Poker games help groups raise funds

As he helped run Summerhill Volunteer Fire Company’s regular bingo games, Dave Hendrickson thought the organization might take a chance on a poker event.

Texas hold ‘em tournaments are growing in popularity on television and around the country.
“We’ve been kicking it around for about a year,” Hendrickson said from his Cameron Avenue home. “It’s better than bingo because it only takes four or five guys.”

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There is one problem:

“The state police considers these games to be illegal,” District Attorney Patrick Kiniry said from Cambria County Courthouse.

If police receive a complaint about the games, they will file charges and Kiniry will prosecute, he said.
“I recommended that they don’t do them,” Kiniry said.

The district attorney’s office checked into the games after Oakland Volunteer Fire Company of Stonycreek Township contacted him, Kiniry said.

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An Oakland officer said the organization shut its monthly tournaments after learning police were clamping down.

The need for a new fire house and fire truck are pushing Summerhill Township to look for more fundraising opportunities, Hendrickson said.

Summerhill brought in about $800 with a minimum of effort at its latest Texas hold ‘em tournament, thanks in part to event organizers, Four Alarm Poker of Port Matilda, Centre County.

Hendrickson said the outside promoter does most of the work.

Running a successful bingo night takes about a dozen volunteers.

“They do the whole scenario,” Summerhill Township Chief George Fedore said.

But police contend the private business’s cut of the action is what makes the games illegal, Kiniry said.

Players at Beaverdale paid $35 each to buy in for $1,000 in tournament chips.
That also included food and nonalcoholic drinks.

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“There is no alcohol,” Hendrickson said. “We have a big sign saying they can’t bring alcohol into the building.”

The promoter’s computer assigns seats to players, rotating them as participants lose all their chips.

Summerhill does not include side games that some other tournament operators use to build profits.

“They are just sitting around waiting for it to go down to the final guys,” Hendrickson said.
Cash prizes are awarded to top finishers. Hendrickson would not say how much Summerhill Township paid out, but noted winners were not from the local area.

For the fire company, it’s a matter of bang for the buck – or rather bang for the volunteer hour. Four Alarm Poker took care of the gambling.

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“We just sit back and make sure the food is there,” Hendrickson said.

“We don’t run the event,” Fedore said.

“We don’t have a heck of a lot to do. The only thing we do is collect admissions and make the payouts.”

Many of the players come from out of the area, following Four Alarm Poker’s online schedule, Fedore said.

Virtually all said they play poker on Internet gambling sites, Hendrickson said, adding that Summerhill Township might as well get in on the action.

“They should legalize it,” Hendrickson said. “It’s not like where they go into a gambling place and spend hundreds of dollars.”