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You’ve been tasked with organising the best, most memorable bucks party for your best mate. No pressure, hey? You know that the bucks party has to be epic, and everyone is counting on you to organise something amazing, or maybe something a little out of the ordinary, With so much pressure to get it right, we understand you might be a little stumped when it comes to narrowing down your bucks party ideas in Melbourne, but we have a simple answer: Poker Deluxe. At Poker Deluxe, we’re ready to help you pull off an epic pre-wedding send off for your mate that doesn’t break the bank and will have the boys talking about the party for years to come. Without further ado, check out some of our favourite bucks party ideas in Melbourne. Boat Cruise What if we told you that your run-of-the-mill boat cruise hasn’t got a thing on our Yarra River Party Boat Cruise? A private luxurious party boat is the perfect place to send the groom off in style, and it’s made even better with the choice to add 3 hours of poker, sexy topless dealers and waitresses, 3 hour drinks package including basic spirits, finger food, a raunchy live strip show and everything you need to keep the boys entertained. This boat cruise is a popular choice for bucks parties because it offers up privacy and provides you, the groom-to-be and all your mates with everything you need to have an amazing time. Go Karting If the buck is an adrenalin junky, we think a few laps at the Go Kart track is the perfect way to kick off the bucks party. Before you hit the booze, you could have exclusive use of a Go Kart track for 90 minutes, with 2 groups set to race around the track to claim the 1st, 2nd and 3rd titles – as well as bragging rights for the rest of the day. Once your group have raced around the track, you’ll be racing up to the private function room to show off a different set of skills on the poker tables. Your whole day is planned out and the best part is, you won’t have to lift a finger – other than to play a game or two of poker – because tables, chips and poker accessories, gorgeous topless dealers and an experienced party host will all be prepared to keep the bucks party pumping. The boys can enjoy a $500-$1,0000 bar tab for food and/or drink over 3 hours, with the opportunity to add more funds if needed. Retro Gaming / Arcade If reliving the days of Mario 64 and arcade games is more the bucks’ style, our Bartronica Package makes for the perfect bucks party idea in Melbourne. Kick off your day in the private function room, where you have exclusive use of ALL the machines, 3 hours of  drinks (tap beer and cider) and snacks. Let your inner child run wild with NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat, or Mario 64 on the big screen, while your debaucherous side enjoys up to 3 hours of continuous entertainment with professional poker dealers and a topless waitress OR a topless female dealer OR a topless waitress, topless dealer, plus a live show. Like our other bucks party ideas in Melbourne, this package offers all the fun and excitement of a bucks party without the stress on you as the organiser. Easey’s Burger Bar Located just a stone’s throw from the CBD, Easey’s Burger Bar is the perfect spot to host your Bucks Night in Melbourne. Built with 3 of Melbourne’s iconic train carriages, you are sure to have a memorable feed with some classy entertainment to top it all off. You get exclusive use of one of their private function rooms, an iconic Easey Burger & Fries, 4 hours of unlimited drinks, a 3 hour poker tournament with a topless dealer, live-sports on the big screen & a FREE beer pong table for the whole night. To make the night even more memorable, book yourself a topless waitress and/or a strip show. The perfect way to celebrate your bucks night. How Can Poker Deluxe Help Plan Your Next Bucks Night There are tonnes of activities you can plan for a bucks party, but we believe the real value (and fun) is in keeping the event simple, taking the stress off you and leaving the bucks party ideas in Melbourne to the experts. Based here in Melbourne, our team at Poker Deluxe can help you to craft a memorable and professionally organised bucks party – all we need is a few details about the group size and what you might be interested in doing. Contact Poker Deluxe to start throwing around ideas for the best bucks party ideas Melbourne has to offer and book your best mates’ bucks party in today!

Whether you’re part of a football, cricket, tennis, netball or karate club, we’re willing to bet you’ve helped out at or been part of a fundraiser for your sporting club. You may have cooked a barbie, sold chocolates, run a quiz night or held a bake sale to entice your friends, family and the community to support the club. With so many events fundraising for sports clubs in your community, getting your event out there and noticed can be difficult at the best of times. On top of that, we understand that some clubs might not have someone who is marketing-savvy to promote their fundraising efforts. If you are putting in the hard yards to organise a fundraising event, we want to make sure your club receives those well-earned fundraising dollars. Our team at Poker Deluxe have put together our top four tips to help you promote your fundraiser and increase your funds raised! 1. Slide into Your Supporters Email Inboxes A great, cost-free way to let people know about your event is through email. Most sporting clubs would have a contact list of ex-players, life members, current players (and if under 18, their guardians), local businesses, and potentially even club sponsors who have an interest in the club. These contacts are a great place to start your fundraising event promotion. You should aim to send three short and sweet emails about your event to these contacts – but make sure not to spam them! Email 1: Save the Date! Tell your supporters that you’ve locked in a date for the event and give them the basics, such as venue and time, as well as a basic summary of what type of fundraiser you’re holding. Food for Thought: When you receive an email from a brand or company you like, what makes you open it? Do you open it because you support everything the brand does, or is it a catchy headline or the promise to win something that gets you curious? Try using an attention-grabbing headline that makes the reader want to open the email immediately. Email 2: Event Details! Once you have confirmed more information about your fundraising event, you should communicate it to your supporters. Highlight any drawcards of your fundraising event – if you’re fundraising with a Poker Deluxe poker night, tell them about the prizes to be won, drink specials at the bar and any other important information, such as ticket costs and payment methods. Make sure not to leave this email too late, as your supporters may need to plan things such as baby sitters or time off work to come to your event.  Email 3: Last Chance! Use this email to hype up your event, with an added sense of urgency to encourage people to RSVP or buy tickets to your event. 2. Use Social Media While liking – and laughing at – memes or checking out what your distant relative is up to on their trip to Europe can be thrilling, social media can be used for far more than you might think. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are home to visual, engaging content, so writing nice things to ask people to support your event won’t quite cut it – you need to catch the eye of the average person scrolling through. A great way to do this is to use photos from previous events to accompany some text about the event. You could even ask around the club to see if anyone can put together a few marketing images using free design tools such as Canva. Like your emails, make sure to include all the important details of your event and highlight anything different about your fundraiser that might entice someone to attend. It is important to articulate why you are raising money, who will benefit from the fundraising and why your sports club is so special, as this will encourage people to support your club. 3. Encourage Your Teammates (and Community) to Get Involved Promoting your event takes more than a one-wo/man army – it takes a team! In addition, your teammates are likely to have a number of contacts in the community who can support your event They might have a friend from school who works at a sporting/leisure store or supermarket, who could sponsor prizes or provide discounted rolls and sausages for a barbeque. Or maybe they can encourage their workmates at their company to buy tickets to the event. Your fundraising event is also a good opportunity to build relationships with local businesses, as these businesses may attend the event, provide prizes, support you with a donation or simply promote the event for you on their noticeboard or via their e-newsletter. 4. Promote Your Event to the Masses Promoting your event to the wider public can be as simple as sending the event details and date to your local paper, magazine, blog or local council to include in their publications or calendars. For those who like a challenge, writing a media release about the event, with a newsworthy angle, is a great way to get the attention of journalists for paper, radio or TV broadcast. If you have writers block, we found this great article on how to write a press release for your fundraising event. How Can Poker Deluxe Help Plan Your Fundraising Event? At Poker Deluxe, we are passionate about fundraising for sports clubs through engaging, fun and slightly competitive events such as poker nights! Our team hosts fundraising events across Australia, helping sports clubs to reach their fundraising goals without the stress of organising the event themselves. We make fundraising for sports clubs easy with unique fundraising ideas that get your community, family, friends, workmates and teammates involved. And when you book an event with Poker Deluxe you receive a marketing pack which includes: posters to stick around the club, an electronic invitation to send to your database and put on your facebook page and a trybooking page set up so your attendees can purchase tickets online.  Contact Poker Deluxe today to chat to one of our friendly team about the different fundraising packages available for your event.

There’s no denying that “team building” has quite a bad rap. When there’s an upcoming team building in the company, people would automatically think about the forced, awkward interactions with co-workers. Also, who could forget about the games? They’re disguised as fun but it isn’t really unless everyone really embraces the whole activity and just make the most out of it. Despite its image of being lame, did you know that putting money aside for team building is actually one of the best investments ever made for your business?  A lot of companies view team building activities as something that adds to unnecessary expenses. However, let’s turn that misconception around today. Before anything else, let’s check the status of your employees. Read each statement below and answer yes to the ones that describe your team well, and no if it doesn’t. The team communicates well with each other. The team focuses on goals and results. The members do their share and contributes to the workload. They team supports one another. The members are diverse and unique in their own way. The team has a good leader. The team is well-organized. The team knows how to have fun. The team complement each other’s skills. The team are in sync when it comes to achieving goals. If you have answered yes to most or all the statements, then congratulations! You have a dream team on your side! Just continue to give importance to your employees by allowing them to have a work-life balance and have regular team building activities to look forward to. On the other hand, if you have answered no to most or all of the statements, maybe you should consider organizing a team building event for your employees. Here are the major reasons why team building events are a good investment and why it should be a regular thing in your company. Strengthens communication Communication must be one of the strongest foundations in every relationship, especially in a business setting. This will help prevent unnecessary issues such as misunderstandings and conflicts — which delay or hinder everyone from reaching a goal. Aside from that, effective communication positively affects performance by exchanging thoughts and ideas, productive brainstorming, and many others. All this will lead to good work and achieving a goal. Establish trust Aside from effective strategic plans and sales to determine a company’s good performance, employees must be able to rely on each other to create a good working dynamic thus doing good work in accomplishing tasks. Trust plays a big role in teamwork and therefore should be one of the highlights in doing some team bonding activities. Lessen conflicts Once everyone had the chance to undergo the team building event, there is a lesser chance of having conflicts among employees as they have built trust and strengthened their communication with each other. Having confidence in the people you work with and being an effective communicator is key to having a good relationship with co-workers. Enhance collaboration Collaboration, or teamwork, is being able to work together with other people in a group towards achieving a goal. Sometimes, having more brains than one is so much better than working alone. This means it’s also better to have all hands on deck for a greater chance of succeeding. During the team building activities, collaboration among the members of the group should be tested and enhanced. People will be encouraged to share ideas, brainstorm how to execute their plan, and  work together to make it happen. Engage employee-company culture It is important to bring employees closer together while embracing the company culture as they grow.  What makes a team work is each individual’s commitment to be involved in the group effort in reaching a goal. In addition to that, highlighting employee engagement and company culture will make each person feel the acceptance and belongingness within the organization. This will make them feel comfortable working thus, accomplishing their tasks and doing a good performance. The Absence of Team Building So what happens when there is no opportunity for your employees to gather around and grow together? There is a higher risk of miscommunication and misunderstanding which may be a result of the lack of team dynamic and trust. Without regular team building activities or outings to look forward to, it will be obvious that the team has no motivation whatsoever in coming to work and in accomplishing their tasks. And instead of going the extra mile, people would just settle for “just right”. Poor teamwork will be evident when presentations aren’t at all substantial and convincing. All these will affect the company’s overall performance and might create a problem in the long run. Through team building, you will have a motivated and goal-driven team with a superb working dynamic and enhanced individual skills. In order to reach big milestones on the way to success, a company must first strengthen the ones that will highly contribute to long-term rewards — the employees and their relationship with each other, the higher ups, and the company in general. That’s where team building comes in and that is why it’s such a great investment. Team Building at Poker Deluxe The most memorable kind of team building event is something that really doesn’t feel like a day in the office despite being around the people you only see at work. One of the best ideas for a team building event is to hold a poker night. The game may be played individually, but it is a game that makes you practice your social ability with other people on the table while enhancing multiple skills that are useful in many aspects of work. It promotes critical thinking, improves observation skills, teaches you to take risks and listen to your gut. Should you want this type of team building event, you have come to the right place! Poker Deluxe will help you organize the best team bonding activity for you and your employees. Rest assured that you it will be an unforgettable day filled with fun and newly acquired or improved skills. Just tap us and let’s work together!

Australia’s End of the Financial Year (EOFY) is fast approaching, and so are the hectic schedules and heavy tasks that it entails. This is the time when people go all out in working to get the business organised and plan how to be better and smarter in the year ahead. There are tasks involving A LOT of numbers such as dealing with taxes, bookkeeping, sales. The Australian financial year, also known as the Australian tax year, runs from the 1st of July to the 30th of June. When the financial year ends, business books are closed, and the company shall report your financial situation to the government. This will determine how much tax you owe. What Happens During the End of the Financial Year? The EOFY is widely known to be one of the busiest and most crucial periods for all businesses in the country. At this point, expect to have long days of completing bookkeeping and tax returns, performance analysis, strategic planning for the new financial year, reviewing the business structure and insurances, and backing up files for security. With all that said, wouldn’t it be just the perfect time to have team building activities for everyone to have a good time before the chaotic period of the year? Photo: rawpixel.com via Pexels Two Goals of Team Building Before you oppose and say that there’s no time for that, let us explain why it is important. For one, it is a good way to motivate and energise the employees before the peak business period. Second, it is also a way of rewarding the whole team for all the hard work they have done to contribute to the past financial year’s success. Check out 10 epic team building activities you can organise for your company! 1. Poker End the financial year with a sophisticated bang and a little gambling! So out of the many team building ideas, why choose poker as a way to build the team? Here’s why: – improves concentration – helps with emotional maturity – strengthens observation skills – tests decision making under pressure – teaches money management Poker may be more of a one-man show than a team building activity, but playing together is a bond in itself. At the end of the day, the point was to have a friendly competition with one another all the while improving individual skill sets as mentioned above. These will help everyone with the upcoming tasks in the busy days ahead. What makes this even better, Poker Deluxe offer corporate poker events to companies like you! We have different packages that cater to your needs to organise a hassle-free party or team building activity in the following locations Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth, 2. Gameshow Set up a legit looking gameshow as a party theme. Arrange teams by table, and then start the team building games! This game show theme shall be an interactive live TV game show for everyone. The variety of games will test the players’ time management, teamwork, strategy, task designations, and thinking. Most of all, they will all learn to have fun as well! 3. Outdoor Adventures/Sportsfest This type of activity may be up to you, but several outdoor activities or sports could be done throughout the day so that everyone could experience each part of the activity. Include sports such as Sailing, Bubble Soccer, Paintball, Swimming, Hiking, Volleyball, Camping etc. Playing sports or going on outdoor adventures may be the best idea for team building. It’s about teamwork, strategy, survival, concentration, healthy competition, speed & accuracy, and good decision making under pressure. Surviving and winning is a bonus for sure, but what really matters is how everyone agreed to work together despite the differences and how each one in the team landed a role that contributed to the team’s success. Photo: Cori Rodriguez via Pexels 4. Amazing Race This is considered as one of the leading team building challenges since it covers almost all the skills that people have to use when working with a team. It works for so many types of groups because it tests everyone’s creative, mental and problem-solving tasks. On top of that, it will also test people’s patience in working with people with different personalities, effective communication, and speed & accuracy when getting things done. The Amazing Race is a varied but balanced activity full of fun and challenges. 5. Learning Workshops On a more serious note, if you’re not up for a full on fun team building activity, learning workshops can be the perfect activity that meets halfway in the work & play scale. Some workshop ideas would be Business minded workshops, presentation workshops, or even customer relationship workshops. This team building activity for work is a good opportunity to learn a new skill or improve an existing one! 6. Charity In terms of CSR and connecting with the community, holding a charity event involving everyone is a fulfilling way to spend time off work with the whole team. Not only will this enhance interpersonal relationships with the people outside work, but it will also shine a light on what’s really important in life. Sometimes, we just have to be reminded of what we’re losing when we work too much — which is exactly what will happen in the busy days ahead. Photo: rawpixel.com via Pexels Team Building Benefits Based on the two main goals of a team building discussed in the beginning of this article, take a look at the benefits of having a team building at a crucial time of a business period. ● Before things get intense, a team building activity or outing will bring out the good vibes, thus having a more positive attitude in dealing with the daily strategic meetings and the finalisation of the year’s finances. ● Team building is a great time to prepare their minds of what’s coming ahead mentally. It will allow the team to unwind and freshen up while having fun and working in unison with everyone else. ● While on the topic on clearing the mind, team building will help in opening up to new perspectives thus allowing ideas to enter the brain, providing a different approach for setting goals and strategising creative plans for the upcoming financial year. ● It’s simple, and it strengthens the team built around work and play. Every team building will work on team communication, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and creative planning. It will be fun witnessing everyone open their minds, release their creative juices and effectively communicate with each other. ● In some team building activities, it impacts the community as well. It is just as important to give time dedicated to work, play, and in giving back. It’s a different yet fulfilling way of taking a free day from work. ● Rewarding the team for all their hard work is important because it shows that you value them and you understand that they need this quick break. Well, what do you think? Having just 1-2 days will do you more good than bad, so go for it and give us a call. Should you choose to have Poker Deluxe to celebrate EOFY with you, you’re on your way to having the greatest ending to this financial year!

