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Poker Tournaments Give Fundraisers Full Houses

MASSACHUSETTS – As reported by the Boston Herald: "Poker might well be the new bingo among the young fund-raising set.

"Ever since it hit the airwaves on the Travel Channel's `World Poker Tour' in 2002, the riverboat-era game has attracted legions of followers, from teenagers to grandpas.

"…Last week in Massachusetts alone, 100 home games were listed on Homepokergames.com, a site connecting players with local games. And nearby Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Conn., reports a poker-revenue leap of 60 percent over last year, with ``almost half the table under 30 (years old),'' according to poker-operations director Kathy Raymond.

" But now there's a new twist to the trend: Charity poker tournaments, run by 20- and 30-somethings, champion everything from high school track teams to religious groups to foundations for diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

"`My dad does a lot of charity work, and I see that it's very fulfilling for him,' said Dracut's Craig Chemaly, 25, a legislative assistant who plays Texas Hold 'Em five times a week, mostly online. `I wondered: How can I combine that (feeling) on a constant basis with something that I love?'

" The answer was simple: Start a company that plans and runs charity poker tournaments. Chemaly and [poker writer Ashley] Adams' month-old business, called Raise It Up, already has four clients, including the Ayer Rotary Club, which plans a $75 buy-in event for 144 people next month to benefit the Loaves & Fishes food pantry, according to ex-Rotary Club president Christopher Lilly, 38. That and other calls came after Adams served as emcee at a tournament that raised $17,000 to benefit a Connecticut chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society…"

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