Charity Hall March Madness

Thomas Garris of Crestwood, Kentucky won the 2nd Annual Fern Creek High School Athletic Association's "March Madness" Poker Tournament. 88 players entered the Monday night tournament March 7th, 2011 at Charity Hall Bingo in Louisville Kentucky. 88 players entered the event which featured "Bounty" and "Head Hunter" Bonus chips. There were additional second chance single table tournaments for late arrivals. With a raffle for a Las Vegas vacation and 1000 free pull tabs adding to the prize pool the play was fast and furious. Within 30 minutes the first of a half dozen $25 Single Table "Second Chance" tournaments had been filled. Shortly thereafter two No Limit Texas Hold'em cash games were running as well. In a little less than six hours Tommy whittled the field down one player at a time with solid play and great reads.

With the poker equipment supplied by John Taylor of The Louisville Poker Tour the tournament had a professional feel and atmosphere. With custom LPT cards, chips and table tops the players had all of the benefits of a casino event without the casino. The addition of the Single Table Tournaments, also called "Sit and Goes" is a new feature offered by the LPT to charity event organizers. Since each $25 ten player table earns the charity $50, requires no dealer and finishes in less than an hour. "Taking advantage of a value added poker feature that earns a charity extra money is a no brainer" according to John Taylor of the LPT. Between the two cash game tables and 6 STTs Fern Creek Athletics earned an extra $1300 beyond the traditional poker tournament.

Event organizer Troy Dever was exceptionally pleased with the turnout. "Monday night charity events are not typical and do involve some risk of a low turnout but we have a great game and a loyal player base". Typically charity poker events are held on Friday or Saturday nights drawing from 60-150 players depending on the Buy In. However the Charity Hall Tournaments consistently draw 88-129 players Monday nights. With a tournament buy ins less than $100, side games and pull tabs the poker crowd always shows up. Troy and his group of Fern Creek HS volunteers should be proud. Their next poker event will be in September 2011.