A  fundraising event is one of the best gatherings to organise. It’s about uniting people to reach a significant goal – to help. As fulfilling as it is to organize such an event, it’s inevitable to come across bumps along the road in order to get things done until the actual day. Photo: rawpixel.com via Pexels Fundraising Experts If you’re in need of help with this, you’ve come to the right place. Poker deluxe is here to support and aid you to achieve the fundraising event you’ve always wanted! There are different fundraising ideas, connections, themes, and fundraising packages that cater to your preferences. Just envision what you want the event to be like, and leave it to the experts to make it happen! The possibilities are endless when you have Australia’s biggest poker fundraising events provider.  Wherever you are located — Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide or Perth — we can make things happen. With Poker Deluxe, your charity, fundraising Australia community and sports association are in good hands! Photo: Caio Resende via Pexels We always aim for everyone to have a good time and for the fundraising event to be a success. Check out our take on the do’s and don’ts of fundraising! DO Do think positive. Having a great mindset during the whole fundraising organization is what sets the vibe and attracts the success of the event. Keep in mind that every meeting is an opportunity to shine a light on your company/cause and advance with a potential investor.  Most often than not, investors have a big name. This means that they are influential and successful people. If you do well in your presentations and meetings, they could be a big help not just financially but also by talking about you to others. Do get involved and be active in the whole process. Speak, write, and organize the events to be involved as much as possible and attract investors by presenting your knowledge in your field. Showing that you are an active participant of this fundraising event shows people how passionate you are and will be willing to attend and/or donate to the cause. Do your research. Before contacting investors and donors, look them up first and get to know them. Make sure you know the important information such as their valuation range, the preferred level of involvement, industry focus, etc. Make fundraising databases to record and organize the information of the people you plan to involve in the event. Do focus on local investors first. They are a little bit easier to approach and they could help you grow & spread the word eventually. Start small and go from there. Do talk about the goals of your fundraiser. Before people would get involved, they have to know what this is all about, why this should be worth their time, and where their money will go. Photos: rawpixel.com via Pexels Do send out a carefully thought out emails. From the subject to the addressee’s name and other information, to the body and the ending — it should all look and sound credible to get the trust of your recipients. Make a catchy but appropriate headline to get their attention. Put the correct name and information of company, donor or investor to make it feel more special and personal. See to it that the message contains your introduction, details on the fundraiser, what you need (their time for a meeting or phone call), and when the event is. Lastly, don’t forget to leave your name, position, company name, address and contact information. Do figure out the best funding structure possible. List down some choices — loans, crowdfunding, etc. —  and evaluate to know which works for you. You could also sign up for charitable giving tools such as Fundraising on Facebook to collect donations conveniently. Whatever you choose, study their features and use it to your advantage. Do implement transparency and highlight this in all your presentations. No one likes a scam, especially something involving money. Like if you have a fundraising website, you could make an accessible page solely dedicated for the people to see how the money is used and if there’s any progress. It’s also good to give them regular updates in the form of fundraising goal tracker to your donors and investors. Do remember that as the organizer, you have the last say in almost everything. That includes all aspects like the venue, theme, budget, and maybe even investors. If something doesn’t feel right or doesn’t fall in the line of your vision-mission, you do not have to proceed. Move on so as not to waste anyone’s time. DON’TS   Photo: Pixabay via Pexels   Don’t be too aggressive. Coming off too strong might imply that you are desperate in a bad way. Don’t risk looking bad and leave a bad impression. There are many ways to promote and shine a light on your fundraiser passionately, not aggressively. Don’t expect anything after every meeting. It takes a while before anyone could fully trust you, especially when money is involved. What you should focus on instead is to giving off a good impression and building a relationship with potential investors and everyone else you meet for the fundraiser. Don’t delay email replies. Most of the time, clients or investors have further questions and it’s your job to think ahead and prepare the answers to their possible questions. That will give them the impression that you are trustworthy and organized. On top of that, it will speed up the process and have the people say yes to you in no time. Don’t overlook the competition. Remember that you’re competing with other entrepreneurs in getting the attention and funding of investors. Don’t mind the others, just focus on how you can stand out from the others and find a way to make investors choose you. Don’t feel bad if you get a “no”. If an investor declines, for now, there’s always a next time! You should still give yourself a pat on the back for trying and for putting yourself out there. If anything, at least you reached out to them and may now have a record of you. The next time you contact them, you might already get a big YES on your the funding! Don’t ever forget to thank your supporters, donors, and investors. Without them, the fundraiser will be a flunk. Every helping hand and every dollar already goes a long way and for that, it’s important to show gratitude. Photo: Rawpixel.com via Pexels Every helping hand is impactful; every dollar is great; anything that creates good change is worth celebrating. In the world today, a kind and generous heart go a long way. Not only does it bring joy to the recipient of your time and monetary donation, but it also brings the giver a chance to feel humble, helpful, and humanitarian. Happy fundraising!

When it comes to raising money, the word fundraising immediately comes to mind. There are many ways and strategies to do that such as organizing a poker night, talent show, or a concert for a cause. There’s a whole list of fundraising ideas that you could try out, but one of the most effective fundraising strategies is crowdfunding. What is crowdfunding? It is a way or a process of funding a project by collecting money from generous individuals, usually online. If you have noticed, the difference of fundraising (traditionally) and crowdfunding is that the former is normally done offline while the latter is, as mentioned, usually online. Today, thanks to the existence of the internet, crowdfunding is defined as a relatively new contemporary approach to fundraising and that it has become one of the most viable and convenient options for people/organizations to seek financial support. How does it work? In fundraising, the sources of funds can come from any source –bank or corporate organization. Crowdfunding is much more special because it actually comes from individuals who genuinely believe in your cause or your project, and would be very happy to help. Top 5 Crowdfunding Sites in Australia If you’re one of the people who have a meaningful project that you need funds for, you might want to get a head start by knowing where you could go to get what you need. Today’s your lucky day because we got you covered! Check out these five major crowdfunding sites in Australia! 1.MYCAUSE If you mention the word fundraising or crowdfunding, mycause surely comes into the picture. They are Australia’s leading online crowdfunding platform for various causes — may it be charities, projects or people who need financial assistance. What’s good about mycause is that it’s very convenient for those who are raising money and for the donors. They have 24/7 email and phone support, free campaign creation, fixed and flexible fundraising options, it’s mobile friendly and responsive to all devices, and has more than 1,500 charity partners! 2. EVERYDAYHERO Another known platform for the Australian crowdfunding markets is Everydayhero. Their focus is on supporting charities, schools and charitable events as well. Founded in 2007, they have been helping people all over the world support the causes they love. What’s good about Everydayhero is that, on top of supporting causes worldwide, they also do not restrict their donors to financial donations. They also find a way for them to contribute by giving their time, effort, and/or action.  Everydayhero also offers a wide range of events that the locals are encouraged to support. Due to the fact that donation comes in more forms other than money, every donor truly is an everyday hero. 3.GOFUNDME Third in line in Australia’s top performing crowdfunding sites is GoFundMe. Just in the last quarter of 2018, they’ve announced a new feature for their Australian users: the launch of the GoFundMe Guarantee and their move to offer free fundraising in Australia. GoFundMe aims to make raising money faster, easier, and more successful for organizers — and one way to do this is by introducing a 0% platform fee for their organizers. They are the first and only crowdfunding guarantee in the industry, as well as one of the safest and most secure giving platform. 4.CHUFFED Chuffed is a global crowdfunding platform that offers zero fees for all campaigns — no setup fees, no hidden fees, no ongoing subscription fees for running a campaign. They cater only to non-profit and social enterprise projects. This means that Chuffed know what works best for social causes. On top of that, you keep 100% of what you raise! When you go to their website, you will see a quick overview of how many campaigns are running, how many donors there are, how much is raised. You will also see trending causes, newest causes, and a step-by-step guide on how to use crowdfunding to get you started! 5.GOFUNDRAISE Gofundraise is another crowdfunding platform you should take note of. They are very welcoming to donors who would like to financially support individuals with their projects, charity or charitable events. “Go make a difference,” is what you will see when you head on to their page. You can easily start fundraising, find a friend/team, charity, or event. You  may also suggest and pitch in your ideas. For those who need assistance in getting more out of their event while making a difference in the community, they can enquire and speak to their event organizers! The reason why crowdfunding gains so much attention as one of the many fundraising ideas is because it is convenient and easy to work with. It is also less time-consuming and inexpensive because all you have to do is to start a campaign online and offer a way for people to send you money, then you sit and wait until it grows to reach your target amount. These are just of the notable and top performing crowdfunding platforms in Australia. There are many others if you try to look for more. However, if crowdfunding is not for you, you could also try tapping fundraising organizers like Poker Deluxe. With a unique fundraising idea, you could raise money in a fun & exciting way — poker! What is Poker Deluxe? We are Australia’s biggest poker fundraising event provider with over $1.5million raised for sporting clubs and charities around the country. With our assistance, you can save yourself the hassle of coming up with different fundraising ideas and watch them do what they do best. We offer the best fundraising packages and can provide you with everything you need for your charity, community or sporting club. By organizing a fun social night where people could play and laugh like there’s no tomorrow, you could raise more than what you expected in no time. Wherever you are located — may it be Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide or Perth — Poker Deluxe is there for you!

Hosting a party generally means you’re in charge of everything — food, drinks, venue, invites, and games — to make sure that the guests are comfortable and thrilled. Every detail and aspect of a specific social gathering contributes to making it a memorable event for every guest. This is why it is highly important that everything should be on point. Remember, a buck’s party is a celebration of a man’s last hurrah of bachelorhood. It acts as a rite of passage from a savage single life to a more stable and meaningful married life. Before he gets hitched and marries the love of his life, let the groom have the time of his life with his best bros in a banging buck’s party of all time! It only makes sense to fill the night with unlimited booze, sexy booze and a series of fun drinking games. Photo: Maurício Mascaro via Pexels After planning the theme and venue of this notorious celebration, will it really be a bucks party without games? As you may know, bucks parties are usually filled with guys from both the bride and the groom’s side, so it’s most likely that some guys have never even met before. You can definitely rely on fun and cheeky bucks night party games to break the ice and bring out the joy in everyone! With that said, check out this list of Poker Deluxe-approved bucks party games that are guaranteed to be the best guy pleasers (if you know what we mean). 1.Most Likely This is a nice first game to play to break the ice and ease into the wilder games to follow. Gather together, with drinks within reach. One person will state a “most likely” question. For example, “Who would most likely get wasted tonight?” Photo: Maurício Mascaro via Pexels On the count of three, people should point to someone they think would most likely do what the person said. Take a shot for every person who pointed at you. If three people pointed at you to most likely get wasted, you have to take three shots. 2. Scavenger Hunt This is a perfect game that becomes more challenging during the latter half of the party when the guys get tipsier. Make a list of the things each bachelor should do as you go bar hopping or as the party progresses. The person who ends up doing all or even just most of the of the items on the list wins. Photo: Breakingpic via Pexels Coming up with the items on the list is the challenging part. Release those creative juices and put it down on paper! Check out some examples we made for your reference! – Get a girl to write her number anywhere on the groom’s body – Find a bar that serves the shot “Blowjob” and take a shot – Give a stranger a lap dance and have someone take a video of it for proof – Look for someone who needs a free hug and give them one – Acquire a free drink for the groom – Get a girl to agree to do a body shot on you or the groom and vice versa 3. Drunk Jenga This popular childhood game will get its spotlight in a buck’s party, and of course, with a twist. Basically, you play Jenga how it’s supposed to be played: take turns in getting a wood block out and stacking it again on top. If the tower falls, the last person who pulled out a block out loses. Photo: Zaimful via Pixabay Here is where the interesting part comes in, get a large glass. Everyone in the game pours his own shot of preferred drink — it’s either beer, vodka, whiskey, wine, etc. Let the girls join in too and have even more fun! The loser chugs whatever was mixed into the large glass before the game began. Good luck! 4. Buck’s Bingo Similar to the Scavenger Hunt game, the Buck’s Bingo is also a good alternative. The difference is that you play it like a normal Bingo game. But instead of playing with numbers on the card, you will see tasks that you should accomplish. Winners are either the first ones who can complete a horizontal line, vertical line, diagonal line or a blackout (completed all squares) — depending on the game master. You can find some of these ready-made online, or you could get creative again and make your own tasks! 5. Beer Pong Photo: Burst via Pexels Unleash the competitive side of the guys and play beer pong! Make each player/teams use different strategies to win like letting the girls dance around for distraction or having a unique system as a team. Every ball that is shot in the cup, the team will either chug, strip, or do a dare. Don’t forget to bring your A-game to this buck’s party or you’re going to lose! 6. Medusa Photo: OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay Gather around a table full of shot glasses filled with your preferred alcoholic beverage. Start the game with all the players’ head down on the table. On the count of three, everyone should look up to stare at another player. If you’re looking at someone who isn’t looking at you, you’re safe. If you happen to look at another player’s eyes, shout “Medusa!” and take a shot. 7. Cup Swap For this game, assign someone to a timer and you will need two cups and a spoon. One cup should be full of your preferred drink, while the other one is empty. For each turn, the player must transfer as much drink as they can from the filled cup to the empty cup using the spoon, in a minute or less. When the time is up, the player must drink whatever is left in the original (filled) cup. Photo: Sigrid Abalos via Pexels To add a bit of a challenge, let one or a few sexy waitresses distract him by doing their own thing. Let’s see if the girls can break his concentration! 8. Underwear Twister Photo: Wikimedia Commons Spice up the competition of a classic game and bring in the girls to play along. Let the sexy strippers and waitresses play a fun game of Twister in their underwear. Just picture out the girls with skimpy outfits reaching out for the colours to touch, stretching their arms and legs in different directions. Definitely a viewing pleasure, yeah? If everyone’s up for it, the guys can join in too. It’s your night, guys! 9. Attached at the Hip Start this game by letting each guy pair up with a stripper/sexy waitress. Next, write a body part on a piece of paper and pile them up in the middle of the table. Each pair will pick a piece of paper, and they should stay attached to their partner with that specific body part for as long as they can. (Example: hand to hand or forehead to forehead) Every time they separate, take a shot. Make the game interesting by having everyone do a challenge while being attached to the one another! You can do a statue dance, a “pin the dick on the groom” or a traditional truth or dare. 10. “How Well Do You Know Me?” If you’re someone who watches some vloggers, then you probably know that this is a popular challenge that they do. So basically, you test the buck on how well he knows the love of his life. Before the day of the buck’s party, have the bride-to-be list a series of questions in Easy, Medium and Difficult categories. Photo: TeroVesalainen via Pixabay Here are sample questions for your reference: – What is her favourite breakfast meal? – What is her bra size? – What is her dream travel destination? – What is her nickname for your balls? – What is her go-to TV show? If he fails to answer a question within 5 seconds, he is in for a punishment that you and the guys think of. Get creative with your punishments, but also keep in mind NOT to torture the groom-to-be or else you all might get punishment from the bride. Yikes! After taking a look at all these bucks party games challenges, do you think you’ve got what it takes to win? Here at Poker Deluxe, we just want everyone to have a good time. If that means holding your bucks party in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane / Gold Coast, Perth, or Adelaide — then that’s what we’ll do and more! The groom will surely label his buck’s party celebration as one for the books. With that, you will receive a glorious pat on the back for being the best “Best Man” ever for organising such a wild and memorable party.

