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Players Get Their Game On for Charity
48 poker players took part in a tournament over the February 25th weekend to
raise money for the Fox Ridge Foundation. The tournament started at 1pm,
with six tables. The players were a broad demographic cross section of poker
participants, from younger players in Raybans to grizzled looking veterans
and even a straw hat wearing senior. Introductions and handshakes came at
some of the tables, and then the games were on.
After the first few hands, some players had lost and some had gained. Some
tables were nearly silent at this point, the only sound the clinking of
chips and the shuffling of the cards. One woman was raking in chips, and
explained that this was her first tournament ever. The other players looked
astonished, and she admitted that she did have some experience in Blackjack.
Poker games do tend to have a communal effect, even though the participants
are competing. Perhaps this is especially true in a fund raising event like
the Fox Ridge Foundation tournament. Players participated for many reasons.
Dan Levard drove from his Highland home to take a turn at the tables in the
tournament. He is also acquainted with Chris Patton, the president of Fox
Ridge Foundation, which provides donations for different program and
equipment at the state park off Illinois Route 130, south of Charleston.
Beth Marlow and Tyler Hanner, took part in the Texas Hold’Em Poker
Tournament as a vacation. The couple are from Potomac and are getting
married in December, and started out at separate tables to avoid a
disruption to the plans. Doris Hall, of Charleston, likes the entertainment
of the tournament. Hall is especially fond of Hold ‘Em, which ha a player
dealt two cards face down. The game play makes for a variety of strategies,
and she hoped to take advantage of some male preconceptions about a female
poker player. Anton Ketchmark, a student at Eastern Illinois University
majoring in physical education, has won the tournament in the past and said
there is a kinship around the tables in the friendly environment of the
tournament at Roc’s.
John Savage, secretary of the Fox Ridge Foundation, said that this casual
atmosphere is not unusual. This is the third poker tournament sponsored by
the foundation which has provided playground equipment and improved
campground conditions at Fox Ridge.
Savage says that people come to the tourney as it is a good way to spend the
25 dollars for the entrance fee. The Foundation will earned $1,000 in this
year’s tournament, which will go toward its interpreter scholarship effort.
Marlow and Hanner, maybe with the knowledge of foresight, shared about the
same amount in prize money, a good little turn for a couple in the middle of
wedding plans.
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