hey guys I am a college student at the University of Florida. I ride a 92 sportster 1200, much better than taking the bus! anyways, I am also a midshipman, with the NAVY ROTC scholarship for school. Since ROTC funds are pretty low we pretty much pay for most of the stuff we do through fundraising. Well since there is a good number of bikes around gainesville, I thought about hosting a poker run when the weather warms up and gets nice outside to make some money for our unit.

my outline for the event was doing like a 5 card stud style with 5 stop around the gainesville area. I was gonna have the event start at some location, and charge $10 a bike to compete, $15 if you have a partner riding on the back. Then i guess hand out a piece of paper with the 5 destinations on it to ride to. Everyone destination you pick a playing card out of the pile there, and to keep from cheating I was going to have a different style of playing cards are each stop? maybe even record what card each guy gets or is that too much? Then after everyone goes to each stop, have all the bikes meet back at the starting place at a certain time and have some sort of buffet bar-b-q for those that partook in the event. Then the bike with the best hand wins a prize, maybe have a prize for second and third best hands also? I was thinking of going by the local HD dealership see if they wouldnt donate some things for prizes.

Anyways I would greatly appreciate some feedback on how to run this, what I should and shouldnt do. I have always meant to join in a poker run myself but have yet to so Im a rookie when it comes to how the whole thing works.

THANKS!
Go gators and go NAVY!

 

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. This site has some info http://www.gogocycles.com/motorcycle-poker-run.html and if you just google "organizing a poker run" you can find all kinds of help. Good luck

 

Here's a good site for the initial poker run planning posted below, along with an example of a poker hand sheet and release sheet (don't forget that one). Do some research online and you'll pick up some good information.

http://www.carolinamcevents.com/pokerun.html

 

Most of the one's I've been on have a registration fee, what you mentioned is on par with most. Then you can buy poker hands for $5.00 per hand or 5 for $20.00. Either cash or gift prizes are given out for the best hand and worst hands. And don't forget the 50/50 raffle after the run. Sell the tickets prior to the run. Prizes for the drawing(s) can either be cash or those small "trinkets" you can gather up from local vendors.
I wouldn't stop at just the local Harley Dealership for prizes, check out local independent shops and watering holes for T-Shirts, maybe local insurance companies like nationwide for can/bottle coozies, stuff like that. You'd be surprised at how many local businesses will contribute to get their name out there.
And, as Ironass says, good luck with it.

 

Are you a HOG member? Maybe the local HOG chapter would be willing to help you out since it's for a good cause.

 

Most runs have people carry a sheet to record which cards was drawn at each stop (and a signature or stamp certifying it). Some of the larger runs will change the face value of the cards for each stop so that people don't know if they have a good hand or not (lots of people will drop out during the run if they don't have a pair).

 

If you have never sponsored a poker run yourself, get with a local organization that has. They will often help and will be able to provide information about biker friendly locations for stops - they even know which ones will put out snacks for the riders. The groups can also offer advice on promoting the poker run.

Try American Legion Post 16 there in Gainesville. According to their website they have a chapter of the American Legion Riders at that post. Most American Legion Riders chapters are always looking for a good military cause to raise some money and an excuse to put together a ride. They may even be willing to sponsor the event as a start and/or finish location or possibly even lead a group ride to each location. Be prepared to offer them assistance. Maybe get some fellow ROTC members that are non-riders and have them volunteer to man the BBQ pit to ensure there is food ready for the riders at the end of the run. Other ROTC members could man the poker decks and annotate the "hand sheets" at each stop.

 

If you haven't attended one yet, my best advice would be to go try a poker run first. See how it goes and see what you like and don't like.

 

Thanks guys for all the heads up and references, im gonna contact the american legion and look for a local HOG group? I will also check out the websites posted, thanks again!

 

well the american legion never got back to me and the local HOG group said drop by some flyers at the dealership. What is the usual entry fees for a poker run???