According to McCrindle, an average of 326 weddings across Australia per day. If you think about it, that’s like thousands and thousands of wedding a year. With marriages come with many multiple pre wedding celebrations such as the engagement party, a bridal shower, and of course a bucks party. Photo: SplitShire via Pexels What comes into your mind when you heart the words “bucks party”? Society has painted a picture in all of our minds that this all-men party is a night filled with debauchery activities to celebrate the groom’s “last hurrah”. This infamous party is one of the most awaited pre wedding activity that men just can’t wait to celebrate. This notion has been going on for years, thanks to iconic movies, Bachelor Party (1984) and The Hangover (2009), which brought about controversial feedback and reviews from its audiences during each of its release. To give you a little proof of just how wild people think of bucks parties, think about the all Asian cast film of 2018, Crazy Rich Asians. If you’ve seen the movie, surely you would remember how the rich dude brought all the guys in the middle of the ocean via helicopters! It’s crazy rich and crazy wild celebration filled with entitled wealthy bachelors who were surrounded by girls from different countries, and booze. If that ain’t wild enough to call it THE bucks party 2018, I don’t know what is. Photo: Jass Sama via Pexels History of Bachelor Party So, where did this all start? Let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember the history of bachelor party! First off, what is a bucks party? For the sake of those who are not familiar with what it is, a bucks party is defined as a celebration of a guy’s marriage and making the most fun out of his last few days of being a bachelor. In an article by How Stuff Works, a proper bachelor party is some kind of rite of passage of a man from singlehood to a married life, and not really about manliness but it’s said to be more about bonding with close friends and family. Photo: rawpixel.com via Pexels You might be wondering why a bucks party has different terms in other countries. It’s commonly known as the bachelor party in many countries such as America, and it’s called a stag party in the U.K., Ireland and Canada. A modern day bucks party is widely known to be associated with naughty activities such as gambling and poker nights, and lap dances or flirting. Why? Well, the notorious image of bucks party shenanigans started way back in the 5th century when Spartan soldiers hosted dinners and proposed a toast in honour of the groom. In other sources, it was said that bachelor parties before involved black-tie dinners which is usually organized by the groom’s father with toasts to the groom and bride. Since then, it grew more boisterous as people learned to be more creative in the bucks party planning. The more recent traditions of bucks parties such as humiliation, intimate lap dancing, and excessive drinking & partying became a pre wedding celebration staple for guys in the 70’s-80’s comedy films. Much later, women have also came up with their own version of this pre wedding events: the bachelorette party. Traditionally, women are limited to bridal showers only. It’s a party wherein each guest will give gifts to the bride, hang out together and have fun. These gifts are for parenthood or for the married life that she’s getting into. If you’re pretty active online, there are a lot of prominent people who have gone very publicly about their bachelor and bachelorette parties which is pretty fun & amusing to witness. Photo: Isabella Mendes via Pexels As crazy bucks party ideas continue to flourish — flying out to Vegas or Bali or some other dream destination, ultimate poker game night, bar hopping, intense night to morning parties, etc. — it is important to know that it is a goodbye celebration of the groom to his single life, and to relieve himself from wedding jitters. It’s a perfect time to bond with all his best buds, talk all night, have fun, play games, and make unforgettable memories. Bucks Party 2019 Checklist Here to help you with the party planning, take a look at this checklist to keep you on track! Photo: Pixabay via Pexels Boundaries – Different bride & grooms have different preferences, and as the organizer of this event, you have to know the limits. Make sure to be aware of the dos & don’ts of the couple because you don’t want either of them on a bad mood if you make either of them do something they don’t want to! Budget – Before you confirm any bookings, make sure that the guests are okay with the budget. Not everyone is financially capable to spend a lot of something that isn’t in the budget so it’s a good idea to get a say from everyone. This is a nice way to ensure that everyone is comfortable with it. Time – When you’re done with the boundaries and budget, figure out when you want to hold the party. Here’s a pro tip that we’ve all learned from the movies, do not hold bachelor parties a day before the wedding. It is guaranteed not a good idea unless you decide to have a peaceful spa night. Pre wedding celebrations are best done a few weeks or maybe even months before the actual wedding. That will give all the guests and the groom ample time to recover and step right back into reality. Location – Depending on the budget, you can find the perfect place for the celebration. It can be a private function room, a beach location, rent a relaxing rest house, or pay a party planning service that specialises on bucks parties!   Photo: Pixabay via Pexels Speaking of event organising that specialises on bucks parties, here’s a treat for you! Many guys just love games, so why not have a poker night themed bucks party with us at Poker Deluxe! Have a hassle free party planning here — gorgeous girls, five star poker games, equipment & props, as well as the location are all covered. You could even choose from the bucks party packages available for you! With Poker Deluxe, it’s like bringing Las Vegas to Australia! Now ain’t that a great deal? With that said, you can leave all the party planning to the bucks party specialists while you can focus on the invites and guests! Now that you have more time on your hands, why don’t you enjoy a glass of wine and a movie marathon playing The Bachelor Party and The Hangover? We never know, it could inspire to add some twist to your event to make it even more exciting!

A night to celebrate a man’s last few days of freedom before tying the knot – that is a bachelor party. When planning a special night for a groom, the two staples of every bachelor party idea are girls and booze. This “no girlfriends allowed” night will surely be one for the memory. If you think about it, what do guys really do at a bucks party? What really goes down in a bachelor party full of guys and booze? Check out 7 things that really happen in bachelor party events! What Happens At Bachelor Party Events 1) Surprisingly sex is nowhere to be found, and sometimes the groom goes missing too. Contrary to popular belief, there isn’ t actual sex in bachelor parties. It’s more about drinking than actually playing around with the girls. Although bachelor parties are almost always associated with sex, it only highlights the idea of sex, not the actual thing. It is said that all the single guys push the taken guys into doing something that would get them in trouble with their girlfriends.  Don’t give in to the temptations, boys! Tip for girlfriends: Before letting the boyfriend go into the bachelor party, honestly tell him what makes you uncomfortable so that he knows what to avoid. Because bachelor parties are more on getting the groom drunk it’s a good idea that someone is delegated the honorable task of keeping an eye on him, or else the rest of the men will face the wrath of the bride to be. 2) It’s a party to relive the good old days. A lot of bachelor parties are all about hanging out just like in high school or in college. Some parties will be just as wild as it was before, but some men like to keep it chill. As people get older, they tend to get tamer. Many, if not all, of the groom’s friends, will gang up on him and mock him to the fullest. It’s just for fun of course because a little fun doesn’t hurt, right? Just beware of possible injuries, no one likes an injured groom or best man wearing a cast during the wedding! 3) Boys will be boys. One minute everyone’s enjoying the night and then the next thing you know, two guys will suddenly just get into a fist fight for whatever reason. With guys, there will always be games or some kind of battle to show off their strength and to feed their ego. It can be through an arm-wrestling match, a friendly sparring, a hilarious belly flop contest, or a video game one on one. However, even if things get intense between two guys, it will all be okay at the end of the day. That’s just how it is with men. In general, after the games or a bad conflict, bachelor parties won’t end up in cut off relationships. Bros will be bros no matter what, and there will undoubtedly be the manly hugs and apologies that is not always seen. 4) There’s one guy that everyone gets annoyed with. Yes, all the guys at the party get drunk or intoxicated. It’s all fun and games until that one guy takes it too far with all the jokes & teasing and ruins all the good vibes of the bachelor party weekend. Whether it’s doing all kinds of crazy things out of drunkenness or going way overboard the teasing with girls, there’s always that one annoying guy who will get too loud and naughty for his own good. 5) The taken guys are surprisingly excellent & loyal boyfriends/husbands. It’s surprising how guys support each other in being behaved – not flirting around with other girls, not drinking too much, and updating there girlfriends on whatever is going on at the moment. Even though guys tease each other with girls and booze, they wouldn’t go too far to make you do something that might put your relationship at risk. #Respect 6) The morning after is a disaster. A bachelor party’s aftermath is so much worse than the parties back in high school and college. The bad hangover and a severe episode of vomiting are bound to happen. For the parties that are spent at a hotel suite or in the groom’s house, they say that you could really cringe from the mess that is the place. The guys will be seen passed out on different areas of the room and smelling like cigarettes and alcohol. Yikes! 7) Sometimes, it’s about gambling and drinks. Another bachelor party idea is to spend the night at a casino like a poker night party. Gambling and drinks are also a great pair when it comes to men’s parties. It’s great for those guys who aren’t the wild kind, but still knows how to have fun differently. No matter how things end up, spending a night with the guys will always be a time to remember. There’s also no better way to spend the last few days of your singleness and freedom than with the people who have been with you from the start. Friendships are precious relationships to treasure, and the best way to do that is through a banging bucks party that involves living the time of your lives before starting a new one – the marriage life – with their special person.

Online Platforms Banning Users from Fundraising The internet has proved itself as a formidable platform for fundraising in the past, but the ability for many is in decline. Social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are placing a variety of restrictions on what type of fundraisers can be done on those platforms and which cannot. Here we will take a look at online platforms that are banning certain subjects and people from raising funds for their cause. Patreon Begins To Ban Some Users From Fundraising Patreon has been a refuge for those who have seen their revenue decline from sites such as YouTube, and it has been used by many as a useful tool to earn from content creation. For some users, it has been able to provide them with a full-time income when having as few as 100 fans that give a monthly contribution towards the creation of content. This was an environment that was largely decentralised and one that would allow the creators to be able to act independently of gatekeepers. It is unfortunate, however, that Patreon similarly to other popular platforms has moved in the direction of censorship and restrictions. Now rather than being a completely neutral platform it is routinely banning certain people and groups from being able to raise funds there. When a popular site such as this comes out and says that they’re not going to tolerate something like hate speech and uses that as their reason or justification for removing someone from the platform or restricting their ability to raise funds, it raises questions about freedom of expression and who it is that decides what is and isn’t acceptable. The only problem is that it starts them down a slippery slope. This site like others in Silicon Valley is now expanding on the types of speech and topics that can and cannot be used for fundraising. Some suggest that it is now moving into politically motivated choices that lean in one direction and against another. This means that this site and others are beginning to ban what they feel are extremists and have even moved into seemingly targeting relatively conservative journalists. These Online Platforms Often Have Double Standards There is some documented evidence that shows that Patreon was hasty and suspended their services to a group of right-wingers although the evidence was insufficient. At the same time, this platform did nothing to remove a leftist site that often promotes political violence and has not shown any willingness to exercise the same rules for that group as they did for the other. This site is a course only one of a handful of popular fundraising sites such as GoFundMe, Indiegogo, and Kickstarter. The site GoFundMe has come to be known as a good choice for activists who want to raise money for a particular campaign they are promoting. At the same time, they banned a bakery who is trying to raise funds for potential fines they face as a Christian based business that did not want to fix a cake for a same-sex wedding. Kickstarter has also banned projects that were academic in nature but that the site saw as inappropriate. And Indiegogo which is among the top fundraising sites online adamantly bans any campaign that promotes ideas centered around hate. Beyond Fundraising Platforms The problem goes beyond just the platforms that are used for fundraising but also includes the online payment processors Stripe and PayPal. These companies also have strict rules for what type of fundraisers they will support and which ones they will not. If someone has no way to collect the money then, of course, they have no fundraiser. Most Fundraising Platforms Do Not Allow For Fundraising Related To Sports Clubs Almost from the very beginning, most platforms would not allow for any fundraisers that had any relationship to gambling or sports clubs. None of the most well-known fundraising platforms allows for the collection of money if it has any ties to sports clubs or gaming. This has meant that many who might have an otherwise reasonable fundraising project couldn’t do it if it related to those topics. One of the premier Australian services that will allow you to fundraise for topics that include basketball, tennis, baseball, karate club, ice hockey, and many more is our very own Fundraising for Sporting Clubs. We are Australia’s largest platform for poker fundraising and has been responsible for over $1,000,000 raised to date for several different sports clubs. If you’ve been struggling to find a service that would allow you to run this type of fundraiser, then this would be the perfect place. Even for those who have no experience with creating fundraising ideas, we can do it for you. In fact, if you go through us we will even guarantee that you raise at least $1,000 profit for your club. All of our packages are hands-free and includes a wide range of promotional material along with our guarantee. If you’ve been looking for a place and a way you have now found it.

At work, some days people are highly motivated and very productive. On some days, everyone is just running low on energy due to piles of work leading to burnout. When this happens, it’s to spice things up and have a little fun. Team building activities are a great way to improve team dynamics, communication and boost morale and motivation. If you’re planning to hold a team building activity anytime soon, today’s your lucky day because we got you covered! Check out these 18 popular team building ideas that you can do for your company! Volunteer as a team. Nothing beats a fulfilling outing with the whole gang by serving the community one way or another! It could be a play date with some orphans, supporting a charity, doing a beach cleanup, etc. This team building idea is very doable and at the same time, easy on the budget. Join a group class together. It’s always a good idea to try something new with other people. Join a cooking class, goal setting workshop, self-defense class, dance class, or anything that everyone wants to try out! At the end of the class, do a fun presentation by the group so everyone could showcase what they have learned. Blindfolded food tasting. Test everyone’s fear of the unknown, and trust between co-workers. Each one will have the chance to be fed something they should guess. Just keep in mind certain allergies and health hazards to avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital. Paint the town red together. Nothing beats a fun night full of booze and excitement! Arrange a night where everyone could just loosen up and just drink ‘til they drop. It can be all in one place or you could all just connect remotely probably through an app or a video call. The point of this is to forget about work for just a little while and have fun! Make an effort to get to know everyone. It’s not enough to see the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper and get to know each member — their interests, hobbies, personalities, goals, other talents and skills. Have a day full of activities where everyone could get to know each other on a deeper level. This will help everyone understand each other more and be a more decent/considerate co-worker. Test everyone’s problem solving and critical thinking skills. One way to do this is to state a problem — anything at all that requires a solution. It can be a riddle, a fictional product, a realistic situation, brain teaser, design problem, etc. Each person should write their ideas and/or solutions in a piece of paper. It will be up to the group if they should share and explain what they wrote or if it will be done voluntarily so as not to pressure others. This will be a good opportunity for everyone to understand how everyone thinks, and to assess who are naturally good at this department. At the same time, it will also act as a training ground for those who need guidance or a little improvement in problem-solving and critical thinking. Have lunch out more frequent. Having lunch together with the rest of the team allows everyone to interact with everyone during a quick break from work. It keeps a friendly relationship in the office stronger since it’s a time where they can bond at work. Make “lunch lotto” a thing in the office. Lunch lotto is a game where everyone gets the chance to win a free lunch outside the office. Write down names in a small piece of paper, and gather it in a bowl. Every week, anyone whose name is drawn out wins a free lunch out courtesy of the company. This fun little game gives everyone something to look forward to every week and keeps them motivated or a little chirpy, especially when they’re stressed. Wouldn’t that be exciting? Workout together. It’s a known fact that working out relieves stress and lightens up the mood, thus making each individual feel better. What more when it’s done together with the people you work with? Exercising with other people are much more fun and engaging anyway so give it a try and witness how it improves everyone’s productivity and energy. Hold a weekly bonding with the team. Let there be a scheduled sit-down session with the whole team. It should be a gadget-free bonding moment with everyone while on a campfire, chill drinking session, or something similar. This should be a time where everyone could just vent out and talk about anything — may it be work-related, projects, deadlines, clarifications, fun and friendly debates, personal matters, etc. Have on-site activities and events in the workplace. To make things interesting in the workplace, have various activities that people would like to be involved in — it can be yoga, pottery, Zumba, painting, photography workshops, etc. This will allow the team to be creative, willing to try new things, relieve stress, and learn something different. Promote employee hobby clubs. Just like in school where there are clubs we could join, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have something like that in work as well. Everyone has a hobby — writing, music, dancing, baking, gaming, designing, etc. Having hobby clubs gives people a little break from the intense workload in the office, and lets them focus on something they actually enjoy. Dive into a StrengthsFinder workshop. Sometimes, employees lose themselves due to the amount of work they do every day and forget who they are and what they are good at. Holding a strengths-finder workshop is a very good opportunity to remind everyone of what they are made to do, and highlight their strengths. This will motivate them to work more effectively because they have a clearer mind with a clearer goal to focus on. Hold a sports fest. Have a day dedicated to sports and team building games to enhance everyone’s extracurricular skills, as well as other skills that could be useful at work. On top of that, playing sports and games improves camaraderie between co-workers, enhance teamwork, and evaluate individual strengths and weakness in order to reach a specific goal and succeed. Go on a scavenger hunt. Every scavenger hunt is different, it depends on the organiser to make it creative, witty and challenging! There will be a list of things to find or to do. In order to complete it within a specific timeframe (e.g. 2 hours), the group has to have the guts to do it and to do everything quickly and accurately. If you want a hassle-free scavenger hunt, there are plenty of team building organisers or scavenger hunt planners to help you out! Have a beach day. Sometimes, we all need that beach therapy. It’s always so fun to take a dip in the water and have some fun under the sun with the whole team. While you’re at it, take some cool pics and play some inflatable games like basketball, slides, ball pit, or jousting. Split the team into two and get the playground set up ready. This will engage people in an exciting yet healthy competition among co-workers. Hike and enjoy the view from the top. An alternative to the beach day is to go and be one with nature. Go hiking and camp out on top where you could enjoy the view and have some deep talks or chill music jamming. Make the most out of the relaxation before heading back to the office. Have opposite gender day. Spice things up at work by dressing up as the opposite gender! Rock a cool male or female outfit and be a different person in the office for a day. If you’re feeling a little extra, you can even adopt certain mannerisms and personality traits. It would be so much fun to see everyone get out of their comfort zones and be creative with their one-day-transformation. Play poker together Did you know that playing poker does many good things for our corporate clients? It’s one of the best team building activities for it improves observation, strategic planning, and other individual skills that will be useful at work. Should you choose to play poker as your team building activity, feel free to work with us here at Poker Deluxe! We have several packages you will love. Let’s work together to have a superb and hassle-free team bonding! To make successful team building activities happen, just provide an email list, the space needed for the event, and the details for the participants’ meals. At the end of a session, make sure to hold a debriefing session. Discuss what people have learned, what worked and didn’t work, and share how it can be applied practically, especially at work

