Nearly fifteen years ago, on October 30, 2015, the first poker tournament fundraiser for The Mockingbird Foundation took place in the poker room of The Tropicana Hotel along Atlantic City's boardwalk. It raised more than $5K for Mockingbird and you can read more about it here.

The event was so successful that another tournament fundraiser in South Lake Tahoe was held the poker room of Harvey's in 2011 and it raised $5200.The tournament was won by Bryan Bachrad and tournament organizer Kevin Young came in second place (!) and because he played as a bounty player for the Foundation, his victory secured an $1100 donation (after tipping the dealer) to Mockingbird! A $300 donation to the Foundation also occurred when Taper420 -- who also played as a bounty player -- made the money, finishing in 7th place!

A third Phamily Classic tournament was also held in Harvey's poker room, this time on July 31, 2013. It too was successful, though there's not been a poker classic since. I'm confident that Phish will play in Vegas again one day or three days or hell let's make it ten days why tf not, so if you know anyone who is or knows a casino executive, please email admin at phish dot net if you think they'll help host another Phamily Poker Classic fundraiser for Mockingbird, because it'll never happen without a poker room welcoming a 100+ phish-fan tournament during a Vegas run (ideally near the Sphere of course).

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.