Poker run to be held Saturday to help zoo

Ride your hog for a tiger.
    Sound odd?
    Well, on Saturday, local and area bikers are going to be doing just that as they gear up for the first Friends of Dodge City Zoo Spring Poker Run.
    "It gives people like me who like riding their motorcycle an excuse to ride," said Dennis Bell, organizer and friend of the zoo. "All the funds that we raise, we give to Friends of the Zoo."
    Registration begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.
    Riders pay $15 for a single poker hand and an additional $5 for each extra hand. After that, those involved in the run will suit up and head out on a round-area trip, going from the Dodge City Harley Davidson shop at 1312 S. Second Ave. to Minneola, around to Fowler and Montezuma and then back into Dodge City to the zoo.
    There, those who bought hands will get their chance to win some prizes at the poker table.
    But that doesn't mean you need to be on par with the World Series of Poker.
    "You don't even have to know to play poker," Bell said.
    The $15 "hand" gives the participant a card which has numbers on the outside. Players pull numbered chips, then punch out the respective numbers. Inside are poker cards — ace of clubs, queen of hearts, etc. —   which you then put together to figure out what kind of hand you've been dealt.
    Cash prizes will be given out for the best hand, the second best and — for those down on their luck — the worst hand.
    Don't have a bike? Don't worry.
    "Poker runs are usually performed by motorcyclists," Bell said. "What I'd like to get across is that anyone can come down and participate in the poker run."
    That means it won't just be Harleys and Hondas tooling down the road.
    Bell said the important thing to note is that 100 percent of the money that Friends of the Zoo receives from the run will go to improvements to the zoo.
    "We just finished purchasing a new freezer to hold meat for the carnivore animals," Bell said. "The old one just kept breaking down and ruining food. So, we just spent about $14,000 on a new freezer."
    The money will also go toward painting and purchasing individual signs for all the animals in the zoo.
    "We'd just like to get the point across that anyone is welcome," Bell said. "You don't even have to go out and do the run."

Reach Mark Vierthaler at (620 ) 408-9908 or e-mail him at mark.vierthaler@dodgeglobe.com.