Poker Run Door Prize Ideas
A poker run is an organized event where participants, usually using motorcycles, must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. In the classic game of poker, each player is dealt five cards and the person with the best hand wins. Pair this with a motorcycle ride and you’ve got a poker run. The event has a time limit; however the participants are not timed. Winning is purely a matter of chance.
Poker runs usually require a fee to enter and for each additional hand; in some events a small part of the fee may go to funding the event, including the prizes, while the rest goes to the event's charity recipient or club treasury. In charity events usually most, if not all of the funds goes to the selected charity. Prizes, such as money, plaques, or merchandise donated by sponsors of the event, are awarded for the best hand. Some runs will award smaller awards for the lowest hand.
Each checkpoint might offer food or entertainment, either covered by the entry fee or at additional cost. Each participant is responsible to maintain the integrity of their hand during the run. Hands are usually written down or marked with punched holes on a ticket, rather than assembled from actual cards given to the riders. The only requirement is that riders arrive at the final checkpoint by the time prizes are awarded, usually near the end of the day, typically at a party with food and refreshments. It might be required that participants collect all of the requisite number of cards, five or seven, or they might be allowed to miss checkpoints and use a hand with fewer cards, though the odds of a winning hand are much lower.
How to plan a poker run?
1. Choose a cause.
2. Name a committee.
3. Set a date and advertise.
4. Check into liability issues and get permits.
5. Find sponsors.
6. Set rules for participation.
7. Determine money making activities.
8. Plan a route and secure locations.
9. Get commitments from volunteers.
10. Follow through, make it happen and have a successful charity event.
11. Thank your supporters
I will talk about these steps in further detail.
1. Choose a cause. It can be difficult to choose a charity with so many worthy causes to select from. In most cases you are raising money for charities, private foundations, accounts established for families where tragedy has stricken and families or individuals where medical needs have arisen. Often, when people decide to become involved in a charity, they choose an organization with a cause that has touched their life in a significant way. Those who have no specific tie to an organization or cause may pick one at random. There's no wrong choice when it comes to selecting a charity, as long as it's a reputable organization with a proven track record for the wise allocation of donated dollars.
2. Name a committee. The function of committee is to ensure that your goal is met and the task assigned is done. Choose people in your club that are reliable, self-motivated and dedicated to the cause. Our committee consists of the club officers and members that have previously been the event planner. Members of the committee should be assigned to each step of planning the poker run.
3. Set a date and advertise. Allow plenty of time to plan, advertise and collect donations. Coordinate with your local motorcycle clubs to ensure you are not hosting poker runs on the same day. This will take money away from you and other clubs. There should not be any competition when it comes to charitable events.
Advertise:
· It’s important you get the word out about your event.
· You should advertise to your motorcycle community who are looking to make a ride and support a cause along the way.
· You should advertise to the people in support of your cause for that event.
· You should advertise to people you have supported in past events.
· Advertise through the local newspaper, message boards, radio stations, emails, text, social media and your website if applicable.
· Create flyers and post them at your local motorcycle shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, police stations, Fire stations, etc.
4. Check into liability issues and get permits. This includes liability insurance for the properties where you're starting and stopping during the ride. Also consider getting the proper permits to host an event from your parish or district council. The day of the event you don’t want issues to arise concerning loud music ordinances and parking issues. You should have a waiver form at the registration table that every participant is required to sign before participating in your event. If an accident occurs, you could still be liable even if the release form is signed. It may be costly but you may consider getting your event insured.
5. Find sponsors that will donate cash, food, drinks, plastic plates, door prizes and auction items. Accept all donations. Use the lesser value donations for door prizes and the more expensive for auction items. You can pair items to make for a more appealing auction items. Remember to get the donors contact information so you can send out thank you letters. It’s also important to have a donation letter available including your tax identification number as well as your event’s flyer while soliciting donations.
6. Set rules for participation.
Riding etiquette:
· No riding while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
· No reckless riding will be tolerated.
· Be safety conscious.
· Ride safely and defensively.
· Obey all local motor vehicle laws.
How do card pulls work?
· First Card Pull is free.
