Lake Cumberland Poker Run
 

The boat count at the poker run last weekend seemed off from 2001. Has anyone heard what the boat count was? Kudos to Outterlimits, their contingent was bad to the bone.

I heard 175 down from 203 last year. It seemed to me that there were as many performance boats watching from the sidelines as there were in the run?

I didnt make it I was grounded.:eek:

There were indeed 175 boats. That is a huge run, last years over 200 was a first. We had a blast thanks to the great organization of the people who put on the run. Thanks, and we will see you next year!

Bigtime hardware as well. Awesome weekend, for sure:D

Outterlimits??? Your Right,, They Did Look Good,,,,

But nowhere near the front!!!!

Thats because a Poker Run Is NOT a Race. Think I read that somewhere. ;) Drambiu wasn't up near the front neither. Heard Randy was driving it, probably more for advertisement.

I will speak for myself and many others like myself in saying that $385 or whatever the entry fee was, is entirely too much for some of us. After towing 6+ hours down @ 9 mpg, filling 120 gallons of fuel, all for one weekend, then running all of the fuel out, plus the entry, that's a good deal of cash for some of us. I know they throw a party and feed you, etc....but that's just too much for some. That is why the count is down and people are watching. Period.

Tbikini and I were planning on running this year, but the boat did not make it in time. We did boat on Cumberland this weekend. We ran our own poker run on Sunday:D

I gotta say, a poker is not a race is true, but I am not sure everyone who enters a poker run believes that. :rolleyes:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Flyinbrian
I will speak for myself and many others like myself in saying that $385 or whatever the entry fee was, is entirely too much for some of us. After towing 6+ hours down @ 9 mpg, filling 120 gallons of fuel, all for one weekend, then running all of the fuel out, plus the entry, that's a good deal of cash for some of us. I know they throw a party and feed you, etc....but that's just too much for some. That is why the count is down and people are watching. Period. [/QUO

I agree with you Brian. I can afford it, I just can't justify spending that much for a party and that's basically what your paying for. Anyone can jump in and run. As for the boats...I slobbered all over mine sitting next to Rock-It, and Drambue, and several others.... I though I seen you out there, but I was across the lake at the time

I didn't make it.

I'm so broke, I can't afford to pay attention.:D

Brian,
You are broke because the wife is making you save $ for the surgery!!!

Hey Brian, I agree the cost is more like $800 - $1000 fully loaded.

I ran in the poker run (probably the last at cumberland) and was very disapointed. I thought I would get more than a hamburger for dinner fri. night. Then for breakfast fruit and a donunt, for lunch a cold cut sandwich. And then came the big sat. dinner, everyones favorite a PORK CHOP. And not nearly the seating for ereryone. All this for only 395.00$ what a deal!!!!

Exactly!

I make 9 mpg towing. It is 650 miles from my home to Grider Hill and back. That comes out to about 72 gallons of fuel X 1.30 per gallon is roughly $94.00. Boat fuel @ $1.30 per gallon for 120 gallons is $156.00. Now we are up to $250.00 in FUEL alone. You have miss a day of work, some of us get paid for that, some of us don't. Add food for most of the weekend, depending on how and where you eat, you can be anywhere from $180-$250+ conservatively. Add your drinks, ice, etc.... Sheesh.....

I'm glad I'm not alone in this one.

If memory serves me correctly, 2 of the Outerlimits were in deed out in front in their class (the GTX "Enough Said" and "Rock-It" along with the 46' Skater (Drambuie) driven by Randy Hartman and throttled by Mike Deannabel of Sterling Performance..

However, 3 slower classes were started first leaving the 95 =mph group to leave LAST.

You are both absolutely right that it was not a race. I guess you could say that several 65 mph boats beat the Outerlimits boats and Drambuie to the first card stop, but that's because they were started out 15-20 minutes apart from each other (5 minutes delay for each class).

From what I understand, they ran it the same way last year, but I could be wrong.

