Betting on recreation

Poker enthusiasts will have a chance to try their hand against other local players in support of recreation at the new CRCA/Langdon Recreation Poker Tournament Feb. 24.
“It’s just a night of getting to know neighbours from different supporting communities and having a little bit of fun playing some games,” said Chestermere Regional Community Association (CRCA) General Manager Jody Nouwen.
Up to 160 poker enthusiasts are invited to come out for the fun money poker tournament Feb. 24 with doors opening at 6 p.m.
“Hoping to be a sold out event,” she said, “it’d be nice if we could do that.”
The evening will start with a barbecue from 6 to 6:45 p.m.
The poker tournament will start at 7 p.m. following the barbecue and will see players competing in the tournament for a spot in the top eight who will receive prizes.
Entry into the tournament is by donation. Players donate to the event to receive their chips.
From 7 to 9 p.m. players will be able to make additional donations to return to the game if they bust out.
After 9 p.m. players will no longer be allowed to rejoin the play and the elimination hands of the tournament will start with play continuing until one person has won.
“At the end of the night the person who ends up with the most chips gets prizes,” said Nouwen.
She expects that the play down to the final table of eight could take until midnight or later.
The prizes for the final eight aren’t set yet however Nouwen said they are looking to get things like Calgary Flames tickets, and a paid vacation.
The poker tournament came about after Nouwen was approached by the Chestermere Langdon Oilmen’s association about partnering with them and North Bow Community Facility Board for a fun money poker fundraiser.
“They do lots of local supporting between Chestermere and Langdon and they thought that it would be a good cause to be able to give back to both boards,” she said.
Since, unlike their other fundraisers, this one is being done in a partnership format, Nouwen said she is happy to say the whole process has been going smoothly.
“To be honest there haven’t been a lot of challenges,” she said of the organizing process.
“It’s been a really easy transition working with these two groups.”
Each group has been working to their strengths to help make the fundraiser poker tournament a success.
“If we all work together we can do some really positive things,” said Nouwen.
One of the biggest benefits Nouwen has noticed of working with the other organizations is the additional resources and contacts they bring to the table.
The funds raised by the tournament will be split equally amongst the tournament’s organizers.
“Money we receive from fundraising will go to a variety of places in particular this one is supporting youth and sport,” said Nouwen.
That isn’t to say that the money won’t also be used for general upkeep and day to day operations at the recreation centre.
Within youth sport, funds raised to the tournament could just as easily be used to fund new programs as to fund renovations to existing spaces or the creations of new spaces in the recreation centre.
The CRCA has confirmed that they will be adding a dance studio and multipurpose studio space at the rec centre this year.
“We can take funds raised at events like this to check out what are they new recreation trends, what are the new fitness trends,” said Nouwen, “how can we get these into these new multipurpose spaces.”
For more information or to register go to https://www.chestermerecrca.com.