With all the attention poker has gotten on this site, on The ITD Morning After on Team 1380, and in St. Louis in general over the last few weeks, the climate is prime for insideSTL.com to finally do a poker tournament.
And, I'm happy to announce that after a number of phone calls to attorneys, we have found a way to make it happen. On top of that, we've got a way to raise what we hope will be a nice amount of money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation...the charity that houses poker pro Phil Gordon's Put A Bad Beat On Cancer.
And, on top of that, not only will it be those of you from insideSTL.com participating, I'm pleased to announce that I spoke with World Series of Poker Main Event chip leader Dennis Phillips last night, and he said that he plans to play as well.
As an illustration of just how first class of a person Dennis is, he said to me when I asked him about participating, "You rarely get a chance in life to really make an impact and do good things, and I've got that chance right now, and for the cause you're going to donate part of the proceeds to, I'll be there."
That's the kind of person representing St. Louis at the World Series of Poker. And, Dennis Phillips will be there when insideSTL.com hosts its first poker tournament. Here are the details:
Date: Wednesday August 6th
Location: F15teen
Time: Registration begins at 5 p.m. No earlier. Registration will go until 5:55 p.m. or when 100 players are registered, as we'll have room for 100 players total. Cards are dealt at 6 p.m. sharp.
Buy-in: Free. $100 voluntary donation is welcomed. A large portion of the proceeds will be donated to Prevent Cancer Foundation.
Prizes: TBD. The prizes will be determined by the number of voluntary donations we have. We also plan to assemble some Cardinal tickets and Missouri-Illinois tickets for the top finishers.
F15teen will be selling their full food and drink menus in the second floor event space.
Many more details will be coming over the next couple of weeks leading up to the event.
I want to make it crystal clear that we cannot take any pre-registration. The only way to insure that you'll be able to play is to be at F15teen at 5 p.m. on Wednesday August 6th. And, finally, I want to re-emphasize that there is no buy-in for this event. If you want to just come and play for free, you are welcome to do that. I do want to convey again that a $100 donation is welcomed, but it is not mandatory. The first 100 players who show up at F15teen are welcome to play...whether they pay or not.
Obviously, we'd love to have $10,000 in the pot after registration, but we cannot make people pay...and we will not make people pay. I would love to be able to cut a check for a few thousand dollars to Prevent Cancer, but it will all depend on how many people will make the $100 donation.
The goal is to have an evening where everyone wins: insideSTL.com puts on a good show and sets ourselves up to do this regularly and raise money for great causes. F15teen gets 100 people hanging out eating and drinking. The poker players who get to play get a chance to enjoy a tournament with some strong prizes...all while playing with Dennis Phillips, the current WSOP Main Event chip leader. And, St. Louisans contribute a few thousand dollars to the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
Hopefully, I'll get a chance to meet you and play some cards with you all while raising some money for charity on Wednesday August 6th at F15teen.
Log-in and post your comments below, or please feel free to email me at tmckernan@insidestl.com.