If you were at the Texas Hold 'em Tournament on July 16th, you experienced the genesis of one of those events that everyone may look back on and say ' Why didn't we do this years ago?'.  The event was a success!  We had over 40 players involved.  But everyone was talking about its potential, in the future.  The foundation is in place. 

I'll be the first to admit that I didn't know exactly what to expect from the evening.  I'm no gambler and not competent on the rules of tournament Texas Hold 'em.  But I kept saying to myself: this is for fun, and it's for the kids!

For anyone with concern: this was NOT a Vegas gambling situation where you may lose your life's earnings.  It was a tournament.  Best Bet even provided instructional classes before the actual game started to familiarize everyone.  

In many ways, this was like Monopoly.  Everyone started with the same 2,000 'dollars' in chips.  The objective is to win the most chips.  That's it.

Frankly, I was pleased to see the number of women SBMC members who showed up to play, when they had no previous experience whatsoever.  They all agreed, they were interested to find out about Best Bet, the event we had planned, and most importantly, they knew their contribution was going to a great cause!

To reiterate the purpose of the night: our Past Presidents have been looking for an easier way to raise funds for our annual Children's Christmas Shopping Spree.  This is where we align with Community Connections (Davis Center), who provides approximately 30 children from underprivileged single-parent families that we meet at Target one Saturday in December, and take them through the store as they find presents for their family.

These kids have a shopping list and know they have a budget of about $125 to spend.  Do the math: we need to raise approximately $3,750 each year to make this happen.

In the past, SBMC has worked every other night at the Jax Fair beer tents.  The tip money we procured is what help fund this event.  At this Texas Hold 'em tourney, we netted as much money in about 2 hours as we did over the course of the entire fair!

SBMC covered the cost of the food and servers; everyone agreed Best Bet did an outstanding job with the food quality and service.  Prizes were mostly donated from Gulf area casinos and the Victory Casino Cruise, here locally!  Our private room was gratis per the Best Bet!  It's great to see non-member entities who see the value of what SBMC is trying to achieve.  Without their help, this event couldn't have happened!

Here is the list of our winners:

1. Steve Nix (sponsored by Steve Burnett) - won an Island Casino three night stay ($600 Value), $100 Dinner cert., $100 Spa Cert. and $200 Cash.  BTW, Steve Nix donated his cash winnings back to the Shopping Spree!

2. Neil Van Wart (sponsored by Jim Cox) - won a Beau Rivage Casino - two night stay ($500 Value), Enterprise Rental car for a weekend, and $150 Cash.

3. Ken Dean - won a Victory Casino Cruise for up to 4 Persons ($160 Value) - and $75.00 Cash.

4. Brad Bushor - won a Victory Casino Cruise for up to 4 Persons ($160 Value) - and $75.00 Cash.

5. Gene Bushor - won a very cool SBMC gold-stamped Poker Chip set - $100 Value.

Most importantly, the big winners were: The kids! - Over $1,800.00 in funds NET!

Thanks to everyone who organized this event.  I know everyone has a busy schedule.  This would not have been so successful without your time and energy.  

Thanks to all who attended!