In Case You Needed a Reason to go to Denver… January 25, 2012

In Case You Needed a Reason to go to Denver…

By Hemant Mehta
January 25, 2012

The Freethought Film Festival Foundation is hosting a “Freethought Celebrity Charity Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament & Casino Night” on Wednesday, August 1st with all proceeds going to the Foundation Beyond Belief! There are seats for 135 players. And if anyone wants to buy me a plane ticket to Denver, I will gladly show you how to calculate basic odds in your head… and then probably bust out quickly.

“This is going to be an amazing event,” said Dale McGowan, executive director of Foundation Beyond Belief. “We’re thrilled to be involved and grateful to FFFF for naming the Foundation as the event beneficiary.”

Also fun to note: The event will be held in a nightclub called “The Church”:

More information is here and details about how the game will be run are here (PDF).

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What Are Your Thoughts?leave a comment

  • Hemant, I have a bed for you if you make it. And the Church is less than half a mile from my house. 😀

  • Hemant, I have a bed for you if you make it. And the Church is less than half a mile from my house. 😀

  • Sven

    “Church” is a pretty cool club, actually.  It’s a legit old stone church, stained-glass windows, gothic architecture,  the whole nine yards.  (I’ve lived in Lakewood for about a year and a half)

  • Sven

    “Church” is a pretty cool club, actually.  It’s a legit old stone church, stained-glass windows, gothic architecture,  the whole nine yards.  (I’ve lived in Lakewood for about a year and a half)

  • Xeon2000

    In my younger days there was a club nearby my place called the “Temple Club” inside an old synagogue.  It was the best place in the whole city to go on a Friday night.

    The community despised it.  I think they eventually threw their weight around enough to shut it down.

  • Xeon2000

    In my younger days there was a club nearby my place called the “Temple Club” inside an old synagogue.  It was the best place in the whole city to go on a Friday night.

    The community despised it.  I think they eventually threw their weight around enough to shut it down.

  • Stephanie

    The Church is a great club in Denver. I used to go there on Sunday nights for their goth night downstairs. The funny thing was you had to walk through the main levels’ Salsa night to get there 🙂 I miss Denver.

  • Stephanie

    The Church is a great club in Denver. I used to go there on Sunday nights for their goth night downstairs. The funny thing was you had to walk through the main levels’ Salsa night to get there 🙂 I miss Denver.

  • Anonymous

    Those poker chips look cool. I want a set.

  • Anonymous

    Those poker chips look cool. I want a set.

  • Anonymous

    Ahh I miss The Church!  Love the techno battles and the goth room.  Plus it has (or at least used to have) 18 and up nights so its the first club I ever went to.  More reasons to miss Colorado :(.

  • Anonymous

    Ahh I miss The Church!  Love the techno battles and the goth room.  Plus it has (or at least used to have) 18 and up nights so its the first club I ever went to.  More reasons to miss Colorado :(.

  • TiltedHorizon

    I’d say “finally a church that I can attend” but the truth is, I go to church whenever I have a business meeting it Pittsburgh PA: The Church Brew Works. A microbrewery & restaurant in a real church.

  • Contact The Church and suggest they auction them off after the game.  Or better yet, maybe the FBB can hook up with someone who makes chips to produce commemorative sets.  All proceeds….etc.

  • Josh

    I read this post and immediately got excited. Then I read
    the rules.  It reads like the winner
    doesn’t get any money but that the players will be eligible to win raffle
    prizes instead. Am I misunderstanding that or is that how it has to done to be
    in accordance with Colorado law? I mean, I understand this is a charity thing,
    but I think some sort of incentive for winning would attract more players and
    more re-buys and add-ons. (Not to mention make the action more interesting.)

    For the record, I think this is a great idea and I’d love to
    see a much larger and more profitable (both for the FBB and the winning
    players) version happen in Las Vegas or possibly Atlantic City, anywhere where
    we could really do it right. I think with the right structure and location we
    could easily attract players who don’t even care that they are in a charity
    tournament, which would open it up to people who would usually not give money
    to our cause. (Some might even play just for the chance to win first and stick
    it to the atheists.) Of course, there’d also be people like me who would give a
    large portion of their prize money to the charity.

    As a lover of the game I’d love to come but from a pragmatic
    perspective, I couldn’t go out to Denver for a tournament with no chance of
    making some money.

  • Angesteele

    Hi Josh,

    I’m the coordinator for the event. To answer your question, Colorado law states no cash prizes, but there will be prizes of significant cash value for top finalists. The raffle drawings will be going on intermittedly throughout the night, and players and spectators alike can enter them. There will be blackjack tables and a roulette table for spectators where the chips won will be traded for raffle tickets, and one can choose whatever drawing(s) she or he wants to enter. Incentives to participate other than the prizes are playing poker with freethought celebs (with a chance to knock them out of the game, of course) and for the sake of charity. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂

    Andrea
    info@freetho@freethoughtfilmfe:disqus ughtfilmfest.org