View Poll Results: Do you prefer cards or computer?
I prefer drawing cards from a deck or out of a hat
50
66.67%
I like drawing cards on a computer screen
4
5.33%
I don't care either way
21
28.00%
Voters: 75. You may not vote on this poll
Poker Run Preference Poll
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 272
Likes: 0
From: coon rapids,mn
are we missing the whole point of poker runs here? thought they were a fun run with old and new friends raising some money for one thing or another, and having food and drinks at the end, now its becoming a competition and security guards and special decoder rings needed? gonna have to pass on all that fun
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 7,476
Likes: 5
From: Republic of Texas
I wouldn't participate but I can't speak for others and I don't know where the majority would be on this. Got tired of poker runs. I don't do any contest anymore unless breast are involved. I am a shallow pig.
Thread Starter
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"Utopian Overlord"
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,180
Likes: 1
From: Union, Mississippi
In point of fact, I don't really know how well - or even whether - an automated run would work. I considered drawing one card electronically at each stop, but then you get into the whole single point of failure problem (not to mention needing internet access and electrical power). We make runs so far out in the country, we can't get GPS!
I agree with the following: poker runs should be affordable, fun, and diverse. Grabbing a card out of a paper sack has a certain visceral appeal, except I don't know how many cards are in the sack to begin with. If there are 52 in each sack, it's possible to pull a hand with five aces (quick...ask a volunteer where "five of a kind" ranks). On the other hand, suppose each sack only has 51 cards. The bigger the payout, the greater likelihood of mischief.
As I said earlier, the original goal was to be able to convince an underwriter to insure the award of a Super-Major Prize. However, the software will probably go open source ("free", for the Great Unwashed). Other opportunities present themselves.
Here's an idea. Have a bike rally at some nice place in the middle of nowhere. Niceplace has roads coming in from the North, South, and West. How about multiple poker runs coming in from three different directions, ending at Niceplace?
How about changing the dynamic even further...allow buy-in by mail, with ten possible stops at restaurants, outlets, and gas stations (with discounts from interested merchants).
No, it won't replace traditional poker runs, but then the fifty-bike escorted ride through a national park can't replace four buddies riding ten miles to a Huddle House.
I agree with the following: poker runs should be affordable, fun, and diverse. Grabbing a card out of a paper sack has a certain visceral appeal, except I don't know how many cards are in the sack to begin with. If there are 52 in each sack, it's possible to pull a hand with five aces (quick...ask a volunteer where "five of a kind" ranks). On the other hand, suppose each sack only has 51 cards. The bigger the payout, the greater likelihood of mischief.
As I said earlier, the original goal was to be able to convince an underwriter to insure the award of a Super-Major Prize. However, the software will probably go open source ("free", for the Great Unwashed). Other opportunities present themselves.
Here's an idea. Have a bike rally at some nice place in the middle of nowhere. Niceplace has roads coming in from the North, South, and West. How about multiple poker runs coming in from three different directions, ending at Niceplace?
How about changing the dynamic even further...allow buy-in by mail, with ten possible stops at restaurants, outlets, and gas stations (with discounts from interested merchants).
No, it won't replace traditional poker runs, but then the fifty-bike escorted ride through a national park can't replace four buddies riding ten miles to a Huddle House.
Thread Starter
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"Utopian Overlord"
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,180
Likes: 1
From: Union, Mississippi
What lesson was learned? None. This is how poker runs go, that's all.
Thread Starter
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"Utopian Overlord"
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,180
Likes: 1
From: Union, Mississippi
Roosterboots, the worst part of your idea, if I understood it right, is having all the cards drawn at the last stop. That (a) makes it a whole new event, not a traditional "poker run" and (b) takes all the fun out of going to those stops. Maybe if there was a great prize involved, people would go for it, but they aren't going to enjoy it as much, if that's what you are going for.
I wanted to generate a card at each stop, but couldn't justify the expense in equipment and infrastructure (assuming that the card values would be transmitted to the awards location). I even considered using portable printers to spit out a paper card, but the price and cheat indexes went way up. I'm open to ideas on how to build a rural network.
For small runs, nothing is easier than popping out with the same tried-and-true formula that has benefited the club in previous years. It's an easy $100 a year for charity. I'm still stuck on the notion that this system could increase that amount ten-fold or better, albeit at the expense of changing the formula. Of course, it doesn't HAVE to be a poker run...maybe I'm thinking too one-dimensionally. Maybe what's needed is something big, like an all-day or multi-day road trip, where the poker hand is just a small corner of a much larger structure...
Last edited by Roosterboots; Sep 21, 2011 at 06:47 PM.
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,979
Likes: 15
From: USA
I don't usually criticize, not online, not ever....but man, I think the whole idea and the thought processes behind it are totally lame.
You're trying to increase profits from poker runs? Worried about man hours at charity events?! I'm sitting here at my computer shaking my head.
Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but, well....I'm not on board, I'll just put it that way.
If you're talking about super prizes, why not sell raffle tickets at events like real poker runs?
You're trying to increase profits from poker runs? Worried about man hours at charity events?! I'm sitting here at my computer shaking my head.
Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but, well....I'm not on board, I'll just put it that way.
If you're talking about super prizes, why not sell raffle tickets at events like real poker runs?
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Thread Starter
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"Utopian Overlord"
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,180
Likes: 1
From: Union, Mississippi
I don't usually criticize, not online, not ever....but man, I think the whole idea and the thought processes behind it are totally lame.
You're trying to increase profits from poker runs? Worried about man hours at charity events?! I'm sitting here at my computer shaking my head.
Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but, well....I'm not on board, I'll just put it that way.
If you're talking about super prizes, why not sell raffle tickets at events like real poker runs?
You're trying to increase profits from poker runs? Worried about man hours at charity events?! I'm sitting here at my computer shaking my head.
Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but, well....I'm not on board, I'll just put it that way.
If you're talking about super prizes, why not sell raffle tickets at events like real poker runs?
You guys are BRUTAL. Allow me to counter with two points...
1. Increase profits at poker runs - well, YEAH! Considering those profits go toward children's hospitals, why would anybody NOT want to increase their take?
2. Raffle tickets at charity events increase profits, but the rules state that the prize must be owned by the charity prior to the raffle. That's why nobody ever raffles off a new Harley. Poker runs can afford to offer a new Harley/Mustang/Stearman/etc. as the prize for a royal flush because specialized underwriters will cover the risk for $100 premium. The prize is offered as an inducement to encourage more participation. The club's risk is that the ten additional riders needed to cover the premium may not show up. But it's all moot if underwriters don't like the risk of Billy Bob cherry-picking the best cards for his uncle Jake. The software will have to be inspected and certified by a CPA at a minimum - the state gaming commission may also get involved. This is because we're not talking about 20 riders at the super prize event. We'll need 500-1000 riders to make it worthwhile. That's like...oh, every Harley rider in the state of Mississippi!
Maybe it can't be done. But before I go into negotiations with a site sponsor (hmmm, I think Sturgis is out of the running), I need two things. A fully tested functional application that can be certified, and a reasonable expectation that bikers at the event won't mutiny when they have to operate within the constraints of the system.
So in regard to the poll, it's not asking whether you want traditional poker runs to disappear. Rather, it's measuring the intensity of dislike of departing from the norm without regard to the size of the event.
Rant done...good points, fleabite. Keep 'em coming, 'cause I'm going to face much more severe criticism from people who can literally squash me flat before this is all over, and I want to have all the answers before I go into a closed room with them!!
Roo!