Raising funds (also known as fundraising) is a technique of collecting donations of money or any other forms of resources by requesting contributions. This is achieved by asking for contributions from governmental agencies, charitable foundations, businesses, or individuals. There are different ways you can use to raise funds for charity. These methods include: Grants There are many companies, corporations, foundations, and agencies that offer grants for non-profit organisations to apply. Grant funding is a popular method used by private foundations as well as government units. Different non-profit organisations will compete for the grant. Back in 2016, it is estimated that Australian corporations gave $9 billion as charitable. This number included volunteer grants, matching gifts, as well as corporate grants. Private-Funding (Individual Donors) An individual donation is a popular form of raising funds for charity. This technique involves identifying and soliciting for investors or private parties for a non-profit enterprise. Often referred to as File, you can raise funds by asking friends, parents, corporations and private foundations to donate. The truth is that this method takes time and a lot of effort explaining to people why they should donate. Selling Products Or Services This is another method one can raise funds for charity. In a matter of facts, it is a popular method and mainly used by companies and store owner. The chances are that you have seen a company asking you to buy their products and certain percentages of the purchased product cost will go to charity. Moreover, many store owners around in Australia have some sort of donation collection bins for customers willing to donate after they have purchased their product. As such, if you are looking for a great way to raise funds for charity, this method is excellent. All it takes is selling your products or service and using a certain percentage of the buying price to raise funds for donation. Crowdfunding Crowdfunding is a technique of raising funds for a cause or product by involving a large number of people. This can be done either online or offline. It is a popular form of raising funds efficiently. However, it needs a lot of preparation and effort marketing the event. In other words, it is generally a form of peer-to-peer fundraising technique that uses the power of social networks to not only raise awareness but draw donations from all over the world or country. The benefit of this fundraising technique is that anyone can do it. It does not need selling funds, competition, or talking to few people. In other words, if you do not have the ability, power of funds to use the above methods, then this method is for you. Furthermore, due to advancement in technology and increased number of social media, you can appeal to people quickly. It has become an essential part and tool, especially for an individual or a small group of persons. It offers a simple and yet effective way of accepting donations. Offline crowdfunding methods may include: –    Fun Run or Walk –    A-Thon Event –    Other Forms Of Competition (Not Sporty) –    Auction –    Gala –    Concerts –    Sporting Event and others –    Poker Events   How to Raise Funds For Charity? It is quite clear that there are many ways one can use to raise funds for charity. However, the million-dollar question is how do you go about it? Well, below is a step-by-step method to follow. Talking To The Charity, You Are Rising Funds For The first thing to do is talk to the charity you are about to raise funds for. Many people raise funds without contacting their preferred nonprofit organisation. Well, this is good, but you will find there is a lot of benefit to reaching out. For example, you may tie your even with theirs for a better outcome. Consider The Method And See If Your Company Matches Gifts Even though it is essential to think of the method you prefer in advance, it is wise to consider everything. The truth is that some ways may work for you and others will not. All in all, the technique you use to raise funds is essential. Also, it is important to see if your company matches gifts. What does this mean? Well, it merely means that a company will match the charitable donations you make.  This technique will double the amount of money you will be able to give to your chosen charity. Hold An Event Holding an event is a great way to raise funds for a particular charity. The truth is that organising an event can turn into a massive undertaking and it is wise to work with everyone who is passionate about your cause. At the same time, it is important to note that fundraising even needs an upfront financial investment. You can minimise cost by requesting local businesses to donate. Take Advantage Of The Web The internet has made everything easy, and this is a fact. For this reason, using the web to not only market the even but also create awareness is an excellent move. Moreover, research shows that 87% of people in the world hold either one or multiple social media accounts. For this reason, taking advantage of social media is a huge plus. Talk to us Here are Poker Deluxe we have a range of ideas for fundraising including fundraising ideas for Sports Clubs, Cricket Clubs, Football Clubs and serve clients all around Australia Including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Gold Coast.

Top Fundraising Ideas for Football Clubs Whether it’s a race up the AFL rankings or a passionate season in the A-League, there’s nothing more important than having the funds to run a well-established club. Putting together a solid plan of action for present and future fundraising activities can help promote development in the long-term. A world-class club in Australia has to pin its hopes on professionalism, good morals, and effective fundraising ideas to keep things moving in the right direction. This can become the most essential step towards a healthy and fully functional sporting club.   What can a fundraising event include? A fundraising event can be something as charming as a poker night established between various members of the club and local representatives. It’s a way to bring the community together and illustrate the beauty of sports in Australia. Whether it is management, coaches, rookies, or established players, the fundraising event can make it all come together. This not only helps raise funds but brings everyone under one roof. However, having a fundraising event doesn’t mean it has to be the same old boring get-togethers no one wants to be a part of! It can be different and still yield great results in the long-term. Whether it is purchasing new kits, equipment, or a combination of both, a great fundraising event can be hosted without a problem. It begins by understanding the nuances of a good fundraiser and then using this as a launching pad to raise money.   Things to Consider 1) Choose Type of Event What type of event will fit the ethos of your football club? Is it a fundraising event that fits the club’s brand, community, and fanbase? Does it have the charm needed to bring in new funds? Answering these questions is important and that’s where poker is a great solution since it is known to offer time to gel. It provides people of all ages the chances to participate and have the time of their life while working for a good cause. This is where Poker Deluxe is highly regarded as one of the finest fundraising options in the country.   2) Find the Right Organisers Being put in a spot where the event has to be organised is difficult, but it’s never impossible. You can choose the right professionals to come in and work on hosting the event from start to finish. This is why Poker Deluxe is such a heralded option as it has been around for years and has a grasp of what’s required to do a good job. This will make sure the event is a success and brings people in. What does Poker Deluxe offer? * Tickets (Pre-Sale) * Promotional Posters * Over $2000 Worth of Prizes * E-Invites for All Guests (Email) * Hosts To Run The Night * And More!   3) Prepare the Guest List Who will be attending the poker night? This is an important question to ask, and it has to include all relevant parties to be a success. For example, if a football club is going to be using this service, then it should be looking to invite family members, players, friends, colleagues, retired players, local business members, and club members. There can be additional individuals (government officials, celebrities) that can be brought into the mix as well. With a football club, the goal is to consider all club members and local businesses in the community as they can be a great source of funds. The beauty of a well-organised fundraising event is the ability to convince guests to donate, and this can come in various forms (i.e. free equipment). The goal is to receive donations, and this can come in all forms including cash if necessary. Along with the established donations, additional prizes/services can be raffled to participants at the event to increase interest. To do this the right way, it’s highly recommended to work with local businesses loyal to the club as it can be a win-win situation for both parties. The business can advertise locally and gain support among its target market. Over time, the fundraising event can start to focus on larger sponsors such as the big name corporations. It’s best to set up robust meetings with these corporations for ideal results. While doing this, don’t forget previous businesses/individuals that have donated to the football club. These are loyal influencers and will play a great role in promoting the fundraiser.   4) Take Your Time The best way to organise an event is to give yourself as much time as possible. This should include at least a month or so of organisation time where the fundraiser can be set up. It will allow everyone to prepare for the event and schedule it in. During this stage, it is recommended to start working on pre-selling tickets to spread the word. This will let the organisers get a read on how many guests are going to attend well in advance. In addition, it will let the guests know the event is coming up and they’ll be able to clear up their schedules. It can also lead to increased interest from around town, and that is never a bad thing for the club.   5) Create a Budget A poker night is going to require a pre-established budget, and that’s a must for the fundraising team. This can help include fees associated with renting out a venue, food, and other details that come with any event. If there are issues with the costs, these should be addressed well in advance. Overextending on the budget is bad and can lead to issues. To start cutting costs think of the following factors: 1) Fundraising Goal 2) Break-Even Costs 3) Cost per Guest 4) Donation Per Guest (Estimate) Continue to weigh in all of these details and then make a decision based on the information you collect. This is a great opportunity to start raising funds for the football club and make sure it is done the right way. Anything short of this might lead to an inefficient solution that doesn’t lead to a successful night.

With Christmas now less than 3 months away, it is the time of year when a lot of companies and businesses start to book in for their work Christmas party or break up.  If you or your work are sick of doing the same old thing year after year or are looking for something a bit more exciting and interactive than just dinner and drinks, then Poker Deluxe have the perfect package for you. What better way to celebrate a year’s hard work and reward your employees than with a professionally run poker tournament by the team at Poker Deluxe.  They have been running corporate and team building events Australia wide for more than half a decade and boast a long list of impressive clients they’ve hosted events for, including Toyota, Deloitte, Norman Disney & Young, CFMEU, Coca-Cola, Bendigo Bank, iinet, KPMG and plenty more.  Don’t worry though if you’re not a big business, Poker Deluxe can cater their packages for as little as 5 or 6 people, right up to hundreds. Poker Deluxe will plan and run your event from start to finish, so you can focus on other important things.  All they need to know is a few details about the event and they will take care of the rest.  From organising delivery and set-up of the equipment, to providing professional dealers and tournaments hosts to MC the evening, you won’t have to stress about a thing.  They will even provide a custom engraved glass trophy for the winner and can arrange other prizes too! The team at Poker Deluxe also offer complete flexibility as to where you have your poker night.  They can come to your workplace, a function room, someone’s house, or even provide a venue from one of the 50+ venues they offer packages at Australia wide.  They can even organise the food and drinks if it’s at one of their partnered venues. Not only is a poker tournament a great way to reward your staff, but it’s also an excellent social tool to bring your team closer together and improve workplace productivity.  All whilst having some competitive fun and a few drinks.  You don’t have to be a card shark either to play.  Poker Deluxe’s professional tournament hosts and or dealers all have multiple years’ experience with poker and will run a learn to play table before every event to teach people how to play and go through the rules. So if you are looking for a fun, social, competitive way to reward your employees and get staff talking about the Christmas party for months to come, then a Poker Deluxe function is perfect for you.  Just get in touch with the team by requesting a quote to the right and they will get in touch with you to start planning and customising the right package for you. Or if you’d rather speak to someone directly, you can always call Poker Deluxe on 1300 1 POKER.

Poker Deluxe is excited to announce that they have just partnered with X-Golf Australia to offer a range of buck’s party packages across 3 major cities in Australia! Teaming up with X-Golf Marion in Adelaide, X-Golf Macarthur in Sydney, and X-Golf Malvern in Melbourne, Poker Deluxe can now offer the ultimate buck’s party entertainment package that combines all your favourite things including golf, poker, games, beer, and of course gorgeous ladies, all in one convenient location and package. X-Golf Malvern and X-Golf Marion are both located within a stone’s throw of the city, so getting to and from your next other locations is simple, and as an added benefit, if you book a package you will get exclusive use of the entire venue for the duration of your event, so no need to share the simulators or worry about other people getting in your way. X-Golf is Australia’s newest and fastest growing indoor golf simulator franchise, and it is quickly becoming a household name among golf enthusiasts.  With custom built modern facilities, and state-of-the-art golf simulators that use hundreds of camera’s and sensors for precise accuracy, you can be sure that you are getting the most realistic golf experience short of actually being out on the course.  All venues also come with sports on the screens and a fully licensed bar.  You can either put your skills to the test with a variety of challenges and games on the virtual driving range (such as longest drive, nearest the pin etc.) or tee it up on some of the most famous courses in Australia and the world including RACV Royal Pines in Queensland and Kingston Heath in Victoria. Not only do you get the modern, state of the art, custom-built venue to yourself, but the team at Poker Deluxe will come in and run your very own poker tournament.  They provide all the tables, chips, cards and accessories you need and get it all set-up for you.  And since it’s a bucks party and the last thing you want is people standing around, they will seat half the group at the poker table while the other half play on the golf simulators, then swap around so the other half get a go playing golf or playing poker, with the top 4 from each heat of the poker making it through to the final round in the last hour. Just to top the package off, 4 FREE drinks are included in the price (excluding Malvern which is an add-on), with the option to purchase more direct with the venue if you want.  If not, guests can buy their own drinks from the fully stocked bar located on-site. So if you’re looking for a package full of fun activities and non-stop entertainment to keep your guests going, this is the package for you. To enquire about this great package or find out more information, click the link below for your city or contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or email [email protected]    

Just in time for the start of the wedding season, and perfect for the warmer months of spring and summer, Poker Deluxe has just partnered with Middle Park Bowling Club to offer an awesome buck’s party package full of activities to keep everyone entertained and send the buck off in style! Perfect for those that are looking for a bucks that combines a fun, outdoor afternoon activity to soak up the sun and have a laugh, followed by some dinner and an evening of poker with gorgeous girls, you can sit back and relax as Poker Deluxe plan the entire day from start to finish so you don’t have to lift a finger.  In fact the hardest thing you will have to do is choose your beautiful poker dealers and waitresses from the list of available ladies. Your day will start off in the afternoon, anytime you want, at Middle Park Bowling Club.  The club is conveniently located on Canterbury Road right next to Albert Park Lake, close to public transport and only 5 minutes from the CBD if you plan on kicking on afterwards.  As you arrive, your entire group will enjoy a pot of beer or cider as you settle in. Once everyone’s there, it’s time to head out to the greens for 1-2 hours of barefoot bowls.  The perfect activity to relax, have a laugh, enjoy a drink, and have a bit of competition without getting dirty and sweaty, you will love the atmosphere and the incredible facilities of Middle Park Bowling Club, widely renowned as one of Melbourne’s finest bowling clubs. After everyone’s worked up an appetite from the bowling, it’s time to fire up the barbie and enjoy a good old fashioned sausage sizzle dinner.  Poker Deluxe will provide plenty of snags, bread, and sauce.  All you have to do is cook it using the facilities provided. As the sun sets, and once everyone’s fed, it’s time to head inside to the private function room and settle in for your very own private poker tournament.  Hosted by your very own professional tournament director, it’s time to bet, raise, bluff and go all-in until a winner is crowned.  And if that wasn’t enticing enough, the cards will be dealt by your hand-picked female dealer wearing nothing but some sexy lingerie. Don’t worry if you do go all-in and lose though, as Poker Deluxe will also provide you a free beer pong table and everything you need to play.  All you need to do is fill up the cups.  Or better yet, get your lovely lingerie waitress to fill them for you! So if you’re sick of attending bucks parties where you just stand around in a pub drinking, and you want to give the buck one last hurrah, this is the perfect package for you.  With no shortage of things to do, and the day planned down to the minute by your personal bucks party planner, none of the guests will ever be bored or wondering what’s next. Contact the team at Poker Deluxe on 1300 1 POKER to find out more about this package or view more Melbourne Bucks ideas

As the football and soccer seasons draw to a close for 2017 and cricket season just begins to warm up, it is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that we can announce Poker Deluxe has now raised over $1.5 million for various clubs, charities, and organizations all across Australia. From the CBD to the outback and everywhere in between, Poker Deluxe has run successful fundraising events all across the country operating in 5 cities.  The funds raised have been used for all kinds of things at each club, including new footy’s and jersey’s, physio equipment and massage tables, facility upgrades, and even helping with the cost of travel to send junior and senior teams to interstate and international competitions all over the world! Some of the various charities that Poker Deluxe has had the pleasure of helping raise money for include Peter Mac, Wizo Australia, Epworth Hospital, Hands Off Foundation, Tour de Cure, and Movember, just to name a few. With over 100 fundraisers completed this year alone, Poker Deluxe is proud to be able to help raise money for such a wide variety of clubs, charities and organizations across Australia.  Some of the more successful fundraisers Poker Deluxe have done this year  include over $6,000 raised for Wizo Australia, a charity dedicated toward growing the status and welfare of women in Israel, $4,000 for Holy Trinity Primary School, $4,500 for Upwey Tecoma Football Club, $5,000 for St Marys Greensborough Junior Football Club, $7,500 for South Springvale Soccer Club, and $4,500 for Juventus Soccer Club. The reason Poker Deluxe are so popular as a fundraising option for clubs and the reason the same clubs return year after year as an annual event is because they make it so easy for them to raise money.  No door knocking, no slaving over a sausage sizzle, no getting on the phone and calling every single member for a donation.  All the club has to do it sell tickets and make sure people attend on the night and Poker Deluxe take care of the rest.  They provide all your marketing material to promote the event, all the equipment, hosts to run the night, over $2,000 worth of prizes to be won and a minimum of $1000 profit guaranteed. Poker Deluxe would like to extend a huge thank you to all the clubs and organizations out there that have put their faith in them to be able to deliver a successful fundraiser and who continue to come back year after year for repeat fundraisers.  Poker Deluxe would not be where they are today without the support of clubs like these. So if you are involved in a local sporting club, charity, or organization and haven’t experienced how easy a Poker Deluxe fundraiser is to organize and how much money you can raise, get in touch with the team to find out more about what’s involved and book in your fundraiser for 2018 now!