:D :D

Idea
 

Maybe us "frugal" types need to organize a "Po-Boyz" poker run. Say....$25, $35, $50 entry fee for boat, loaded with however many want to go. That is, unless you do the tee-shirt thing, where you will need to charge per person. Or you could give one shirt per boat and sell the shirts seperately too.

Just some ideas.

Of course you're not going to see Drambuie on Ice or any of these heavy hitters. At least, not on the first run.

My Thoughts Exactly:mad:

Count me in Brian, We'll start at Burnside and race to my house for a cold beer. I got plenty of room to party.

:D :D :D

PS. Beers are free only if I win the Non-race race

Anyone who wasn't hanging out at the third card stop that saw the Outerlimits and Drambuie taking off missed quite the show. Awesome display of serious power! Those three were tearing it up pretty well...what happened to the National Marine Outerlimits V boat... looked like they lost a motor when I came by (mucho later by the way:eek: )

What I wanted to see was those guys run that NorTech 50 Cat...that would have made the stock owners of Exxon proud!

brian; you are right on as for the great expence that it takes to be in the poker run!! i also don't want to throw away the money that i can use to finish boating for the rest of the season! it is nice to be able to see these offshore boats that other wise we would not have the chance to see. to me this is a good form of income for the organizers. just my 2 cents worth. bill:rolleyes:

Good point Bill, We met Bob from the "Smoke on The Water Poker Run" He said there run raised $27,000 for "Make a Wish" a childrens charity:) I wonder how much this run raised and for who:confused:

I think the idea was to have a an affordable party for the boaters to get together at different places and enjoy the sport and pleasure of performance boating. I guess that is a different definition for everyone. I am glad to watch on the sidelines and enjoy the great show put on by the proud, and deservedly so, boat owners. I have a GREAT time anytime I can be on the water. In or out with that much heavy iron in the water it had to be a hell of a show. I'm with ya, I'm not looking to pad anyone else's pockets with money I can spend on my boat. Do the numbers and someone walked away with some cash. I like the idea that poker run profits go to a credible cause like MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION, it would make the additional cost, you guys are skeptical of, a lot easier to swallow.

I know I'm going to piss someone off with this one....
 

Quoting from the Mid American Boating Association's website, "Prizes are awarded to the top four poker hands. It includes meals (the best in the business), banquet, fun filled days of excitement, and a party with awesome entertainment."

OK,
175 boats X $395=$69125
$7100 in prize money

Who did they hire for entertainment, Gart Brooks? The Rolling Stones? :rolleyes:

I agree with everyone else here about the poker run and the cash it takes to get involved. Although, I'm not trying to make anyone mad, becuase I consider myself apart of this statement...

If you lower the entry fee and cost of this "type" of poker run, it will allow any Joe (including me) to become a participant. Therefore, you will have a huge ass poker run (which I'm not against). It would be more difficult to organzie, run, and keep it safe. Having said that, you will not get to see the "best performance boats" in the country at poker runs like this.

These guys come to these events becuase they know there will be a limited number of people who can afford participation in events like this. It will give them the opportunity to "run like hell" and bust the water like they did for you at Cumberland. Just something to think about and its my .02 Just my thought here and I'm not trying to make sides or draw lines. Enough said.

Mike
:confused:

Any time you guys want to do a " poor mans " Poker run...
count me in ! 400 for a party & some burgers.....Not me !

Heck it seems as if there is enough interest now! Someone grab this bull and go. Count me in!
:D :D :D

I watched the return from Conley and the run to Grider and the 2 Outterlimits boats were clearly in front!!!!

These aren't Poker Runs per se but there is a Fun Run 9/21 at 2pm for performance boats out of Watertown Marina and a Cincy to Louisville run 10/5-6. The one on the 21st is just a bunch of the TSPBA go-fast guys getting together and tearing it up.

Damn Dano.........Everytime you guys plan something Im at
Lake Erie !!!............Is it my breath?

