Listen to the podcast
Love playing poker? Have you ever wanted to combine a poker night with a bike night?
Then, how about doing a “poker run?”
Tune in to learn:
- What a poker run is and how you play it
- About poker runs done for charity – and how to find ones in your local area
Transcript
Hello and welcome to 30-minute motorcycling – a podcast for new aspiring and returning riders where you’ll learn about motorcycles and other two-wheelers in 30 Minutes or less.
And if you’re someone who loves playing poker as well as riding motorcycles – you’re going to love this week’s episode.
Did you know that you can combine the two? And you don’t have to fit a poker table on your handlebars or the pillion seat – it’s all possible through something called a “Poker Run.”
In this very special episode of 30 MInute Motorcycling, you’re going to learn what a poker run is, and how you play it.
You’re also going to learn more about organized poker runs done for charity and how to find ones.
But first thing’s first – what is a poker run and how do you play it?
What is a Poker Run and how do you play it?
A Poker Run is just like any regular game of poker – but with a fun, creative twist.
Instead of sitting down at a poker table at a casino or in someone’s living room, you all ride your motorcycles to a few checkpoints.
The number of checkpoints can vary depending on if you’re playing 5 or 7 cards draw game – but either way, here’s how it works.
At the first pre-determined checkpoint, everyone gets a card, which they hold on to before you all go to the second checkpoint.
Once you get there, everyone gets a second card. When you get to the third checkpoint, you all get a third card and so on.
When you’ve reached the final checkpoint, everyone shows their cards, and whoever has the best hand wins.
I’m not going to go through the different poker hands and which ones are the strongest – but if you’re interested, I’ve included a link in the show notes to a YouTube tutorial about the different poker hands, as well as how you play.
Anyway, a poker run is a great idea for several reasons:
Number 1: You get an excuse to ride your motorcycle
Number 2: You get to explore – fairly self-explanatory
Number 3, and perhaps the best one – poker runs can be done for charity.
There are some specially organized poker runs all over the world, where bikers get together to chip in (no pun intended) for a worthy cause.
And many of these tend to attract people in the hundreds – sometimes even in the thousands.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest poker run happened in Fort Collins, USA on May 26th, 2013.
During this event, 1,494 bikers raised $130,000 for the Realities for Children Fund.
So if you’d like to do one of these charity poker runs, where do you start?
The best (and perhaps the most obvious) place to start is Google. Simply do a search for “poker runs near me,” or “poker runs” followed by the area you’re visiting or you’re in.
If you’re in the United States, you can also check out the site Cyclefish.com, which I’ll include a link to in the show notes.
But even if you just want to do a poker run for fun – it can totally be done – just get some of your friends together, grab a deck of cards and hop on your bikes.
And that concludes this episode of 30-minute motorcycling.
I hope you enjoyed listening and above all that you were inspired to start doing your very own poker runs – be it for fun, or even to raise money for charity.
Until next time, keep your helmet on and your eyes on the road. Bye!