· If the participant is unhappy with the card pull they may return the card and purchase another draw for $1.
· The participant can purchase up to 3 different card pulls at one stop.
· The participant must stick with the card they pull last.
· The participant can’t choose the best out of 4 card pulls.
· Once the participant has their last pull or is satisfied with the initial card pull a volunteer for the stop must initial the poker run card in the spot that identifies which card the person pulled.
· On stop 2 through 5, if a participant should pull a card that is already showing on their poker card they must pull another card at no charge. So if I am at stop 3 and I pull a 10 of hearts as my card and that was my card at stop 1, I get to pull another card free of charge.
· It is encouraged but not necessary to go to every stop on the poker run route.
· Generally there are five stops to a poker run and each participant pulls at card at each station. If there are any reasons that a participant could not make all the stops it is acceptable to let them pull as many cards as they need to complete their hand at the last stop of the run. Same rules apply for purchasing additional cards after first card pull and pulling duplicate cards.
· It is also acceptable to allow a participant to purchase a poker run card at the end of the day; not participate in the poker run but pull five cards making them eligible to win best and worst hand cash prizes. Same rules apply for purchasing additional cards after first card pull and pulling duplicate cards.
· You can also prepare a dart throw for your last card. This takes the component of chance out of the scenario and puts in an element of skill. This should help avoid any issues with gambling regulations. Simply place a deck of cards on a board and have the participant throw for the last card. Same rules apply for purchasing additional cards after first card throw and throwing a duplicate card.
Be courteous:
· As members of the hosting entity you should always conduct yourselves as professionals to portray a positive image of your organization.
· Remember why you are hosting the poker run.
· In most cases you are raising money for charities, private foundations, accounts established for families where tragedy has stricken and families or individuals where medical needs have arisen.
· The family members or the beneficiary of the fundraiser will likely be present.
· You don’t want to create any problems for people already dealing with a variety of issues.
7. Determine money making activities you will have at your event. Pre-pay tickets, half and half raffle, liquor raffle, merchandise sales, food, drink, award prizes, entertainment, etc.
· Half and Half Raffle: A participant can purchase a ticket at a chance to win half of whatever ending dollar amount is remaining at the conclusion of the contest. It is important to keep all money generated from half and half in the bowl with the tickets, separate from other monies collected during the day so an accurate count can be determined at the conclusion of the raffle. Volunteers should keep the “drop” side of the ticket for the contest bowl and give the “keep” side to the buyer. It is up to you to determine what a ticket will cost but in most cases host will price them at $1 per chance. After the winner of the raffle is determined through a random ticket pull half of the money collected goes to the winning raffle ticket purchaser and the other half to the host.
· Liquor Raffle: A participant can purchase a ticket at a chance to win a liquor basket. Typically a liquor basket consist of an ice chest, liquor, beer, beef jerky, chips, pretzels, peanuts and merchandise advertising your organization or charity. It is up to you to determine what a ticket will cost but most cases the host will price them at $1 to $5 per chance. Volunteers should keep the “drop” side of the ticket for the contest bowl and give the “keep” side to the buyer. It is encouraged to have more than one liquor basket to raffle with a variety of products. This will encourage more participants and generate more money.
· Pre-pay ticket: A participant can purchase a ticket which will make them eligible for the admission, food and door prizes. A prepay ticket should consist of two parts. One half should consist of the details concerning the event; event name, location, date and time. The buyer should keep this half of the ticket for a reminder of these details and use it for admission to the event. The other half should consist of the purchasers name and phone number. This volunteer should keep this part of the ticket to place in the raffle bowl for poor prizes. Ticket purchasers should not have to be present to collect door prizes.
· It is important to have at least one desirable door prize to advertise while selling pre-pay tickets. You can use this desirable door prize to push ticket sales. To list a few examples: firearms, autographed sports memorabilia and vacation packages. Some people will have no plans of going to the event but want to contribute to your charity. This is a way to encourage their contribution. Buy a ticket for a chance to win this door prize. That’s why it’s important that they don’t need to be present to win door prizes.
· Merchandise: sell your club merchandise and the charity’s merchandise you’re hosting the poker run for. This will create extra revenue for the event.