Just a little additional input on the cost of putting on a poker run.
Someone needs to think about the cost of food + 15% gratuity + tax (on the water), T-shirts, insurance (try calling your local insurance agent and tell him what you want insurance for "and how fast do some of these boats go?), advertising, printing, etc. Then add it up again. All that money evaporates pretty quickly.

Just my .02

sun28-
Very true, that is a great point. I helped a friend put on an event that brought almost 200 boats for a drag race and top end run. No money was awarded, it was all for the Make-A-Wish foundation. We had sponsors that covered almost all of those expenses. T-shirts, etc.... All profits went to charity, so maybe that is where the expense is coming in, but I do know this poker run had sponsors, what they paid to be a sponsor I don't know. I don't care either, I like many others, chose not to run in it do to the extreme expense.

After helping organize the racing event earlier this year, I may consider looking into putting on a charity poker run that us po-boyz can run in.

I'm not going to post anymore *****ing about the cost, I think the only thing to do at this point is to organize our own run, or shut up and watch next year's from the sideline.;)

Birdog,
Ya gonna miss both? The Cincy to Louisville run is gonna be a blast.

Dano...Me & Mack 312 will be at Erie {last trip of the year:( }
over the 20th.......Dont know about the Louisville run though..
I'll try & catch up with you guys this weekend & find out more
Been spending Sundays at the damn the last few weeks....

i'm not sure how all the Poker runs are organized, but I talked to a friend who went to Texoma and the payout for 3rd place was $10,000! Now that's some serious cash.!!!! The entry fee is $500 or something like that, and I'm not sure if they feed them or not. Hey...I would pass on the food and buy my own for a payout like that. They had around 200 boats too.

I must say that one of the organizers of the Cumberland Poker run (Roger Schnabel to be exact) is extremely nice... We were unable to attend, and had already paid our money. They were kind enough to refund our money, and that says alot for their integrity. You have to appreciate someone like that.

Just my .02

Re: Idea
 

forthe shirts, me and a buddy are buying a teeshirt press soon so, how many on avg shirts do people need for poker runs??

Lake Cumberland
 

To Brian, You better have a Permit form the
U. S. Corp of Eng. to do the you must have
insurance, to to that you must have permission
and permit from water patrol. Now the ball starts
rolling, are you going to have food, Video, T-shirts
(not the kind that fall apart after one wash), what
what do you think the things that fly in the air with
a guy holding a camera cost? This list is more than
you want to hear and so are then cost. It is very
clear you have no idea what you are talking about
as we once experienced, we started our event with
30 boats and - $20,000 dollars( in the hole).
We have come a long way in six years but it has
not been easy.

By the way we do donate to Lake Cumberland clean up,
water patrol and others.

I for one enjoy the Lake Cumberland Poker Run. It is a very long run on a beautiful lake. I cannot imagine how difficult it was to get permission from the Army Corps of Engineers let alone the marina owners, to put this thing together. And don't use the gas argument for the marina owners. We were at Conley Bottom and we did not see anyone stop for gas.

I was sick that I could not participate. We will definitely be there next year. And we will also participate in the Kentucky Lake run. I also wish they would reinstate the Dale Hollow run.

By the way what is the cost of the "smoke on the water" or the "Pier 33" run's that donate big bucks to charities? Check it out before you give these guy's too bad of a time.

Bussell
 

I think I'm going to get a sponcer for next year. What happened to the Dale Hollow run and is there a chance of it coming back ?

I think the guys who put the Poker Run together do a great job. Think of the money they shell out to everyone. It has to be expensive to put on a Poker Run. We have 3 couples in our boat so we split the cost of the entry and fuel and slip fee in 3 and really does not cost alot. You can sleep on the boat or rent a cabin that holds 8 people and split that and the cost is down. We have a great time and will continue to return. Been there since it started and will continue every year. Billy and Roger, you guys do a great job!!

Catgirl