I've Never Been Good at Folding

Let me start by saying, the Nebenkanoozers SHOW UP! My friend Matt and his group of do-gooder friends get together for a charity poker tournament twice a year. Naturally, when his wife Patty suggested the Nebenkanoozers might donate to CAF for their tournament in March, I jumped at the opportunity. I know Patty and Matt pretty well, and I still had no idea how awesome it would be. The Nebenkanoozers, and their friends, raised over $1,200.00 for CAF and my Million Dollar Challenge! I am so proud of them and so impressed. They'll also be helping out with my fundraiser in April; just a solid group of people all the way around. Check out the pictures

Matt and Patty Reese...owners of The Lava-Flow-Inn

My brother Steven, Rei Tanaka and his fiance Sarah. I can't remember a time when I didn't know Rei Tanaka; he's one of the other Maddens. Rei bagged out of the tournament early but I think he would've given a few a run for their money had he decided to stay. He has already donated hundreds of dollars toward my fundraising goals with his gambling money. I'd encourage him to hit some GA meetings but it's kinda working out for me right now :)

Patty preparing to play "cocktail waitress." She got a ton of tips with that smile of hers and donated them all to CAF.

Why I didn't have a snowballs chance in hell...

This is Erik the Red. He loves riding bikes.

We had big plans to hit Cabrillo the next morning...I woke up not feeling too hot so I sent him a text and told him it was closed :)

This picture makes me laugh so hard. I look worried, scared, confused...I have no idea what I'm doing. I think I need to work on my poker face.

BUT C'MON!

This is what was staring me down the whole time!There was a "donkey" randomly chosen at every table. Take the donkey down and you won an extra $20. I may have just made that up but there was something I was supposed to know about the donkeys

The guy on the left does not find this donkey nearly as amusing as my brother does. It doesn't take much to entertain us Maddens.

My new buddy Mike, one of the Nebenkanoozers making it all happen. I loved him, he likes tequila, a solid sign of intelligence in my book. He taught me to play Texas Hold'em in about 15 minutes then off I went with a cheat sheet. The guy stuck sitting next to me finally told me I needed to be a little less obvious with which side of the folded paper I was looking at. I responded by telling him he was counting out loud :)

And this, my friends, is the overall-winner, Mr. Dave Lively. The last few rounds were intense and he killed it (Seriously, look closely at friend on the right).

At least they all went down for a good cause!

Thanks again to, Matt and Patty and the Nebenkanoozer crew, for generously taking on the Challenged Athletes Foundation as their fundraising cause. They made a HUGE impact in more ways than one.