Poker Deluxe has just partnered with another of Adelaide’s most popular venues to offer a range of poker packages for bucks parties, corporate events and social occasions. The Taxpayer is well known as one of Adelaide’s premier burger bars and also offers an extensive selection of beer and cider both on tap and from the can and bottle.  They also offer a range of wines from the world famous South Australia wine regions and a long list of classic and modern cocktails if you wish to opt for something a little fancier. Located conveniently opposite Victoria Square with spectacular views of the square from the licensed outdoor area, The Taxpayer is perfect for your next function.  From groups as small as 20 to groups as large as 100, when you book your next function at The Taxpayer, you will get exclusive use of the entire venue for the night! Your party will start off with a seated dinner, where all the boys will get to choose from 4 burgers on the menu served with fries.  Once that’s been polished off and everyone is fed and satisfied, Poker Deluxe will set-up and run your very own 3 hour poker tournament.  They provide everything you need so you don’t have to lift a finger.  Tables, chips, cards, accessories, and even gorgeous topless poker dealers that you will get to hand pick yourself.  They will also provide a medal for the winner of the poker tournament to go along with the bragging rights. And if you’re not too good at poker, don’t worry, because Poker Deluxe will also throw in a beer pong table and all the accessories you need to play in case you get knocked out of the tournament early.  We can even arrange a sexy topless waitress to get the beer and fill up the cups for you! The best part of this package though, is that it includes 4 hours of unlimited beer, cider, and soft drink.  So you won’t have to worry about paying for your drinks through the dinner or through the poker as it’s all included as part of the package. You are also more than welcome to stay at the venue after the poker tournament finishes, as you will get exclusive use of the venue for the whole night (conditions apply).  The package also includes use of the in house audio-visual equipment such as TV’s, a projector screen, and an extensive music selection.  Or you can bring your own music to play through the venue’s sound system. This really is the perfect bucks’ package!  Burgers, booze, boobs, beer pong, and poker!  What more could you possible want in a bucks party? To enquiry about this great package or find out more information contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or email [email protected]

Are you sick of attending bucks parties where there’s nothing to do and everyone just stands around in a pub drinking for 4 hours?  If so, Poker Deluxe have the perfect buck’s party package for you.  They have just combined forces with the Friend in Hand pub in Glebe, on the outskirts of Sydney’s CBD to offer the ultimate man-cave bucks party. With art-deco styling, as well as memorabilia and knick knacks adorning almost every inch of wall space throughout the venue, Friend in Hand is one of Sydney’s most iconic watering holes.  They offer a wide selection of craft beer as well as your more mainstream brews, as well as a fully equipped bistro offering bar snacks, mains, and some amazing burgers! As part of the package that Poker Deluxe offers, you and your entire group will get exclusive use of the entire upstairs function room for the duration of your party.  This is not just any old function room though, it’s more like a buck’s party paradise.  Not only will you get your own fully stocked bar with 6 beers on tap, the room comes fitted out with 2 pool tables, a full size ping pong table, pin ball machine, 2 flat screen TV’s, a 2.4 metre projector screen, and a PA system with video jukebox and over 3000 songs (or you can bring your own music too). On top of all those activities to keep everyone entertained, the room all has dedicated restrooms and outdoor smoking area as well as a dance floor and stage for any shows you may be inclined to arrange for the buck. You won’t even have to worry about paying for your drinks on the night as the package includes 3 hours of unlimited beer, craft beer, wine, and soft drink, as well as plenty of delicious man sized finger food to keep the boys fed. And finally, to top it all off and make it a night to remember, Poker Deluxe will arrange for your own private poker tournament.  Sit down and enjoy the casino quality tables and equipment as the cards get dealt by your gorgeous topless dealer.  Bet, bluff and bully until there is just one person who left who will be crowned the winner! But don’t worry if you do get knocked out early.  Not only do you have all the other games in the room, but Poker Deluxe will also provide a free beer-pong table so you can keep the drinks flowing.  They will provide everything you need to play, including cups and balls, so all you have to do is fill up the cups with the FREE BEER as part of your package.  Or even better, ask your sexy topless waitress to fill them up and get involved in the games. There really isn’t a more fun bucks party  package out there, so if you think that this might be the perfect way to send the buck off before he gets hitched, contact the team at Poker Deluxe to find out some more information and pricing for this package.  You can call them at 1300 1 POKER or VIEW THE PACKAGE HERE and submit a quote request.

In a world where the cost of everything is rising, it has never been more important for local amateur sporting clubs to rely on the funding and donations from its players and members to help cover the costs of running a not for profit sporting organisation. One of the most popular ways to do this is through fundraising events, of which the team at Poker Deluxe specialise in.  Not only does the club get to put on a great social event for its members that everyone will be talking about after, but Poker Deluxe will also guarantee a minimum of $1000 profit raised provided there are at least 50 players on the night. On Saturday 20th May 2017, Greensborough Junior Football Club hosted a Poker Deluxe fundraiser to help raise money for one of their junior teams to head over to Western Australia to compete in a local junior football tournament against local Perth teams.  They do this every two years with the WA team coming over to Victoria every other year. The trip is completely self-funded by the club and allows junior players to experience what it is like to travel interstate as a team and compete.  They travel, train, stay, eat, and compete as a team, which allows them to gain invaluable experience of what it is like to be part of a team environment and develop necessary skills to be successful both in the sporting world, and in their personal lives. Over 50 people attended the night, with many more coming along to cheer on the players and support the club.  With a 7 night accommodation package to Bali valued at $1600 on offer to the winner, as well as some great prizes for the top 9 finishers, the competition was fierce.  What makes Poker Deluxe fundraisers so successful is that for the first 1 hour and 15 minutes, players are allowed to buy more chips.  This not only gives players added entertainment in case they lose their chips early, but it gives them a better chance of making the final 9 whilst also raising money for the club as 100% of the rebuys on the night goes straight back to the fundraiser, so it’s win-win! After almost 3 hours of poker, a winner was finally crowned with over $3000 being raised for to Western Australia trip that is happening in 2018.  This was Greensborough Junior Football Club’s third poker fundraiser and locked in as an annual event on the social calendar.  Over the last three events, the club has raised just shy of $10,000. Without fundraising events such as those hosted by Poker Deluxe, along with the support of club players and members, a lot of local sporting clubs would not exist.  To find out more information about how Poker Deluxe fundraisers work or to book in your 2017 fundraiser, call the team at Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER (1300 176 537) or CLICK HERE to have a look at the fundraiser packages.  

With the weather starting to cool down and the rainy days becoming more regular, it appears the winter is creeping closer. And whilst we wave goodbye to beach days, summer barbecue’s and cricket, we say hello to the start of the season for football clubs, soccer clubs, and rugby clubs. With pre-season well and truly in full swing, the start of the proper season is just around the corner and for a lot of clubs, this means getting together with the social committee and planning this year’s events for the club. If you’re sick of the same old raffles, trivia nights and quiz nights, you may want to consider a poker night from Poker Deluxe. With over $1 million raised for sporting clubs and charities around Australia, Poker Deluxe takes the stress out of organising your fundraiser. Poker Deluxe put their money where their mouth is too, guaranteeing a profit of at least $1000 for any event they host where 50 people attend. Poker Deluxe do everything, from organising and sending you promotional material for your fundraiser (posters, invitations, tickets) to providing over $2000 worth of prizes on the night. They bring everything along on the night (except chairs) to run the event including tables, chips, cards, tournament software and professional hosts to coordinate the night. The reason Poker Deluxe’s events are so successful and have raised so much money is the unique way they are structured. All you have to do is sell the tickets they provide and the majority, if not all, of the costs will be covered, before the night has even begun! Then on the night, Poker Deluxe’s professional hosts will run a rebuy style poker tournament (VIC, NSW, QLD), where players can buy more chips if they get short or want more, with 100% of the rebuys going directly back to the club. The more times players rebuy, the more money the club raises! After the rebuys have finished, it becomes a knockout tournament and once players lose their chips they’re eliminated from the tournament. The tournament hosts will break tables down until there is eventually 9 players left at which point they are moved onto a final table with a professional dealer and play down until there is one player left who is crowned the winner. The nights normally last around 3-3.5 hours and are always great fun. Everyone has a blast, there are some fantastic prizes to be won and most importantly, plenty of money is raised for the club or organisation! So if your clubs events are well attended and you can get 50 players there then there’s no reason not to host a Poker Deluxe fundraiser. Poker Deluxe is Australia’s biggest poker fundraising events provider with over $1 million raised for various sports clubs around Australia including: Football club fundraisers Cricket club fundraisers Basketball club fundraisers Tennis club fundraisers Gridiron club fundraisers Baseball club fundraisers Hockey club fundraisers Karate club fundraisers Soccer club fundraisers Rugby club fundraisers Netball club fundraisers Bowling club fundraisers Lacrosse club fundraisers Golf club fundraisers Ice Hockey club fundraisers Billiards club fundraisers To find out more information or to book in your poker fundraiser, call the team at Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER (1300 176 537) or have a look at the fundraiser packages.

In their newest venue partnership, Poker Deluxe is excited to announce that they have joined forces with one of Melbourne’s coolest function spaces, Pinball Paradise. A function space that will please any buck, Pinball Paradise and Poker Deluxe have combined to offer a bucks party package that will no doubt be one of their most popular. Located at the top end of Queen Street, in order to find Pinball Paradise, you must first enter through the ground floor bar, Island Somewhere. Once inside, you will find a funky little bar, lounge area and beer garden, but no sign of a function room anywhere. That is, until you push the skull on the bookshelf opposite the bar. This will reveal a hidden staircase that will take you up to your very own private function space, Pinball Paradise. Once upstairs, the room is alit with 13 pristine condition pinball machines all flashing, waiting to be played. There are the classics including Dirty Harry, Terminator 2, Star Wars and Ghostbusters, as well as more modern machines including Game of Thrones. Not only will you get private use of all 13 pinball machines, but the room also has it’s own private bar and rest rooms so you won’t even have to leave the room. And if this isn’t enough, there are also 3 TV screens and a Nintendo 64 so you can play classics like Mario Kart 64 and Goldeneye 64 for ultimate bragging rights. Poker Deluxe has teamed up with Pinball Paradise to offer the ultimate bucks’ party package all in the one place so you don’t have to stress about booking venue’s, drinks, activities, girls etc. They do it all for you! As part of this incredible package, you will get exclusive use of the entire function room for 3 hours, Terminator 2 and Dirty Harry on FREE PLAY as well as unlimited Nintendo 64 (other machines all available to play at a cost), a 3 hour drink package consisting of unlimited tap beer and cider, and plenty of chips and wedges to snack on once you get hungry from all the gaming. And to make sure everyone is kept entertained, while half the group is playing on the machines, the other half will be treated to a poker tournament dealt by Poker Deluxe’s sexy topless dealers. They then swap so everyone gets a go at playing poker with the top 4 from each round going through to the grand final. Just to top it off, you have the option to add a gorgeous topless waitress to serve and pour your drinks so you won’t even have to leave the pinball machines or poker table to get a drink. Surely there’s not much better than that! The best part? This package only has a minimum of 15 guests required, perfect for smaller groups, and is also one of Poker Deluxe’s cheapest packages, so it’s not hard to imagine it will book out quickly! For more information, you can contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or click to view the Pinball Paradise Melbourne Bucks Party Package.

Poker Deluxe is excited to announce its latest partnership with the Rob Roy hotel in Adelaide.  Set in the middle of Adelaide’s CBD, just a few short blocks from Rundle Mall, the Rob Roy Hotel has been around since 1840 and is one of Adelaide’s most iconic hotels.  Boasting several dedicated function spaces, as well as a sports bar, gaming room, and one of Australia’s finest selections of scotches and cigars, the Rob Roy hotel is the ultimate venue for a bucks party the lads will be talking about for a long time! The Rob Roy Hotel and Poker Deluxe can tailor a package no matter what you are after for your buck’s party.  The Queen St ballroom is the most suitable space with its private bar, black and white styling, copper finishes and audio connectivity. Poker Deluxe will provide everything you need for an unforgettable night. Casino quality poker tables, chips, cards, tournament software, a professional male poker host and a medal for the winner, is all included in the package.  Don’t worry if you get knocked out either, Poker Deluxe will bring along a beer pong table so you can keep the fun going. Last but certainly not least, Poker Deluxe will ensure all the guys have a memorable evening by providing a sexy topless poker dealer on each table.  And if you’re wanting to go all out, you can easily add a topless waitress to keep the drinks flowing or a strip show to spoil the buck one more time before he takes the plunge! Also included in this awesome package is a 3 hour food and beverage package consisting of unlimited beers, soft drink and juice as well as delicious souvlaki skewers, pizza slices, wedges, mini schnitzels and spring rolls through your event. An awesome venue, private function space, unlimited drinks, delicious food, fully hosted poker tournament, beer pong table and gorgeous ladies dealing the poker and serving your drinks….what more could you possibly want for a bucks night? To enquiry about The Rob Roy Hotel Package or find out more information, click here or contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or email [email protected]

In what will give hope and inspire amateur poker players from all over the world, Shurane Vijayaram outlasted 723 other poker players, including some of the world’s best professionals, to take home the $1.6 million first prize after a gruelling 8 days of play. Shurane only found out he would be playing in the main event one day before it started, having entered a $130 qualifier tournament which he went on to win. That win earned him a seat worth $10,600 in the main event, which he would eventually turn into $1.6 million. Not a bad return. What makes this truly a fairy-tale story is that Shurane has never recorded a cash win previously, making this his first ever professional tournament pay day. He also beat out UK professional Ben Heath in heads up play, with Ben taking home a handy $1 million for second place. Shurane entered the final hand with a commanding 3-1 chip lead but it was his call on the river that many are calling one of the gutsiest calls ever seen for such a large amount of money. Shurane was holding pocket 5’s up against Ben’s K8 off suit, and with the boarding missing them both, running out 6H, 9C, 7S, 3H, QS, Ben bluffed all-in, hoping Shurane would fold. And where any professional player would most likely fold, Shurane had the nerve and confidence to call him down, knowing his hand would only beat a complete bluff, and that is exactly what Ben had. Although Shurane started the hand with a 3-1 chip lead, if Shurane had have called and lost the hand, both players would have had exactly 11 million in chips and it would have been anyone’s tournament from then on. That makes his call that much more impressive! Shurane explained after he’d won that his focus was on his own game and to not be intimidated by more experience players. “I just try to play my best game and not think about people that are really good players…It doesn’t matter who you are, you just have to get the cards” Shurane said. Even if Shurane manages to spend all $1.6 million he won, he will always have the $30,000 custom made diamond encrusted Anton Jewellery bracelet to remember his incredible journey, and victory. It just goes to show that as long as you have a bit of skill, a bit of patience, and a bit of luck, anyone can win! From everyone here at Poker Deluxe, we say congratulation to Shurane Vijayaram, on winning the 2017 Aussie Millions Main Event, and we’ll see you at the tables soon!

It seems that 2016 was over in the blink of an eye, and before we know it 2017 will be coming to a close, but before we get into the swing of things for the year, I wanted to take a minute to review the year 2016 for Poker Deluxe. 2016 was another successful year for Poker Deluxe, helping raise $223,825 for local sporting clubs, charities, and organisations.  Events were held across all major cities in Australia including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth. Throughout 2016, Poker Deluxe held 102 fundraising event with an average profit of $2,186 for each event.  Over 5000 players attended Poker Deluxe fundraisers in 2016 and 2017 is shaping up to be just as busy! A lot of people want to know why 2016 was such a busy year for Poker Deluxe, and the answer is simple.  It’s an easy, hassle free, minimal risk way to raise money for your local club or organisation and it’s also a great social event. Poker Deluxe takes the stress out of organising your fundraiser.  All you have to do is be confident that 50 people will attend up and sell the tickets that are provided, and Poker Deluxe will do the rest all whilst guaranteeing a minimum of $1000 profit.  They do everything, from organising and sending you promotional material for your fundraiser (posters, invitations, tickets) to providing over $2000 worth of prizes on the night.  They bring everything along on the night (except chairs) to run the event including tables, chips, cards, tournament software and professional hosts to coordinate the night. The reason Poker Deluxe can raise so much for clubs and organisations is that players can buy more chips at any time in the first hour and 15 minutes of the tournament and 100% of those rebuys, every single dollar, goes directly back to the club.  So if there’s 50 players and they rebuy on average $40 worth of extra chips, that’s $2000 straight back to club.  That’s the reason Poker Deluxe can guarantee a minimum of $1000 profit.  Because usually it’s much more than this. Once the rebuy period is over it’s a normal knockout tournament and once players lose their chips they’re eliminated from the tournament.  Eventually there will be 9 players left at which point they are moved onto a final table with a professional dealer and play down until there is one player left who is crowned the winner. The nights normally last around 3-3.5 hours and are always great fun.  Everyone has a blast, there are some fantastic prizes to be won and most importantly, plenty of money is raised for the club or organisation! So to find out more information or to book in your 2017 poker fundraiser, call the team at Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER (1300 176 537) or click here to have a look at the fundraiser packages.

