Power emerges champion of Texas Hold’em tourney
A little bit of Las Vegas returned to the island last weekend as the Third Annual Texas Hold’em Tournament, sponsored by American Business Women Association of Sanibel/Captiva (ABWA), was held on Jan. 17 at the Sanibel Community House.
According to event organizer Lisa Newmeyer-Cochrane, 34 players competed in an evening of poker, music, dinner, drinks and fun. In addition, seven guests made a generous contribution to the local ABWA chapter, helping raise more than $5,000.
“There were a few glitches, but we still managed to raise more than we did last year,” said Newmeyer-Cochrane, who noted that 2008’s Texas Hold’em event raised about $4,000.
The first place winner, Deb Power, took home a $1,000 prize. Second place went to Jack Petrie, whose prize was valued at $750. Paul Paglia took third place, winning a prize valued at $500.
After players dropped out of the tournament, they were invited to compete in a separate Black Jack event. The top finishers in the Black Jack tourney were Valerie Hotchkiss (first), Jim Grayzmala (second), Maureen Convoy (third), Robin Cohan (fourth) and Judie Zimomra (fifth).
In addition, ABWA held a 50/50 drawing, raising another $1,016. Trudy Kohlbrenner won $508 for her portion of the prize.
“I just want to thank everybody who took part in this year’s event and who volunteered their time to help make this a wonderful event,” Newmeyer-Cochrane added. “Everybody had a great time. It went very well.”