Trevilynn Blakeslee outlasted 22 other players to win Poker For Life's October Main Event Tournament and a $500 Visa gift card Sunday, but she didn't enter the charity Texas Hold'em tournament for the prize money.
"It's not usually about the money," said Blakeslee, 52, a Gainesville resident. "It's about playing with these people."
Who she is referring to are the regular attendees of Poker For Life's monthly tournaments, all held in a Texas Hold'em format.
For four years, Gainesville's Poker For Life, a subsidiary of the non-profit UpRoar Events, has sponsored monthly $50-buy-in tournaments in which the proceeds go to local charities, such as Bread of the Mighty Food Bank and Arbor House, according to Neil Lawson, founder of Poker For Life and UpRoar Events.
In the last 18 months, it collected more than $5,000 for its charity fund.
Lawson said he came up with the idea of forming the nonprofit after regularly playing for a similar charity designed to help fund veterinary studies.
Initially the games were held at Lawson's church, The Vineyard Christian Fellowship, but moved to Gainesville's TutoringZone location last year.
Lawson's regular players followed suit.
Retirees, blue-collar employees and businessmen are all parts of the family that Poker For Life created with its conception.
"The interesting thing about poker is that it allows you to meet people who you would never meet under different circumstances," said Lawson, 43.
Joan Delker, 50, looks forward to the tournaments because she has a chance to catch up with her friends and improve her play.
Delker, who was taught by her son how to play Texas Hold'em four years ago, is the reigning winner of Poker For Life's Tournament of Champions, an invitation-only event held every six tournaments.
Along with the title, she won a trip to a World Poker Tour Boot Camp in Orlando.
Lawson said he is now working to attract Gainesville's student population.
He said he hopes more students from the UF and Santa Fe College join the group of regulars who attend each month.
On Sunday, the only student to play was Joel Reeside, a 23-year-old Santa Fe marketing student.
"I do enjoy playing every month because it's fun but competitive, and it's all going toward a good cause," Reeside said.
Among the many subjects talked about at the poker tables Sunday included Tim Tebow and the World Series of Poker. Players discussed how a previous tournament was forced to end in a storage closet because they had no other place to finish the game.
Blakeslee also won that tournament.
For Harry Flanigan, a 66-year-old Gainesville Regional Utilities employee, the tournaments are simply something to do, no matter what the outcome.
Flanigan, who has been playing poker since he was 15 years old, said he was excited when people started becoming interested in poker again a few years ago.
"What else am I going to do at my age?" he asked jokingly. "Play hockey?"
For more information, visit www.pokerforlife.org.