The silly season is fast approaching and what better way to reward your employees and celebrate another successful year than with a fun and social night that also doubles as a great team building event. Poker Deluxe have been organising and running corporate poker events for over 6 years and specialise in creating bespoke packages to suit any business from a small retail shop with 6 employees to multi-national companies with over 250 employees. If you are yet to book your Christmas function or work break up party why not consider Poker Deluxe to host an event for you. They operate in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth. They provide absolutely everything you need to ensure an exciting evening and because they do all the work, you can sit back, relax and enjoy the evening with your colleagues. They provide all the equipment you need including casino quality tables, chips and cards, a professional tournament host to set up and run the event, and a range of prizes including a customised glass trophy and movie tickets for the winner. And the best part? Poker Deluxe can come to any location to host your event. Whether it be at your office or shop, or at a venue you have arranged, Poker Deluxe is fully mobile. And not to worry if you don’t have a venue sorted, Poker Deluxe has over 50 venues Australia wide that we work with to ensure we can cater for absolutely any request. Not only is a poker tournament a great way to reward your staff, but it’s also an excellent social tool to bring your team closer together and improve workplace productivity. All whilst having some competitive fun and a few drinks. You don’t have to be a card shark either to play. Poker Deluxe’s professional tournament hosts and or dealers all have multiple years’ experience with poker and will run a learn to play table before every event to teach people how to play and go through the rules. They haven’t done an event yet where people haven’t been able to pick up the rules in less than 15 minutes. So for a fun unique team building Christmas party idea that is more than just drinking at a bar, get in touch with the team at Poker Deluxe and speak to them about how they can create a custom poker event to suit you and your company’s needs. No event is too big or small. For more information, you can contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or email [email protected]

If you are looking for a unique bucks party venue that is renowned as one of Melbourne’s trendiest bars and restaurants, we have found the place for you.  In its latest partnership, Poker Deluxe has teamed up with Campari House in the middle of Melbourne’s bustling CBD to offer you an all-inclusive bucks party package that will leave all your guests talking about it for months! Positioned perfectly on Hardware Lane between Bourke Street and Little Bourke Street, Campari House is surrounded by some of Melbourne’s coolest and most sought after bars and clubs, meaning there are plenty of places to kick on afterwards if you’re not ready for the night to end. Campari House is a truly multi-faceted venue that can cater for whatever you’re after.  There is an award winning restaurant on the ground floor with alfresco dining, a lounge room where you can stimulate your taste buds from an eclectic collection of classic and contemporary cocktails, and a rooftop bar where you can unwind with a drink as the sun goes down and take in Melbourne’s amazing city skyline. Of course these areas are all open to the public, so when you book your buck’s party at Campari House through Poker Deluxe, you will get exclusive use of your own private function space for the entire night.  Campari House will keep you full with a delicious 2 course meal prior to your poker event as well as a 3 hour unlimited drinks package including beer, wine and soft drink.  Then Poker Deluxe will provide poker tables, chips, cards and a professional host to co-ordinate the tournament as well gorgeous topless dealers to deal the poker and keep the guys focused!  Don’t worry if you get knocked out early either, they bring out a beer pong table so you can play that when you lose all your chips. You’re more than welcome to stay in the function room for the whole night, but should some of the guys start to get bored, you also get free entry into the Men’s Gallery which is just around the corner. Don’t get stuck in a dingy dive bar for your bucks party, speak to the team at Poker Deluxe about having it at Campari House, one of Melbourne’s coolest and most fashionable bars.  What’s even better is that Poker Deluxe arrange the whole thing.  Venue, food, drinks, poker, girls and more, it’s all included in one package so no need to deal with multiple companies and agencies! For more information, you can contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or email [email protected]

After a nearly 4 month break, the final 9 players at the World Series of Poker Main Event from a field of 6,737 descended on Las Vegas to battle it out to see who could outlast the rest and take home the first prize of over $10 million AUD. After 2 day full days of play, the final table of 9 had been whittled down to just 3. Entering the third and what would be the final day of play, Qui Nguyen was odds-on favourite to take the title with almost 60% of the 336,600,000 chips in play in his possession. Behind Nguyen was Gordon Vayo with 89,000,000 chips and playing the short stack was Cliff Josephy with just 50,000,000 in chips. There was action on the very first hand of the day when Josephy doubled up through Nguyen. Josephy moved all in pre-flop and was called by Nguyen whose A4 off suit was dominated by Josephy’s AQ of diamonds. Josephy made a full house and all of a sudden had 100,000,000 in chips, making the 3 stacks a lot more even. Unfortunately for Josephy, his double up did not go far when he ran into trouble just 4 hands later. Josephy found himself with pocket 2’s and a set on the flop, but was ultimately beaten when he ran into Vayo’s pocket 3’s who had also flopped a set. All the chips were in the middle by the turn and after missing the case 2 on the river, Josephy was left with just 8 big blinds. Despite a couple of handy double ups through Nguyen, Josephy was unable to mount a serious comeback and finished in 3rd place taking home a tidy $4.5 million AUD. After 182 hands to knock out 7 players and get to heads up, it would eventually be a further 182 hands before there was a winner. This set a new record for longest heads up battle in a World Series Main Event, and after nearly 10 hours of gruelling heads up play, we would have a winner. Early on in heads up play, Nguyen’s aggression payed off and he was able to win 7 of the first 9 hands and as a result, took the chip lead and never looked back. After a couple of big hands, Nguyen opened up a 5-1 chip lead over Vayo and continued to bully and pressure Vayo by raising with almost any two cards and forcing Vayo to make tough lay downs with good hands. Vayo did manage to double up a couple of times but it would prove fruitless in the end as Vayo shoved for the final time with J10 spades and was snap called by Nguyen with K10 clubs after raising to 8.5 million on the button. The flop kept it interesting, with Nguyen picking up a pair of Kings but Vayo also giving himself 8 outs in the form of a queen or an eight for a straight. The turn and river were both blanks and after 362 hands at the final table, Nguyen collected the cash, the bracelet, and the bragging rights as the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. Vayo still had a profitable day, taking home over $6 million AUD for his 2nd place finish. In what will go down as one of the longest and most memorable final tables in history, Nguyen’s aggression, commitment to pressure, and sometimes unconventional style of poker, paid off and after 10 full days of poker, he outlasted 6,736 of the world’s best poker players to claim the title.

Poker Deluxe has announced its latest venue partnership in Brisbane with the GPO Hotel. The new package offers a premier bucks party experience at one of Brisbane’s most iconic venues. Set on the bustling Ann Street strip in the Fortitude Valley precinct and close to some of the CBD’s most famous nightclubs and bars, GPO is easily accessibly being just a 5 minute cab ride from the CBD centre and a 15 minute cab ride from Brisbane airport. Perfect if you’re only in town for a short time! GPO is not only known for its Victorian Italianate style architecture, but also for its themed spaces and rooms that create the feel of almost having a venue inside a venue. You can choose from Casa Latina on the ground floor if you’re looking for an authentic Latin experience with cocktails, Latin beers, spirits, South American inspired bar snacks, and smooth Latin beats playing around the clock. If you’re after a slightly more ‘sophisticated’ experience, you could head over to The Manhattan Lounge, also on the ground floor, where you will find a floor to ceiling mural of downtown Manhattan. Here you can sip on New York inspired cocktails whilst listening to funky vocal house inspired by New York’s world famous bars and clubs. With private access, private bar and easy kitchen access, this space is perfect for your buck’s party! Together with GPO, Poker Deluxe is now offering a bucks party package for the perfect bucks experience. You will get exclusive use of a function room for 3 hours, as well as a 3 hour unlimited beverage package including house spirits, beer, wine, and soft drink. You won’t go hungry either with a party platter, nibbles platter and antipasto served throughout your event. With the venue sorted, Poker Deluxe provide the entertainment with a live poker tournament coordinated by a professional host along with casino quality tables, chips, cards and software. And if you’re really wanting to give your buck an experience to remember, you can add some gorgeous topless dealers or a topless waitress for a night you won’t ever forget! For more information, you can contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER or click to view more Brisbane Bucks Party Packages.

On July 18th the curtain came down on the World Series of Poker – not the final, final curtain because there’s a certain nine player main event playoff to look forward too in a couple of months, but more of that a little later. So, to go back to the beginning, one of the biggest things that the WSOP 2016 has taught us is that poker is becoming more and more popular. The 107,833 entrants from countries all round the world have shown us that – only the second time that this has topped the 100,000 mark. It’s also a marker showing just how far we’ve come since the tournament started in 1970 when just seven players came at the invitation of mob boss and gambling legend Benny Binion and played for no more than the glory of winning. This year the total prize pot was an astonishing $221,211,336. So what else have we learnt from this year’s tournament? Well for one thing it’s been a record-breaking year in so many ways – there were 15,767 players who scooped cash prizes and the average first prize pot was $555,475. Ben Keeline also broke the record for the biggest single prize in a $500 dollar buy-in event with the $1 million he pocketed in the hotly contested Colossus II event Roland Israelashvili led the way in the number of cashes with a very impressive 13 and no less than three players reached $5 million in career WSOP winnings Brian Rast, Fedor Holz and and Dan Smith with both Holz and Rast picking up coveted bracelets along the way. The tenth person in the history of the WSOP to reach a total of $10 million in World Series winnings was Joe Cada. Women players also enjoyed much deserved success this year with two notable examples being Natasha Barbour and Lisa Meredith. The former had already come third in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event taking home a handsome $348,374 when her boyfriend Jason Mercier, this year’s Player of the Year, went down on one knee and asked her to marry him surrounded by cheering players. Meredith, a teacher from Oregon, enjoyed a big result at her first tournament winning $500,000 in the $1,500 Buy-In Millionaire Maker. One of the biggest stories however, is the rise of the satellite entrants. With both Fernando Pons and Griffin Benger making it through to the November Nine via the 888Poker WSOP Main Event qualifier. A huge step up from the 44th achieved by Ghattas Kortas in 2015, and something everyone hopes can be replicated next year. With satellites offering a great opportunity to make the game more accessible to any entrant it allows amateurs to really feel part of the poker community. So now all eyes are on the clash between the nine players who have made it through to the Main Event final table. Led by Cliff Josephy with 74.6 million chips and Qui Nguyen with 67.925 million it promises to be an intriguing event that runs between October 30th and November 1st in the Penn and Teller Theatre in the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. As for next year’s WSOP interest is already running high – and who knows, maybe we could be writing about you this time next year.

St Marys Greensborough JFC are on a mission to renovate their second football ground, Greensborough Park. With limited assistance from the council the project is to install new toilet facilities and an umpires room. “We though a poker night would be a good idea for the parents to not only raise some money but have a fun social night out. We engaged the services of Poker Deluxe to host the night which was a great success. The 63 attendees raised over $5000 for our club and just as importantly everyone had a fantastic time. People are already talking about planning next year’s event and how many extra mates they are going to bring along. From a club point of view the best part was Poker Deluxe did everything, from providing marketing material, set-up, hosted the night, dealt the final table and handed out prizes. All we had to do was promote the event & man the bar. The organisation of the night, customer service and their professionalism was excellent. We are hoping to reduce the renovations budget of $35k with donations of labour. Members have already donated about $5,000 to the cause via a voluntary levy on their fees and with this $5k raised from the poker night we are well on the way. Thank you Poker Deluxe. We will see you next year.” Evan Butterworth President St Marys Greensborough Junior Football Club.

Poker Deluxe announces its latest venue partnership with The Grand Hotel in Sydney. Located smack bang in the heart of Sydney CBD, The Grand Hotel sprawls over three floors with great bars and traditional pub accommodation, the Grand’s prime location is within 200 metres of Sydney Harbour and walking distance from many iconic sightseeing destinations. An inviting ground floor oak-panelled bar is complimented by the maritime-themed 30 Knots on the first floor with a decadent menu to match. The Pool Room is located on level 2 of the venue. It boasts two pool tables, a lounge area, a cranking juke box and a large plasma screen. The Pool Room is the perfect blend of casual pub style atmosphere combined with first class food and beverage service. This space can accommodate up to 60 guests and is an ideal space for Poker Deluxe to host their private bucks parties. In association with The Grand Hotel, Poker Deluxe are offering a poker bucks party which comprises of exclusive use of the Pool Room function room, a live poker tournament coordinated by a professional bucks party host, topless dealers, food package options and access to the pool tables. There is only a $1500 min spend on food and drink and a small security charge of $180. There is also the option to add some naughty extras such as topless waitresses and a range of strip shows to suit. For more information give Poker Deluxe a call on 1300 1Poker View more Bucks Party Packages in Sydney

For over 3 years Poker Deluxe has utilised The Occidental Hotel as one of it’s preferred venues for bucks parties in Sydney. The Occidental is a Victorian Regency Style Hotel and is the oldest building in Wynyard Square; its resurrection dating back to 1850. Conveniently located in the heart of the CBD at 43 York St, Sydney just minutes from Wynyard Station, The Occidental is one of the last five surviving hotels of this style and its foundations are now Heritage Listed. The hotel retained its original functions into the 1980’s when three floors were adapted for use as a restaurant, a function room and accommodation rooms. The vintage hotel is comprised of 2 bars, a bistro and gaming facilities on its ground floor, the popular Fairmont Restaurant on its first floor, the versatile function room on its second and of course its budget apartments for rent on the third floor. It is inside the large function room where you can throw a private party for your best mate’s last hurrah. It comes with a fully equipped with a stocked bar as well as equipment facilities available for use free of charge. (AV, Audio etc). With no room hire and only a $1000 minimum spend, it’s the perfect spot for a bucks party in Sydney. With the help of Poker Deluxe who can arrange everything for you, they have packages from Tame to Raunchy and anything in between. The standard package would come included with professional poker tables and all accessories. A bucks party host to run the night. Topless poker dealers and the option for topless waitresses and / or strip shows. And to top it all off a beer pong table to use for the duration of the event when players are eliminated from the poker game. For more information give Poker Deluxe a call on 1300 1Poker or click to view The Occidental Hotel Bucks Party Package

Poker Deluxe is pleased to announce a partnership with the Great Britain Hotel. The Great Britain Hotel is situated in Richmond, Melbourne, not far from the East Richmond station. With cheap beers and shots advertised at the bar they let you know right away this pub is aimed squarely at the young and alternative. The interior is dark and funky, featuring carpeted floors, pool, pinball and Big Buck Hunter in a room plastered with band posters and old couches in a little alcove overlooked by a huge praying mantis mural. . It has a laid back, relaxed atmosphere and offers craft beers among other drinks at a traditional stone bar. It also has a pool table and open fireplace inside, as well as a funky beer garden out the back. The Great Britain also offers a full menu with a focus on British style food. Burgers, beer battered onion rings, beef tacos, curry, ham hock nuggets, an assortment of deserts including ice cream and ‘boozy milkshakes’ are all on offer, among many other dishes. The Great Britain Hotel plays host to a number of parties and functions in their cool exclusive underground function room. Poker Deluxe have teamed up with The GB Hotel to bring you a bucks party poker night where you really feel the part in the underground setting. The Bucks Party package comprising of a live poker tournament, topless poker dealers, 3 hour drinks package, finger food, and a beer pong table for extra entertainment and topless waitresses and strip shows can also be added to mix. The bucks party poker night package includes free delivery to the venue, professional equipment including tables, cards and chips, and a tournament host to run the event. For more information contact Poker Deluxe on 1300 1POKER. View more Melbourne Bux Night Party ideas

Poker Deluxe announces a new partnership with The Local Hotel in Port Melbourne. Situated in the bustling Bay Street in Port Melbourne, The Local is a lively pub and a favourite among those who enjoy a drink and a good time. The Local is a two-floor setup with a cozy bar downstairs where live sports can be watched while enjoying some traditional pub grub and sipping on an ice cold beer, and it has a large function room upstairs where private parties can be held for those who want to enjoy a more intimate setting or get together. The pub itself is a traditional British style, but it also features a lounge and smoking terrace. The bar offers a range of draught beers from around the world and there’s a great selection of food on offer, served up by an in-house chef. For those looking for a bucks party venue to host a farewell bash for a mate who’s about to tie the knot, The Local makes for an ideal location. Poker Deluxe have an idea to make it something extra special. In partnership with The Local, Poker Deluxe are offering a Bucks Party Poker Night, which comprises of a live poker tournament held by a professional bucks party host, topless dealers, a 3 hours drinks package, plenty of finger food to nibble on, and a beer pong table to use for the duration of the event as an extra for the lads who get eliminated early. The package includes all of the above, as well as free delivery to the venue, all the gear needed to make the night go smoothly including poker tables, chips, cards and poker tournament software, plus a pro tournament host to keep the fun rolling and the event moving forward. You can also add some naughty extras such as topless waitresses and a range of strip shows to suit. As a bonus, this package also includes entry into the Centrefold strip club, ensuring the night will end with a bang. For more information give Poker Deluxe a call on 1300 1Poker View more Melbourne bucks night packages

It’s nearing the end of another financial year and many companies are looking for new ideas for an end of financial year party. It’s no secret to successful managers that end of financial year parties facilitate team building and improve staff morale, as well as make staff feel more at home and loyal to the company. For those reasons and more, an end of financial year party is something you shouldn’t skip. That said, after a few years of doing the same things they can also begin to feel a bit stale and repetitive. Some of the usual ideas are: Dinner and a few drinks at a local pub or restaurant. These can be fun and can get a little wild. Attending or playing in a sporting event like bowling, mini golf, cricket, rugby or football. Adventure sports like hiking, rafting, and rock climbing. These are all fun a few times, and each option has its pros and cons. But if you are looking for something fun and unique try holding an all-inclusive poker night. Since the aim of an end of year party is to bond and celebrate, a poker night is ideal and achieves both objectives. It creates a spirit of friendly competition and is something which includes everyone in one tournament. Poker Deluxe offers a corporate poker night to fit the bill. The best part is absolutely everything is taken care of, leaving you and your team to sit back, relax, and enjoy the evening. The Poker Deluxe corporate package includes professional dealers who offer a learn-to-play table prior to start. Quality equipment including tables, chips, cards and all the necessary gear, tournament software on laptop or big screen to keep track of the timer, trophies and prizes for winners and runners-up, and 3 hours of non-stop entertainment. They can bring it all to your workplace or even assist with a venue. If doing something a little different that will create memories for staff to talk about until this time next year sounds like your idea of a good end of year party, and you think your team would benefit from a little friendly competition, then check out the Poker Deluxe Corporate events here and speak to one of their friendly team.

