It's a hectic time in Las Vegas at the moment. Between the World Series of Poker and the other ongoing tournament series around town, there's no shortage of events to take a shot at. While it may be difficult to drag yourself away from the action, there's one event taking place this weekend that you should add to your list: the Cops 4 Kids charity poker tournament.
On Friday, June 13, The Stirling Club will once again play host to the Cops 4 Kids charity tournament –with the Charity Series of Poker working behind the scenes to help run the event. After the success of last year's event, Cops 4 Kids is upping the ante this summer as they hope to award $65,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors at El Dorado High School.
PokerOrg spoke with Troyce Krumme, Chairman of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Cops 4 Kids charity, about the upcoming event and what players can expect from the tournament – including a potential special giveaway for women attendees.
How did last year's event turn out?
Krumme: It went really well. We had about 150 players and we were able to give away our $65,000 in scholarships last July to an amazing group of young people. Based on that, we're doing it all over again.
Do you think this year's event will have a similar turnout?
Krumme: I told Matt [Stout] to have 15 tables ready for us. I'm kind of expecting around 130 to 150, like we had last year.
The Cops 4 Kids charity poker tournament will help fund scholarships for students at El Dorado High School in Las Vegas. Can you tell us a little about the selected school for this year's scholarships?
Krumme: So, last year we approached El Dorado High School and they were happy to work with us. We made our presentation and I want to say we got 51 applicants from that school – it was quite daunting. Obviously, our board reads every application and grades them based on a rubric. They're all separated by decimal points. It makes me think, 'Man, we really need to figure out how to make more money so we can give more.'
There's a lot of insistence on our end to keep everything above board in terms of the selection process and make sure we're sticking to the original intent of the charity – to help those who might not otherwise get help. The neat thing about the last couple years is you could kind of tell that some of these kids have never been recognized and here they are getting some recognition.
I think the bridges are there – we just need to keep reinforcing them.
Will there be any big names from the poker world in attendance?
Krumme: Yeah, we've worked a lot with Joey Ingram – he'll be there, he'll be one of our bounties. Abby Merk and Corey Eyring are going to come. Frankie C [Cucchiara] says it depends what's going on over at the WSOP, he's going to swing by if he doesn't have anything else poker related going on. We've got Christina Black, a board member of the Women's Poker Association, attending. If they get 25 women to sign up for the tournament, we're going to give away a seat to the Venetian $2,500 Ladies Deep Stack event to the last woman standing. I believe, as of two days ago, they were at 16 players registered.
The winner's photo from last year's Cops 4 Kids charity poker tournament. What kind of prizes can players expect?
Krumme: Our first-place prize is going to be $5,000 in cash again. The Wynn partnered up with us and gave us a pretty incredible stay-cation package to give away. Sheriff Kevin McMahill was nice enough to donate a ride along with our Police Department's air unit. The SWAT Team gave us what's called a SWAT Experience – they take people up to the range and give them a live run through the SWAT house. It's a bananas experience.
Whatever prizes don't go to the top finishers will be part of the silent auction.
Images courtesy of Cops 4 Kids
