner is determined.
Day of the Ride...
At each stop you need to have a couple of people working the stop with a table and a couple of decks of cards. Each deck of cards is spread on the table and shuffled around right before the rider picks there card.
At the starting point the riders will pay thier entry fees and register. When they register they will each be given a route map with the stops and a score sheet. (See Below for Sample Score Sheets) The first card will be drawn and scored at registration.
At each stop the riders will pick a card from the deck and the person working the stop will mark the card on the riders score sheet. It is important that the rider presents their scoresheet to the attendant before picking the card.
At the final stop the riders will pick their last card. The attendant will mark the riders scoresheet and keep it. Once the last rider is in the event leaders will go through all of the sheets to determine the best hand and the winner.
As far as keeping it legal (gambling laws)...
A straight-out game of poker is gambling because it is purely a game of chance. To keep the local gambling commission at bay, many event promoters insert a game of skill into the route that helps determine the riders' final score. The most common is a dart toss which can get as many as 50 points added to your score. If the run uses playing cards, then you'll throw a dart at a large board covered in playing cards.
Others games of skill can be played as well. One club had a checkpoint point where riders had to ride 30 feet in 30 seconds, one point per second in the 30 second period. They would lose points if they went too fast and reached the end too soon, and stopped getting points if a foot touched the ground during the task.
And of course the most important thing is to list you poker run on the CycleFish event calendar!!!
Hope this helps you a bit.
This post was edited by Lucky at April 28, 2009 6:31 AM PDT
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