Golfzon Melbourne has a mission: to take the solitary game of golf and turn it into an exciting, social experience in the heart of Melbourne city. Golfzon Melbourne offers the chance to enjoy the real golf experience from their indoor lounge on King Street. With multiple simulators utilizing technology which is approved by the Korean national golf team, the experience feels true to life with superior graphics making it all the more real. For those with no golfing experience, Golfzon also offers a team of coaches to help players up their game. The head coach is Baden Schaff, a veteran coach who has taught across the world from London to Singapore, whose reputation proceeds him across Australia. Baden and the team will be sure to take care of you if you’re a seasoned pro or a newbie who can’t keep the ball on the fairway. Golfzon also offers a fully stocked bar and food to facilitate parties. A range of drinks including beers, wines and spirits are available and a kitchen offers a selection of meals and snacks. Groups are not only welcome but encouraged. Golfzon also offers private golf lessons as well as parties, so if you attend or hold a party and fall in love with the game you’ll be able to practice without leaving the city and without the expense of green fees at a club. Poker Deluxe is happy to announce we are teaming up with Golfzon to bring you a bucks party experience you’ll remember for years. If you fancy competing against your best mates at golf and poker at the same time while enjoying some drinks in this classy city venue, give us a call now and we’ll make it happen! Click here to view the Golfzon Poker Bucks Package.

Poker Afloat is an all-inclusive fun poker cruise operating around Australia. It’s now possible to enjoy live poker tournaments out on the water in some of Australia’s best-loved cities. With catamarans taking up to 130 players out in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (coming soon), they offer a unique way to enjoy live poker tournaments with a view. Poker Afloat aims to make it an all-in-one event. Tickets can be purchased through Poker Deluxe or on a number of daily deals sites and for only $99 you get real bang for your buck. Your cruise package is inclusive of beer, wine, soft drinks and finger food throughout. Lingerie waitresses are there to cater to players, so they can kick back, relax and enjoy the cruise. The main tournament rewards the final table of 9 players with prizes. The winner received $3500 cash! Secondary prizes include Bali Holiday land packages valued at $1500 and other finalist will receive another ticket onto next month’s cruise to try again. There is a guaranteed $9500 worth of cash and prizes up for grabs in each cruise. For those who get knocked out early there’s also a secondary tournament which can be bought into for $25 on board should you wish to have a second chance. There is a guaranteed Bali Package on offer for the winner of the secondary tournament. New poker players as well as seasoned hands are all welcome with the only requirement being that those attending are 18 years and older. Tournaments are held at dates outlined on the Poker Afloat website www.pokerafloat.com and you can book as an individual or as a group of friends. Those who don’t want to play but still want to go along and support their mates and enjoy the experience are also welcome on Poker Afloat cruises. In order to make sure the tournaments go as smoothly as possible, Poker Afloat teamed up with Poker Deluxe, harnessing their experience and expertise to run the events. Poker Deluxe provide the tables, chips and four experienced hosts make sure that everything runs smoothly, and that all have a great time regardless of whether or not they win the pot. To find out when the next Poker Afloat tournament is being held or to book your ticket, simply contact Poker Deluxe or Poker Afloatfor more information. Places fill up quickly, so get in early for a fun experience.

Every once in a while something truly different pops up in the nightlife and entertainment scene in Perth. The Grid Bar in Northbridge is certainly that. Poker Deluxe have formed an alliance with the up-and-coming bucks party venue to bring you an event to remember. Sitting in the heart of Perth’s lively entertainment district, The Grid Bar is a new concept bar dedicated to bringing F1 and motor racing to all. How do they plan to do it? Through life-sized racing simulators right in the middle of bar. The idea is unique, combining events such as birthday parties, corporate events, bucks parties and other with a shot of something different, allowing those attending to jump into any of the 8 race car simulators and select any of the 50 Grand Prix tracks to race on. The selection of tracks has been programmed to be exactly as they are in real life and in such a way that any two or more players can race each other in any combination on any track. You can race one-on-one or in an eight-man free for all. The Grid have also made sure that the cars and life-sized pedals are adjustable and anyone of any size will be able to enjoy the experience together. They plan to take things even further by creating regular tournaments, competitions and leagues. If racing is your thing, you might just become a regular. Simulated racetrack driving isn’t all that’s on offer at The Grid, though. Live sports events from Fox Sports are shown on large screen TV’s and gourmet food is available fresh from the grill. Wash it down with a few of your favourite drinks, and a night at The Grid could be a winner. Corporate events, birthday parties, bucks parties and any other celebrations will be able to book the place out exclusively upon request. Poker Deluxe has teamed up with The Grid Bar to bring a Bucks Party package that’s sure to be different. With exclusive use of the bar, food and drinks provided, a poker table with a lingerie dealer, lingerie waitresses a dedicated bucks party host to run the evening and even beer pong, this is an event that’s sure to be a hit with entertainment overload. View more Perth Bucks Party Ideas

Are you thinking of holding a fundraising event for your sports club, charity or for any other good cause? Looking for fun, exciting ideas, rather than the same old raffle tickets and trivia night that everybody else does as footy, soccer and winter sports season approaches? Then you’ve landed right where you need to be! Whether you’re fundraising for a footy club or a homeless shelter, a winter sports club or a charity of any kind, we can bring the alluring attraction of a Poker Deluxe fundraising night to your venue. We’re experts at running poker tournaments for charities and sporting clubs seeking to raise money, and we even guarantee over $1000 profit minimum* as well as offer $2000 worth of top-notch prizes to tempt would-be players to attend. Here’s a quick rundown of what we do and why you’ll love it: 1) We come to your venue and set up a poker tournament your guests will love. We bring all the equipment including tables, chips, cards and hosts to run the show, so you won’t have to do anything other than make the booking and sell the tickets. 2) Our professional staff teach newbies the game and moderate the tournament while a host keeps the evening moving forward and entertains along the way. 3) Prizes are awarded to the final table on 9 with the ultimate prize to the player who wins the tournament and take down all the chips. Curious to know what the ultimate prize is? Read on. Poker Deluxe Platinum Prize Pack To tempt your guests to attend and dig deep you’ll need to offer enticing prizes for winning the tournament. We’ve got you covered, and our fantastic prizes never fail to attract plenty of people to show up and play. We offer quality prizes for the final table on 9 players ranging from bottles of wine to an Android tablet to gold class movie tickets and a poker table set for the home. The ultimate prize for the tournament champ is a 7-day land package to Bali at a 5-Star resort including airport transfers, daily breakfast for 2 and more.. valued at $1500! Talk about going all in….If that doesn’t attract players, nothing will! Why Choose Poker Deluxe for your next Fundraiser Idea? Of the many great reasons to choose us as your next unique fundraising idea, here are a few:  We have a fully trained and experienced team, ready to deliver at a venue of your choice. We’re the best at what we do.  Our reputation is sterling, and we invite you to check out our testimonials of the many happy customers. We guarantee client satisfaction.  We provide all the top-quality equipment required to make the event run seamlessly from tables to cards, laptops with the timer to high-end prizes. You won’t have to lift a finger on the night.  We also provide tickets and promo material including a digital invitation for you to market the event beforehand.  We have successfully raised over $1 million for charities and sports clubs across Australia. Our success speaks for itself! Summary There’s nothing that brings people together and gives them a night to remember like a high-stakes poker night. With top prize, a fun-fueled evening is guaranteed. Ready to do something unique to raise money for your sporting club or charity? We put the fun back into fundraising, as we go all out so you can go all in…. Contact Us to find out more about our Poker Deluxe Fundraiser packages now. *Guaranteed $1000 profit raised depends upon at least 50 players attending.

It’s easy to hit a slump this time of year. The fire is beginning to die down after the New Year, and everybody is settling back into business as usual. A few staff members might even need cheering up as February sets in! Have some new members joined your team and are just beginning to fit in? Is staff morale a bit low and you want to fire everybody up again? Maybe you’re trying to think of an ideal way to entertain some potential business clients and show them a great time? Or maybe you’re just looking for teambuilding ideas to knit an already tight and functional team together even tighter? Poker Deluxe – the Ideal Corporate Social Night Your staff will love our poker packages. Our pro dealers come to a venue of your choice and set everything up. They also understand the ins and outs of the game and can quickly teach those who are new to it. In fact, that’s one of the best things about poker and it’s why everyone will have such a fantastic time – it’s easy to learn and heaps of fun! We offer both a standard ‘gold package’ and a high-rollers ‘deluxe package’ for those who really want to spoil their business clients or team. Corporate Teambuilding at Its Best Corporate teambuilding doesn’t have to be boring. With a corporate poker night, everyone can bond while engaged in one of the oldest and most enjoyable forms of entertainment created by man – playing a good old fashioned game of cards! It’s both competitive and fun. Throw in a few drinks and some delicious food and you have a night everyone will remember and talk about for years! We serve over 500 poker events across Australia annually, and every single one of them is memorable. We take care of everything from A-Z, so you don’t have to do anything except make the initial call and we’ll handle it all from there. If you’re team is hitting a slump, you’ll notice a marked improvement in the days and weeks after we put together an event, and if new members have joined the team, you’ll see them slot right in. Give it a go and you won’t regret it. There’s no better way to keep your teams spirits high as the energy of the New Year begins to wane and they settle in for another year of hard work and achievement! Click here to learn more about what our Poker Deluxe package offers or contact us now.

“Late in season 2015, the Upwey Tecoma Football Club was advised that our local Council was ready to install new lights at our ground to a standard which would allow night football to be played there in season 2016. This was considered to be a very exciting prospect by everyone involved at the Football Club. The Club was required to make a financial contribution and the very significant balance would be Council funded, hence we set about detailing how we would meet our monetary objective of $15,000. We had very successfully engaged the services of Poker Deluxe in the past and without any delay, we engaged their services again for our November 2015 fundraiser event! We had just under 100 people come along to the night, and 80 players participated in the fun of the evening – playing poker to win some great prizes! The night was a huge success, with well over $6000 raised, the bulk of which was from the poker games, with the balance from bar profit! Poker Deluxe were excellent – on time, met all their promises prior to and at the event itself, very professional but at the same time making it a fun night for all involved! The other attraction of the nights is that it is easy to run from the Clubs point of view – organise an appropriate venue, organise some drinks and supper, and then simply focus on getting people along, women included. The training on the night provided by Poker Deluxe staff to inexperienced poker players was first class, supported by the fact that the big winner on the night had never played poker before, and was in fact a female – so a big win for women, as all those in attendance will well remember! So we were delighted with the entire night, and will certainly engage the services of Poker Deluxe again in the future.” Andrew Peterson Fundraising Commitee Upwey Tecoma Football Netball Club

One of Poker Deluxe’s favoured bucks party location in Melbourne, The Limerick Arms Hotel is the ideal venue for your best friends last hoorah! Located smack bang in the middle of South Melbourne on the very trendy Clarendon Street, The Limerick Arms Hotel is the perfect launching point for the rest of your night of shenanigans and bucks party traditions. Around the corner from Kittens Strip club and walking distance from Crown Casino and the rest of Melbourne CBD, you cant go wrong having your bucks party here. The Limerick Arms Hotel has partnered with Poker Deluxe to bring you an all-inclusive bucks party package that is very reasonably priced on a per head basis so there is one payment and everything is covered for the night. Your bucks party package will include your own private function room upstairs, private bar and large screen tv’s with live sports. 3 hours finger food and drinks (beer, wine, soft drink). A bucks party host to run the show with quality poker tables, beer pong table, gorgeous topless poker dealers, cheeky topless waitresses and the option of a tame or raunchy strip show. The function room can cater from anywhere up to 50 guests so is the perfect size for a bucks party. You also have the ability to play your own party tunes to keep the boys (and/or girls) entertained. Contact Poker Deluxe now to find out more about pricing and availability to book your next bucks party at the Limerick Arms Hotel. View more Bucks Party ideas in Melbourne  

One of Poker Deluxe’s most popular bucks party venues in Melbourne, The Bull and Bear Tavern is the perfect bar for your best mates last swan song. Located right in the heart of the CBD in Melbourne, tucked away just down Flinders lane, it’s a great spot to start the night and then kick-on at Crown Casino or another of our favourite hangouts; Centrefold Lounge strip club. The best thing about the Bull and Bear tavern is that it’s suited to small and larger bucks parties, but without breaking the budget. Sure it’s not the penthouse cigar lounge at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, but the beauty of that is if you do get a little loud, spill a few drinks or dress the buck in ladies attire, you’re not going to get kicked to the curb. With tasty finger food and cheap drinks, especially for city prices, it’s the perfect bucks party venue in the man cave; known as the Tavern bar. You’ll pay NO venue hire and NO minimum bar spend, making it ideal for even the smallest of groups. You can fit up to four poker tables with topless dealers no problem at all or you can go with 1 or 2 tables and rotate players. For example: The first group of guys play poker for the first hour, while the others play some pool, beer pong or just relax and have a chat. Then the groups swap for the 2nd hour. Then we get the top 4 or 5 players from each round (usually we try to keep the buck in) to playoff for the final hour and see who claims the trophy and ultimate bucks party bragging rights. Your group will have exclusive use of the Basement function room for the duration of your event which features: 2 pool tables, jukebox & iPod dock, pinball machines, darts board, finger food & bistro dining, private bar. We even provide a free beer pong table to keep the boys entertained once they’ve tried bluffing one too many times and finished with poker. You’ll have everything you need for an epic battle including the table, cups and balls, all you have to do is fill them with beer. Or better yet get your topless waitress to fill the cups! Poker Deluxe holds literally 100’s of bucks parties here every year and boy do we have some stories to tell. But don’t worry, what happens on the bucks stays on the bucks! So here are some great laughs from our bucks party ideas at the Bull and Bear Tavern: • Chaz or Chad – one of our buck’s name was Chad and so his best man printed a bunch of pictures that only showed the hairline or nose of the person in the photo. Guests had to pick if the person in the photo was Chad (the buck) or Chaz Bono (Cher’s transgender child). • Grandfather “Blue” – if you’ve ever seen the movie Old School with Frank the Tank played by Will Ferrell, then you should remember his 90 year old fraternity hopeful “old man Blue”. Well let’s just say Old Blue had never been so alive and eyes wide open as when Portia laid across his lap and gave him body shots. • Fancy dress for the Buck – with too many to mention, we’ve seen every form of public degradation that costumes can provide a buck. From ballerinas to nurses, fairies to princesses and even a gorilla suit with a ball and chain. Fancy dress is always more fun for the guests than the man of honour. View more Bucks Night Ideas in Melbourne

There are too many reasons to name them all, but here are some key factors and ideas as to why companies use team building activities with employees and business partners.  Just a handful, yet valuable, reasons include: Improving communication, boosting morale, motivation, ice breakers to help get to know each other better, learning effective strategies, improving productivity, learning about one’s strengths and weaknesses and many others. Team building activities can be used by any corporate business, large or small, to promote better teamwork in the workplace and build stronger relationships with business partners/customers.  As most business owners to corporate CEO’s and even store managers will tell you, a highly cohesive group displaying strong teamwork qualities is one of the biggest factors that can determine a company’s success or failure. There are four main types of team building activities, which includes: Communication activities, problem solving and/or decision making activities, adaptability and/or planning activities, and activities that focus on building trust. The idea is to perform various activities that are both fun and challenging, and that also have the “side effect” of building teamwork skills that can help improve employee performance and productivity at the office. In this blog post, we’ll look at how a fun and social poker night among colleagues can help develop the skills needed and displayed by highly effective teams.  A simple game of poker, in the right environment, can improve communication, problem solving skills and relationships between business clients, employees and management. Ways In Which Poker Is a Useful Team Building Activity Improving Communication There’s nothing like a fun, friendly and social night of poker over a couple of cold drinks to let one’s defences down and let the general grind of day-to-day work wash away. Poker is a great way for colleagues and business partners to get to know each other in a relaxing environment. Boosting Moral I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed the ‘first-timer’ poker player walk away with the win and bragging rights around the office until the next poker event.  As silly as it might sound, the simple act of winning or even taking chips off colleagues that you might not expect to be able to outwit at the poker table, can give that little boost of confidence and morale to employees around the office. Motivation A night of poker can act as very effective tool for motivating your workforce.  By rewarding your staff with a fun night and the chance to get to know colleagues better, they’re more likely to be happy in their job and have the support of others when completing tasks.  This kind of work environment serves to motivate people to achieve better results Build Trust The simple act of helping a colleague out with rules of poker or perhaps with a decision in a big hand, can go a long way to helping build trust in their colleagues. Ice Breakers As we said before, this relaxed and fun setting lets colleagues and business partners get to know each other without office politics and in ways that everyday work wouldn’t provide. What better ice breaker than winning a big pot off your boss. Learning Effective Strategies Poker is a game of thinking and strategy.  Employees will be constantly creating new strategies to beat their opponents at the felt, all while doing so on the fly. A great quality in any team. Improving Productivity Increased happiness = increased productivity. It’s that simple!  By holding fun and exciting team building activities such as a poker night for your employees, then they’re more likely to be happy and actually be more productive in the long run. Adaptability As a game of poker progresses and chip stacks are lost or won, players are eliminated or moved to another table, a player’s game strategy must adapt and evolve to stay ahead of the pack.  It’s a subconscious decision making process that occurs, but a valuable trait for any company team. As always – ‘May the flop be with you.’

