Ripped off by the Police? - 06/18/04
Back in July of last year, I was working on organizing my first large-scale charity poker tournament.
I had already arranged some sponsors and just about everything was fully planned. The main hurdle to
the event was arranging a location to hold the tournament. I approached several major hotel chains, but
they wanted to charge me huge amounts for catering even though it was a charity event. I then looked into
smaller locations and private rooms, but I still ran into the same problem. People just weren't being
very charitable!
My dad came up with a good idea though to approach the San Jose Police Officer's Association because they
had a perfect room and since he is a retired officer, we would have a good connection. I wrote up a short
proposal and the POA agreed to talk over the event at their next meeting. It took a while, but I received
my response in the mail. It was a short three sentence reply that stated the event just wasn't going to
work in their space.
I was disappointed, but I understood that even if they didn't say so, the idea of a poker game might not
be what they want in their hall. You can understand how surprised I was when my sister sent me The Insider
(an internal newsletter for San Jose law enforcement) and I see that the San Jose POA is holding their own
charity Texas Hold 'Em tournament! Not only did they not change the format of the event, but they were
holding it in the very hall that was refused to me not more than a year earlier (See their exact ad in the
photo above.) I don't know how it looks
to you, but to me it seems that they rejected my proposal and then thought, "Hey, that's a good idea! Let's
do it ourselves!"
In the end, it's still a charity game which was the whole point of the plan. It's a little strange to have
your idea stolen by the police though! I guess that just goes to show you that in the world of poker, you
have to keep your eye on everyone!
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