Playing Poker At Five Airports In One Day



On June 1st under somewhat pretentious skies, over 50 pilots and participants took part in the annual 2013 Poker Run, a fundraising event organized by the ‘Ninety-Niners’ Women In Aviation organization. Proceeds from this event are used to fund student aviation programs worldwide. To take part in the Poker Run, one must purchase poker hands, get a personal poker sheet and fly to five out of eight designated airports. At each airport, you play a poker hand and have the official in charge stamp your corresponding cards on your sheet. All participants must end up at a pre-determined airport by a specified time, hand in your poker score sheets where the judges tally up the winners in order and distribute the prizes which are generously donated by businesses. The final pre-determined airport this year was Pitt Meadows (YPK).



This was my first time of taking part in this event, as I was graciously invited to fly with Erissa Yong of Cobalt Aviation in Pitt Meadows, along with co-pilot Peter Olivieri, founder and former owner of Olivieri Pasta food products, also a retired pilot. We departed Pitt Meadows Regional Airport (YPK) at 10:14 A.M. with our next destination to be Chilliwack Airport (YCW), where we also enjoyed toast and coffee after visiting the poker table. Then it was on to Abbotsford International Airport (YXX). After jumping back into our Cessna 182, we departed YXX at 11:51 A.M. with our next poker stop to be at Boundary Bay Airport (ZBB). We were doing well time wise, and visited with other pilots and shared laughs, but then it was time to get up in the air again.

Our next leg of the game would be a fairly lengthy one, departing ZBB and heading slightly east before heading north over Surrey, Pitt Meadows, then west over Coquitlam and Vancouver before heading up Howe Sound to Squamish. The skies were quite dark, with rain in the surrounding mountains, but we landed on the airstrip under dry conditions. This airport at Squamish (YSE) is a somewhat tricky runway to land on, having to make a tight left turn between two mountains then over a large hill before zigzagging downward to line up for landing. There were several other poker planes during our short stay there, and again, good times shared by all. Then it was time to taxi out, take off and head home to our final destination of Pitt Meadows (YPK), also our home airport for us. While approaching YPK, we were put in a holding pattern by the control tower as several other aircraft were on final for landing there, so we did a circle flight over Coquitlam until we were given clearance to land.



Back on the ground and finally home, we found the festivities well under way, with many of the participating aircraft already parked on the ramp, even though we arrived one hour prior to the cut-off time for the event. The Aero Club Of BC were serving burgers, hot dogs, beverages and cold beer as we had a while to wait for all the poker scores to be tallied. When the announcement of the winners finally began to be blurted out over the intercom speaker, I was astounded to hear my name as the 7th place winner, never having ever played poker in my life and knowing absolutely zilch about the game. I chose my prize and shortly thereafter said goodbye and heartfelt thanks to my pilot and co-pilot for a wonderful day of flying and an extremely enjoyable experience. A great day of safe flying was enjoyed by all.





Trevor is a regular contributor on Aviation Photographic. You can view his portfolio here. You can also visit Trevor’s web page at www.airzonephoto.com