Poker As Charity Inspiration27 Dec 2005
"Poker is the new bingo." At least, that’s how a growing number of charities in the Rock River Valley feel. Just ask John Guth, director of Ken-Rock Community Center. Ken-Rock has watched charitable donations dry up in recent years. Budget shortfalls have forced the neighborhood center to lay off two full-time employees since 2002. And revenue from weekly bingo games is slipping.
Mr. Guth on his own initiative organized a Texas Hold ’Em tournament this last March that offered as the grand prize a seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. The fundraiser was a smashing success. In a single afternoon, Ken-Rock earned a $15,000 profit — about half of what the 11th Street community center earns in an entire year from hosting weekly bingo games.
Poker also is attracting new faces to places like Ken-Rock and Harlem Community Center in Machesney Park, another nonprofit group that’s jumping on the gambling bandwagon. While bingo nights at Ken-Rock tend to draw folks from nearby, a Texas Hold ’Em tournament at Harlem Community Center last Sunday drew more than 100 players from Rockford, downstate and the Chicago suburbs. | 
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