Snowmobilers take to trails for a good cause

Now in its fifth year, the Big Deal Poker Run is bigger than ever.

Before the event officially gotten underway Saturday morning, it had already raised more than $10,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Sudbury, said organizer Larry Berrio.
“I’m really pleased with the amount of money we’ve raised,” he said.

More than 50 snowmobilers gathered at the Pioneer Inn Motel, off of Highway 69 South, to begin a day-long trek to Manitoulin Island, where they would stay overnight. The next day the group would travel to Killarney, and finally, return to Sudbury.

Berrio said poker runs were very common in Sudbury for a while, but later waned in popularity.

But with newer snowmobiles on the market, the hobby has picked up again, and poker runs are back in style.

In a poker run snowmobilers stop at a number of checkpoints along a set route, where they randomly draw a couple of playing cards at each stop. When they arrive at their final destination, the participant with the best poker hand wins.

Berrio said this year’s fundraising success was due to support from a number of corporate partners and a new partnership with the Northeastern Ontario Construction Association.
The association held its own poker run in past years, but also raised funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Denis Shank, executive director of the Northeastern Ontario Construction Association, said it made sense to combine the two events.

“We both donated to the same charity anyway,” he said.