Award prizes:
· At the end of the poker run you should award prizes for the three top poker hands. The dollar amount is typically $300 for 1st place, $200 for 2nd place and $100 for 3rd place. Some poker runs give an award for the worst hand.
· Common door prizes are gift certificates, t-shirts, hats, beer cozies, etc.
· Remember that one of your door prizes should be a desirable item. Use this item to push ticket sales.
· Be creative, you can award the oldest rider, youngest rider or the furthest traveled rider.
· Remember that people love free stuff and cash prizes. The more you award the better time they’ll have and want to come back next time.
Entry fee:
· Most cases entry fees are $10 to $20 participant. Entry fees make you eligible for the poker run, admission, a meal and door prizes. If you want additional food and drink there should be an additional charge.
Food & drink:
· It’s difficult to know how much food to prepare or what to prepare. If you sell pre-pay tickets this will tell give you an estimation of how much food and drink to have. It’s always better to have too much food than too little.
· Burgers, hotdogs, chips and soda is a good choice. If you see you are running low it isn’t difficult to run to the supermarket to get extra burgers or hotdogs.
· In the South, jambalaya and white beans are always a hit. Try to have something that the majority likes to eat.
Entertainment:
· It's good to have a local band or DJ at your end location. Their equipment also comes to good use for making announcements and hosting the auction.
8. Plan a route:
· There are many different ways to plan a route, how many stops to have and how long the route should be. None are wrong. I will give you an example of how we’ve done successful poker runs in the past.
· Our registration location and end of the run location is the normally the same spot. This makes the most sense because you don’t have to split volunteers. This location is usually a motorcycle shop. We are fortunate to have Performance Power Sports and Mike Bruno’s Bayou Country Harley-Davidson in our community that has allowed us to use their business for registration and end stop.
· In-between the registration and end location we normally have five stops with a card pull at each stop. You don’t need this many stops but it makes for a more enjoyable ride. You could have three stops, pulling a card at registration, at each of the three stops and the end location. It’s up to you how many stops you decide to have.
· Try to make your route about 100 miles. The more right hand turns the better so you won’t have to cross traffic while turning left.
· Have a registration time, first bike out time, last bike out time and last bike in time. From there choose a time where poker run, door prizes and raffle winners are announced then hold your auction.
· It’s better to have bikes leave in waves. Too large of a group is difficult to navigate through traffic and can be dangerous.
· Ride your route the day before the event to ensure there are no traffic hazards or road construction. It’s important to correct route issues the day before than learn of them the day of the event.
· Have a map of your route at the registration table.
· You can have someone sweep the route to as the last participant to let volunteers know when to pick up and head the end location. This person can also check for any broken down motorcyclist participating in your event.
9. Get commitment from volunteers. The more help the better. Have contact phone numbers for each volunteer and a task list for the day of the event.
10. Follow through and make it happen. Be persistent because problems will arise throughout the planning and hosting of a poker run. Remember to make your decision based on having an enjoyable charitable event people will want to attend the next year.
11. Thank your supporters: If someone donated, food, drinks, ice, door prizes or auction items thank them for their support. If someone volunteered with any aspect of the event thank them for their support. A thank you will go a long way and they will remember that next time you host an event. You can thank most supporters with a letter and larger supporters with a plaque.
Timeline for a poker run:
· Have volunteers in place an hour before people will arrive.
· 9:00 am, Registration begins.
· 10:00 am, First bike out.
· 11:00 am, Last bike out.
· 3:00 pm, Last bike in.
· 4:00 pm, Announcements of awards, door prizes, half and half raffle and liquor raffle. Begin auction after announcements of winners.
· 5:00 pm, End of event.
I hope this information is useful and if you have any questions contact us at our Brothers in Blue MC, LA “Dirty South” Chapter website. See the files below for examples of our paper work.
Thanks,
Dallas 'Book' Bookenberger
Brothers in Blue MC- Trustee
Executive Board Member
Louisiana 'Dirty South' Chapter
http://bibmcladirtysouth.com/index.html
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Poker Run Door Prize Ideas Free
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