STATE COLLEGE — The 16th annual Kards for Kids charity poker tournament was held Jan. 30 in the atrium of the Ramada Inn in State College. The event benefited four local organizations: Centre County YMCAs, Centre County Youth Services Bureau, Boy Scouts of America and Kid-Tech, an organization that aims to encourage and enable youth to learn about engineering and the related fields of science, technology and math.
The event is sponsored by local restaurants, hotels, car dealerships, department stores, food stores and other businesses who donate prizes for the tournament winners. Tournament organizer Chip Fogelman said the top finishers get to designate which charity will receive their share of the money raised from entry fees.
According to Fogelman, the tournament was conceived by his father, Ken, and two poker-playing friends 16 years ago. “They were looking for something different to do for a fundraiser, other than a golf tournament, and something we could do in the winter” said Fogelman.
“The first tournament had 32 players,” said Ramada Inn director of sales and marketing Jennifer Brooks-Stahl.
“And we have 123 this year,” Fogelman added.
Many of the players are local, but some hail from as far away as Ohio and Maryland. Fogelman said that weather is sometimes a concern for those making the trip to State College. “We’ve had trouble with weather, but we try to get everybody in here Friday night,” he said.
Brooks-Stahl said that some players make it a family outing, bringing their spouses and families to the tournament. “They’re out doing other things during the tournament,” she said. “It’s really turned into a great fundraiser during an off time of the year, and allows us to raise a lot of money in a short time.”
Fogelman said the tournament raised a total of $19,400 for the four organizations this year.
Tournament play began at 9 a.m., with players seated in groups of eight, playing three different games: five-card draw, five-card stud and seven-card stud. The games are timed, and the top four players at each table go on to play other winners. Each round eliminates half of the remaining players until one emerges as the top prize winner.
This year’s winner was Karen Garrison, who presented Andrea Fisher, of the Centre County Youth Service Bureau, with a check for $5,000.
