Poker Run - Traverse City, Michigan - Next July

357Matt · 08-20-2009, 01:21 PM

Anyone interested in taking part in a poker run to be held in Traverse City, Michigan next summer? We have a small group of us that are starting to put one together for mid-July next year, date TBD (and do it right) and would like to hear your feedback. It would be run in West Grand Traverse Bay, 7 card, with stops including Suttons Bay, Omena and Power Island, dinner included, Dave Sysco - great music entertainment (Key West style), great location w/new floating docks - party next to boats that night. Best boat launch in area is next door to base location with plenty of parking....Thoughts, comments? Respond here or you can email me at "mattsoper@charter.net" Thanks!

357Matt · 08-22-2009, 09:07 AM

Will be $350/hand with first place somewhere in the $3-5k range depending on entries. Should have some cool prizes as well such as a hot air balloon ride, charter fishing for 4 people plus whatever else we can gather throughout the winter. Will be deciding on which Charity to sponsor later next week for proceeds

KAAMA · 08-22-2009, 10:48 AM

Sounds fun....what marina (and where) has the new floating docks??? Are there other stops other than the 3 (Sutton's Bay, Omena, and Power Island) you mentioned???

laszlo01 · 08-22-2009, 10:52 AM

Sounds interesting, keep us informed on the proposed schedule and dates.

boatfreak · 08-22-2009, 01:44 PM

Make it the 3rd weekend and we will be there.
When is Boyne?

laszlo01 · 08-23-2009, 08:16 AM

Also watch out for LEOPA thunderfest in July, some of those guys might attend as well if it does not conflict.

357Matt · 08-23-2009, 12:16 PM

Thank you for your responses! Great input! We don't want to conflict with Boyne Thunder (usually 2nd weekend in July) so we'll look at the 3rd weekend in July. We want to make it an annual event so picking the date is a huge deal. The base location will be at Centerpointe (the old Reef Petroleum Bldg) located between Elmwood and Harbor West marinas...it all looks like one big marina anyway...Elmwood has a great launch with tons of parking literally a couple of hundred feet from where we will all be docked/based. The intent is to fill Centerpointe marina first, then overflow into Elmwood (both have floating docks - Elmwood new last year, Centerpointe new this year...very nice!). The after party will literally be at the side of the docks at Centerpointe - beautiful huge building & patio literally steps from your boat - bathrooms/boaters lounge just renovated w/new carptet/tile and granite tops - very nice. Its the perfect place for this. We will most likely have one of the stops at Clinch Marina, probably one of the last stops as it is only a mile or two from Centerpointe Marina. We want an organized start so the first stop will have to be Power Island (7 miles) or Suttons Bay (approx 18 miles) so we have room to run and get pictures - hopefully from Tom's helicopter...1st card will be at Captains meeting Sat. morning, 2nd -Suttons Bay, 3rd - Omena Bay, 4th - TBD, 5th - Power Island (stay/party there for a bit!), 6th - Clinch Marina in Traverse City, 7th - back at Centerpointe when cards are turned in. We are close to 30 confirmations already for next year - We should be able to hit 50 entries and hopefully do something cool like a $5,000 first prize and still give a chunk to the selected Charity...thanks for your responses, keep them coming! Open to suggestions/ideas to make it great for all...

357Matt · 08-24-2009, 10:52 PM

Met tonight and the location is going to work perfectly and will be 1st class...and its a private marina so we can work a deal on slips for all...and the Harbor Master will give us the run of the place so we can raft/pack them in if neccasary - most likely to be included in on the price - TBD, and we can probably fit everyone into one marina. We narrowed the date down to either the third weekend in July (most likely) or the third weekend in August. Will keep you posted.

357Matt · 08-24-2009, 11:01 PM

BoatFreak - Boyne Thunder is 2nd week in July, we will most likely be the next weekend...no sense in trailering all the way back downstate, could do back to back weekends up here and cover a ton of water! Traverse City is only about a 45+ minute trailer ride from Boyne and the Traverse City airport is literally 15 minutes from the docks. Hope to see you there!

357Matt · 08-30-2009, 11:32 AM

We talked about doing a fun run yet this year but this "summer weather" has not been favorable for boating...47 degrees this morning when I woke up!!! Coldest summer in 100 years is what "they" are saying! Unreal! We are going to do it the 3rd week of July next summer for sure. It will be the weekend after Boyne Thunder in Traverse City. We'll start reserving spots within the next month or so with deposits - want to get a good count on slips so we can fit everyone in to Centerpointe. We're pretty excited about it, should be an awesome event! Look forward to seeing you there!