Annual Boat Poker Run set to take place Sunday
Travel by boat, car, truck, motorcycle, kayak or bicycle this Sunday to try your luck at this year’s Poker Run sponsored by the Pine Island Boat Club. This event will take place with the dealer stations opening at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 6. Each player can choose to visit any of six dealer stations whether by land or by sea to develop a poker hand to vie for cash prizes. This year the prizes are $1,000 for first place, $350 for second and $150 for third. In addition, a losers draw will also be held for a prize of $100, but the participant must be present to claim this prize. For those would like to have a hand in the game but will not be available to play on Dec. 6, members of the Pine Island Boat Club will arrange to have absentee participant tickets carried from station to station and you need not be present to win one of the top three prizes. The participant need only include a name, address and phone number on tickets purchased in advance. Tickets, instructions and maps may be picked up at Woody’s Waterside Restaurant, the Ragged Ass Saloon or the Island Cow in St. James City before the run.
All players must go to one of each numbered station for a total of six stops and can mix water and land/water stations, but only one stop at each number will be permitted. The stations do not have to be visited in any particular order with the exception of the seventh and final destination. All participants must meet at Woody’s on or before 3:30 p.m. to draw a final card and then the winning hands will be determined.
The numbered dealer stations are as follows:
#1 (water) Long Cut
#2 (water/land) Pine Island Shores, 2063 Macadamia Lane
#3 (water) Chino Island
#4 (water) Blind Pass
#5 (water) Jensens Marina
#6 (water) Green Flash Restaurant, Captiva Island
#1 (land/water) 4111 Galt Island Avenue on Airport Canal
#2 (land/water) Pine island Shores, 2063 Macadamia Lane
#3 (land/water) Ragged Ass Saloon, Monroe Canal
#4 (land/water) Island Cow Trading Company, 3339 Stringfellow Road, Monroe Canal
#5 (land/water) Waterfront Restaurant 2131 Oleander, Henley Canal
#6 (land/water) 3832 Cherry Lane
#7 (last stop land/water) Woody’s Waterside 3051 Stringfellow Road, Monroe Canal.
As players reach each of the stations a card from a standard deck of playing cards will be drawn. The suit and number of the card will then be marked on the players ticket and on reaching the final destination, the player with the best hand will be declared the winner.
All proceeds from the Pine Island Boat Club Poker Run will benefit the Calusa Land Trust. The Land Trust is comprised of members dedicated to protecting the natural diversity and beauty that makes Pine Island so unique. The active members of the Land Trust have spent countless hours maintaining and restoring hundreds of acres of ecologically sensitive or historically significant land on Pine Island that will be held in perpetuity and protected from future development. The Calusa Land Trust is a non-profit organization and relies solely on fund raising activities, membership dues and contributions to acquire and maintain preserves like St. Jude Harbor and the Pine Flatwoods Preserve in St. James City and Big Jim Creek Preserve and Fritts Park in Bokeelia and many more.
For more information about the Pine Island Boat Club Annual Poker Run, contact, Dan Foote and Claudia Binter at 283-3825 or Bob and Bonnie Kellen at 283-8677.