We've all done it. Signed up for a poker run, get three cards in and have a crap hand and lose all enthusiasm for the remainder of the ride.

Now, honestly if you sign up for a charity poker run with the expectation of winning and coming out ahead, then you're probably doing it for the wrong reason. But, from a competitive spirit kind of thing, we all hate to lose and it's even worse when halfway through the game you know there's no way you can win.

Poker runs typically involve motorcyclists, but you can plan a poker run for cars, boats or other vehicles. Your organization may choose to donate 100 percent of the profits to your charity, or you may need to deduct expenses. Set a date for the event. Allow plenty of time to plan and advertise. A poker run is an organized event in which participants, usually using motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, horses, on foot or other means of transportation, must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. Having the best hand and winning is purely a matter of chance.

Poker Run Flyer Templates A flyer template set perfect for promoting a Poker Run event. Available in three design variation in two print size formats (US-letter and A4), these flyer templates are fully editable (you can change sample texts, photo placeholders. Afterwards we went back to the house for a taco bar and some crazy activities; music, water balloon toss, eat powder donut off a rope don’t let any fall to the ground, make an outfit with Aluminum foil (Dollar Store) you need about 6 rolls per team. Hopefully these ideas will help those that are party stumped. Poker/Game Night Cherry Tomato Pizza Margherita. Falafel with Hummus. Chipotle Onion Dip with Garlic Pita Chips. Mini Sage-and-Fontina Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Caramelized Cashews with Cayenne. Spicy Popcorn with Piment D'Espelette and Marcona Almonds. Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Drumettes with.

That's why we like a slight variation on this old standard..the POKER CHIP RUN.

What makes this game better than a standard 5 card poker run is NOBODY has a clue if they have a good hand or a bad hand until they return to the starting point.

That helps you (as the event organizer) in several ways. The first is the majority of your participants will enjoy the event all the way through, you'll ensure that almost everyone will return to the start (instead of dropping out halfway) and the old 'I don't know how to play poker' excuse some people use for not attending your event.

How it works

The poker chip run is the simplest run you can set up. Here's what you need to do.

1. Decide on the number of stops you will have. Typically you can have as many as 5 or as few as three. If you're short on volunteers to man your stops, then we recommend having only 1 additional stop someone along the route. This gives you 3 draws from the poker chip bag. One when they register and before they leave, one at the stop out on the route, and one when they return to the starting point.

Get a set of generic poker chips, or contact Custom Products Plus (478-299-4601) for custom printed chips.

Divide the chips into equal numbers in a opaque bag so your participants can't see which color they're getting.

At each stop have your participants draw out 3 chips. Then note the colors drawn on their registration sheet.

That's it. Pretty simple huh?

Oh yea, once everyone leaves for the run, or (preferably) once everyone is back in and all the sheets have been returned, stage a public drawing where you put 1 chip of each color in the bag and have a volunteer reach into the bag and blindly draw out a chip. The first chip drawn is worth 20 points, the second chip is worth 10 points and the third chip is worth 5 points.

Poker Run Party Ideas Party

For example, if the first chip drawn is red, then every red chip drawn on the ride is worth 20 points. If the second chip is white then all the white chips are worth 10 points and the blue chips were worth 5 points.

The beauty of this is that because the value of the chips wasn't established until AFTER the ride concluded, no one knew if they had a good hand or not. They could've had all blue chips, or all red chips or all white chips and they either won big, or was a big loser!

Poker Run Game Ideas

Just make sure the person blind drawing the chips has no way to tell which color is which when they're in the bag and that person doesn't know anything about the participants scores or who has what colors on their sheets.

But if it's a blind draw, it's still pretty hard for anyone to cheat with this system.

If you have questions, or need more info, call us at Biker Nation, 478-268-7528 and we'll be happy to answer any questions about this system. We've used this dozens of times and it works great!

Poker Run Party Ideas Baby Shower

Attracts classic car owners and others. Charge a registration fee. Registrants pick up clues to the route where they pick up one card from a deck of cards. Box lunches are provided at the end while waiting for all cars to return. The best poker hand wins the grand prize which could be a set of tires, detailing, tune-up and oil change, etc (hopefully donated). Other trophies and prizes are also awarded. It’s a great fundraising idea and lots of fun. Be creative with the clues. Source: Hospice of the Gorge, Hood River, Oregon

Variation: Any one can do this one. All you need is a deck of cards, a notebook and pen. All who plays gets to draw 5 cards from the deck any way they want (not looking at them of course). They pay $5.00 a hand and the best hand wins half of the pot at the end of the time allowed. We do it for about 5 to 6 hours per day and raise about $100.00 per time for both the winner and the charity. Everyone wants to play again and again to beat the hand before. Sometimes the pot gets to be about $400.00, depending on the size of the group. It gets to be a lot of fun and everyone likes to play poker. You could add a joker for better odds or let them pay $3.00 more for 1 more card. We do this about 6 weekends a year and raise about $1500.00 for our state project for that year.Submitted By: Christy W, Fraternal Order of Eagles Auxiliary, Odessa, Texas

Golf Cart Poker Run Ideas

We have included a number of do-it-yourself fundraising ideas in this section that offer a break from traditional product sales. They were developed by groups just like yours in an attempt have a little fun with their fundraiser. Some of them are tried and true while others show a lot of creativity … and even wackiness in some cases. All of them are obviously not appropriate for every group, but sometimes, with only a little modification, your might find some fund raising ideas that are perfect for your group. If you have an idea for a do-it-yourself fund raiser you are willing to share with others, please send it to us via email. Include anything and everything you would want to know if you were hearing the idea for the first time.