Multiple power outages during the final table of the 6th Annual Sigma Hold 'Em Tournament almost put a halt on the competition, but several iPhones and a small flashlight kept the cards going.
One participant, Coley Pugh, was almost disqualified from the final table after allegations he was receiving helpful text messages from a bystander.
Pugh maintained his innocence and said he was simply letting a friend know how he was doing in the tournament. After this incident, event organizers asked participants to put their phones away.
After almost four hours in the final round, Brennan Cotthoff, junior in business finance, came away with the top prize- a weekend trip for two to the beach.
Cotthoff said he wasn't sure who he was going to take yet, but he was just glad to win.
Second-place finisher Ben Williams, senior in finance, won an iPod nano.
The third-place prize of a round of golf at Saugahatchee Country Club and a beach chair set went to Gabe Brake, freshman in mechanical engineering.
The no-limits Texas Hold 'Em style tournament was held at SkyBar Cafe Monday and Tuesday nights, hosted by Sigma Kappa and proceeds benefited the Alzheimer's Association, the sorority's main philanthropy.
Kellie Jennings, senior in apparel design and director of the event, said the organization is especially close to her heart.
"My grandmother and my co-chair's grandfather passed away from Alzheimer's," Jennings said. "That's why we really enjoy this event and just love giving back."
The event consisted of three buy-ins.
Monday saw about 200 participants for the 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. rounds.
As each round progressed, the blind bets were increased to eliminate more participants. Of the original participants, about 20 from each round advanced to the finals Tuesday at 9 p.m.
The last buy-in was at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night and a separate tournament for girls was held at this time.
"A lot of girls don't play poker or don't play cards, but I know a lot of the sororities want to get involved, so that's why we have the separate tournament," Jennings said.
The cost to participate was $20 for boys and $10 for girls, because of the higher volume of male interest.
In the past, the sorority has donated between $2,000 and $7,000, but hoped interest would bring in $15,000 this year.
Jennings said previously the sorority relied heavily on parent donations to buy prizes, but this year decided to go corporate.
"We had a lot of sponsors, like Kinnucans, which really helped us out a lot," Jennings said. "We went around and gave businesses a packet to explain what we were doing, and they were more than generous to help us."
Jennings said the sorority is always looking for and welcoming donations for next year's tournament.
Sorority sisters dressed in black and white were the dealers for the event.
Katelyn Adams, freshman in biochemistry, was one of the dealers.
Adams said she knew nothing about poker before volunteering for the event.
"We had a dealer workshop, and they basically laid it all out for us," Adams said. "A lot of the freshmen wanted to deal because the older girls told us how much fun they had when they did it and it was fun."
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