Fundraising plays a key role in the survival of all sporting clubs of all codes. But with the weather heating up and the ashes heading down under this summer, cricket lovers across Australia are dusting off the pads and wickets are being rolled in preparation for the upcoming cricket season. Although there are funding schemes and ideas for fundraising in place, these are very limited in numbers, so it is vital cricket clubs find other ways of sustaining themselves and develop for the future. Fundraising events, such as a fun social poker night, can help create camaraderie among cricket club members and their families as they come together to enjoy a fun night of cards as a group. It’s also a great way to get the parents of junior players and the senior players at the club and helps give a greater sense of community, all while having a great time and raising valuable funds for the club. So, your grass roots cricket club needs to raise money for new equipment or perhaps work around the clubhouse and grounds, but your sick and tired of the same old trivia nights, meat raffles or not sure how to organise a successful fundraising event. Then here are some pointers to help you organise a successful fundraiser that everyone will enjoy, but most importantly raise money for the club: • Decide what event you want to hold. Look at previous fundraising events you have held or what other clubs in your community have done to see what works best. Poker is not only a fun, social and team building night that has risen in popularity since Aussie Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker. Men, women, young and old can all participate on a level playing field, all while raising money for the club. Visit Poker Deluxe on facebook to see images of recent fundraisers. • Choose a reliable group of people to help you organise and run the event. It’s admirable that you might not want to burden others with organising the fundraiser, but this is where the team building begins and can only help the end cause. Poker Deluxe’s experienced team will be right there with you in the lead up to the event. We’ve done this plenty of times, so not only do we provide everything you need to run a successful poker tournament, we also provide you with: Posters to promote the night Tickets for pre-sale Electronic invitation to email guests Poker game rules cheat sheet Learn to play session at your event Help you with social media promotion And over $2,000 worth of prizes! • Lean on EVERYONE at the club to tell friends, family and work colleagues to attend the night. The more people, means more $’s for the cricket club. • Make a list of all the people you know (family, friends, colleagues, retired players and club members, local businesses) and work out how they can help you tell more people in the broader community, as well as participating in the poker fundraiser itself. • Consider local businesses or club members with small businesses in the community and ask for possible donations/sponsorship for the cricket club. Ask for ‘in kind’ contributions or free use of equipment rather than cash as you’re more likely to get a positive response. These prizes or business services can then be auctioned, raffled or added to the poker prizes at the fundraiser to give attendees more things to win for their donations to the club. • Approach smaller and local businesses first as they are likely to appreciate the opportunity of advertising locally and supporting their own community more than larger big name corporations. Always offer face to face meetings rather than just sending out letters with no follow up. • Always invite any businesses or individuals who have donated to the night and let them share in the fun social aspect of poker fundraiser, while providing a great chance to network for future events. • Try to allow yourself a good 4 or more weeks, preferably 6, so you have as much time to promote the fundraiser as well as giving possible guests the best chance to mark the night in their calendar. • Pre-selling tickets is a must. No matter how many people say they are coming, they aren’t actually coming until they have made a donation to purchase a ticket. Pre-selling the ticket, not only locks people in and gives you every chance of raising more funds. It also means your guests will have more expendable cash on the night to spend on other things to help the club, since they haven’t just had to pay for their ticket on arrival. • Consider your budget for the event and set yourself and the fundraising team a target. By considering the capacity of your venue and the predicted number of guests you can set an admission price. Be careful – if the price is too high it will put some people off, too low and it will severely reduce the amount you raise. Consider: What are your break even costs? What is your fundraising goal? How many guests do you need to cover costs? How many guests do you need to start making money for the cricket club? This is just some of the things we can do to help your cricket club hold that memorable and successful fundraiser event this season, so drop us a message. As always – May the flop be with you!

So your best mate and partner in crime for the last 20yrs has decided to crossover and start a married life of bliss, yeah right! Well whether you do or don’t like his lady of choice, this is not the question, as you’ve been bestowed the honour of being his best man and therefore the epic task of organising and finding bucks party ideas for the best bucks party. Now, if you’ve never tried to get a bunch of useless blokes together for a boys trip or something of that nature, then you’ll know it’s about as easy as winning triple jump at the Olympics without any feet. check out this great bucks party idea from Norway. Like any best man, you want an awesome but unique bucks party idea for your boy’s last hoorah, while keeping everyone happy, and don’t be surprised if this means the future wife or father-in-law, on the night. So if you want an epic bucks party idea and subsequent adventure that’s jam packed full of good laughs and whatever else you want it to be, then don’t ask the wife for help; simply have a read below. With these helpful bucks party tips and hints, we’ll have you prepared for pulling together a great day and looking after everyone who attends, even that one slightly weird friend in the group who’s really a nice guy but not who you want dating your daughter. 1. Pick A Time And Place Sounds simple but easily forgotten or left too late. Not everyone has a job or family commitment that gives them the flexibility to take off for a bucks party weekend, so determine the wedding date and work backwards. The more time you give guys to arrange time-off, then the more blokes you’ll have on the day. Plus, it gives people a bit of extra time to save up some spending cash for big bash. It might even be a good idea to leave a few weeks between the wedding and the bucks. This means the groom has time to re-grow any missing eyebrows or teeth replaced from the mayhem in time for the big day. Another added bonus is that the groom can sneak in another more low key get together with the boys on the week/weekend before the wedding. It’s important to speak with the Groom and pin down a list of 2-3 dates that works for the Bucks party. Also make a list of names and email addresses for the Bucks guest-list. And finally get an idea of the style of bucks party he wants, for example: a raunchy poker cruise with girls like something out of a Las Vegas strip club or perhaps a little more tasteful like a gentlemen’s game of cards with cigars and beer. IMPORTANT – It’s never too early to start planning the buck’s party and to gather as many bucks party ideas as possible. This means you won’t have problems booking the best venues, as well as having the biggest selection of topless waitresses, poker dealers and showgirls to entertain the lads at the buck’s party. 2. Contact All The Other Groomsmen Don’t be a hero and try to organise it all alone! Speak to the groomsman and use them to assist you in getting the initial bucks party ideas organised. As soon as you know what kind of day the groom wants for his bucks party celebration, start making enquiries to help you get all the info needed, including bucks party venues, bucks adult entertainment, transport, accommodation and any other special requests. It will also help you to establish a rough budget per person. Alternatively, you always contact a bucks party organiser (like the staff at Poker Deluxe) and have them take care of absolutely everything you need for the day, including bucks ideas and activities like poker, indoor golf, bucks cruises and most importantly your Bucks Party Strippers Then you can leave it all to someone else while you bask in the glory for having done a great job! 3. Make A List Of Who’s Coming Get everyone’s email, mobile or even connect via social media. Then create an event feature on Facebook, this is a great tool for getting the whole group on the same page and suggesting any bucks party ideas to make the day that bit more special. With all the guys invited and maybe a quick poll to see which of a few dates work best for everyone, you can really start locking in activities, further bucks party ideas and girls for the boy’s night out. Be sure to make a deadline for RSVP’s, so you can keep the ball rolling, but most importantly it will let you work out a budget for the bucks party. The difference between 10 to 20 guys can mean a big difference in what the group can afford. Its also a great idea to double check with the buck if there are any other guys he might want to invite that he had first forgotten or to fill up spots left by guys who can’t attend. 4. Book A Bucks Poker Package & Get Deposits Off The Guys Decide on the ultimate bucks poker party package and try to be accurate with the guest numbers, but you can always add any late additions closer to the date. Most bucks party planners do require a deposit to secure a venue, staff and any specific ladies you want to book for your event, so it’s never too early to start asking the guys to at least throw $50 into the kitty. By asking for it in instalments, you’ll get a much better response as guys don’t have to fork over the cash in one hit and will get you a better commitment to attend. This avoids the last minute chasing around for confirmations and cash. The best part about a Poker Deluxe bucks party is you can pay the remaining balance on the night itself, so you can still collect from the non-payers even when then rock up to party. 5. Remind The Guys Again & Again & Again 2-weeks before the Bucks send out a reminder to your email guest-list or event page with details of the celebration, include meeting points, starting times, key contact, , any clothing requirements or drinking penalties etc. And basically all that you have to do is pick any girls you want to entertain the lad’s and to show up on the day to send your best mate off in style!

As the famous quote goes, “Poker takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master.” It’s a very easy game to pick up the basics and once you know what you are doing it is a lot of fun! There is always a certain amount of luck involved so anyone can be the winner on the day. Poker Deluxe hosts corporate teambuilding and social poker nights for companies looking to reward their staff or clients with a fun night of entertainment. Usually held on site or in a function venue, coupled with drinks and some nibbles it is always a winning combination. There is a dealer on every table who runs through a 15 minute learn-to-play session prior to the start of the game so everyone is ready for the challenge. Then it is game on! Players try to take all their opponents chips to be the last one standing at which time they are crowned the winner. The winner will receive an engraved glass trophy and a prize, but most importantly will have bragging rights until the next event. You can see a full rundown of how to play poker in our poker school, but here is a summary: The rules are basically the same whether you’re playing at a live casino or a home game, except for home games a dealer must be selected if it’s being self-dealt. Do this by shuffling a standard 52-card deck (no jokers in play) and then deal each player one card face up. The player with the highest card will be the dealer for the first hand and once completed, will pass the deck and dealer button to the player on their left to deal the next hand. Pre-Flop The dealer shuffles a deck of cards and then starting with the player to their immediate left, begins dealing two cards face down to each player. Only deal one card at a time to each player and repeat this process. The player to the dealer’s left is known as the “small blind” (SB) and must make the pre-determined bet (small blind) regardless if they wish to finish playing the hand or not. The player in the “small blind” position is followed by the player to their left, known as the “big blind” bet. If the small blind were 10 poker chips, then the big blind bet would be 20 chips. The player to the left of the ‘big blind’ (BB) is the first player at the table allowed to look at their cards for free and decide if they wish to fold or play. If the player decides to play, they must at least match the big blind amount, known as a “call” or they can “raise” the big blind and increase the bet amount. The rest of the pre-flop betting round continues around the table with each player having to call, raise or fold to the current highest bet. Once the betting returns to the small blind, they now have the chance to either fold, call or raise the highest bet, keep in mind this player has already put some chips into the pot, so in order to call, the small blind must simply add the remaining chips to their forced initial bet. Regardless of the small blinds decision to fold, call or raise, the big blind is next to act. Even if the big blind’s initial forced bet has not been raised by another player in the hand, they still have the option to raise or if no other players have increased the initial big blind bet, then they also have the option to “check” and so no further betting continues for that round. If the big blind does re-raise (increase the highest bet), then action continues around the table as per a normal betting round with those remaining in the hand. If no other players end up calling the highest bet, then the player who placed it automatically wins the pot and no additional cards are dealt. If two or more players don’t fold, then the hand continues to the flop. The Flop Once all of the pre-flop betting has been completed, the dealer then burns (discard to the side) the next card on top of the deck face down. Then the next three cards from the deck are flipped face up in the middle of the table. These cards are known as the community cards and shared by all remaining players to combine with own hole cards to form the best hand. The small blind opens a second round of betting, which proceeds as a regular poker betting round. If the small blind folded pre-flop, then the action would begin with the first player still in the hand and to the left of the small blind. The Turn The dealer burns the top card from the deck and then flips one card only face up in the middle of the table as the fourth community card. The small blind opens a third betting round, which proceeds as a regular betting round. The River Again, the dealer burns the top card from the deck and then flips face up the final card in the middle of the table. The river card is the fifth and final community card. The small blind opens a fourth and final betting round, which proceeds as a regular betting round. Once all betting has completed, the remaining players make their best five card hands using the two cards in their hand and the five community cards. A player can use either one or both of their hole cards with any of the five community cards in order to make the best hand. The player who made the initial raise, and then subsequently called by the rest of the players, is the first to expose their hole cards at the showdown. The player with the best combination of five cards wins the hand. If you are looking for teambuilding ideas and a fun activity for your next social night. Please contact Poker Deluxe for more information.

Are you someone that is looking for fundraising ideas for your sports club? Finding unique fundraising ideas for your sports club is never an easy task. Many fundraising ideas are similar which can dampen the results that you can get from it. In this article, we will be going over reasons why Poker Deluxe is the single best fundraising platform that you can use to raise money for your sports club. Reasons To Choose Poker Deluxe: 1. Unique Approach. One of the main reasons Poker Deluxe is such a good option has to do with it being such a unique approach. Because it offers such a unique approach that you are going to be able to use to raise funds for your sports club, it is something that people are going to be interested in. By introducing a fundraising idea that most people haven’t heard of, they are going to be much more interested in participating. By sticking to the same tried and true formula with the same ideas, people are going to end up losing interest and they will not want to take part in it as a direct result. 2. Guarantee. Another reason you want to consider choosing Poker Deluxe to raise funds for your sports club is due to the guarantee that we provided. Poker Deluxe knows how effective the fundraising platform is. As a result, we are willing and able to offer a complete guarantee of $1,000 profit. This means that if you are unable to reach $1,000 throughout the course of the event, we will make up the difference on our own. Therefore, there is no risk at all by choosing Poker Deluxe to raise money for your sports club. You will be able to go in knowing that you are going to raise money for your worthy cause no matter what. 3. We Handle Everything. Another reason you want to consider choosing us to raise money is since we handle just about everything for you. Rather than having to run the fundraising task on your own, you are going to be able to have everything handled while you earn the funding that you need. Not only do you not have to come up with the fundraising idea on your own, but we do all of the work that is involved for you. 4. We Supply Everything. We know how important it is to have all of the right marketing material and all of the promotional material to have a successful fundraising event. This is why we take the guesswork out of the equation. We supply all of our clients with everything that they would need to succeed with their fundraising efforts. We provide everything from posters to other kinds of marketing materials needed to market your event. Along with this, we supply everything that you would need at the actual event including but not limited to the tables, cards, chips, prizes, and trophies. 5. Versatility. Another big reason we should be your preferred method for fundraising is due to the versatility that we can offer. We can adjust the event to meet the needs of your organisation and the size and scale that you are looking for. Regardless of whether you are looking for a huge fundraising event or a relatively small one, we will be able to accommodate your needs accordingly. Another good thing about the versatility we offer is the ability to alter the event based on age. We have events that can cater to any age that you are looking for. Having a fundraiser with a right amount of versatility is key to getting the most out of your efforts. 6. Proven. We have a proven platform that works. We know how important it is to offer something that is completely turn-key and something that has proven to be successful in the past. This is why we are able and willing to provide such a guarantee. We know that this fundraising idea and system that we have put together works. Therefore, we are both willing and able to offer such a solid guarantee. 7. It’s Fun. Not only are you going to be able to raise the funds that you need to, but it is going to be a fun time. Having an event that is fun is going to get all of your volunteers involved, and it will make it so that you don’t have to work hard to convince people to go to it or get involved with it. A lot of the times fundraisers become a chore because they are not fun at all. We have designed a platform that is fun for everyone involved which is why it is such an effective way of generating the funding that you need. Fundraisers rely on winning people over emotionally. By highlighting that emotional connection people have with an association or charitable cause, you can maximise the success of your unique fundraising idea. So that members and potential donors or sponsors can see the value of your fundraiser event, it is also important to provide your members and the general public with concise information about your organisation’s objectives and needs. Most sporting clubs and charitable organisations find themselves in difficult financial situations – more often than not, they are extremely under-resourced. Without adequate funding, sport and recreation organisations cannot operate at their desired level, therefore many kids in grassroots sporting associations are left without adequate resources. This means generating additional income is an important responsibility facing many volunteer-based committees. Sports clubs and charitable organisations are constantly under pressure to obtain funding. They operate in a society characterised by increasing expectations from members and staff (and their reluctance to pay increases in fees and charges), less government funding and a near-impossible task of securing any expendable cash of the general public. If these associations wish to provide the type and quality of services patrons increasingly expect (e.g. more comfortable facilities, special events), then income generated by the usual day-to-day operations (e.g. membership fees) will generally be insufficient. For most sport and recreation organisations, alternative sources of funds are required to expand the range of services and greatly enhance their quality. When discussing fundraiser activities, many people will tend to think about the usual tried (but not always true) traditional approaches. These normally include activities such as raffles or fundraising events (e.g. doorknock appeals, fun runs and selling chocolates door to door). However, there are a number of alternatives to these traditional approaches, which organisations may wish to consider as part of their yearly fundraising activities: · Poker night fundraiser or series of poker fundraiser events with prizes · Silent or live sporting memorabilia auction (Legends & Heroes) · Casino night · Team and event sponsorship · Trivia night · Coaching clinic by clubs players · Sausage sizzle · Car wash · Install a vending machine · Sell club merchandise · Rent club house for outside functions · Donations from members and local community · Record attempt by organisation · Walkathon, readathon, bikeathon · Fetes and market stalls · Buy a brick in the clubhouse Overall, we feel we are the single best fundraising platform for those looking to raise funds for sports clubs. Not only do we offer a completely ‘done for you’ platform that allows our clients to rake in the funds they need, but we provide a complete $1,000 guarantee which means that you don’t go home empty-handed ever. You are guaranteed to make money for your organisation every time which is the goal in the first place. We offer a unique fundraising opportunity that anyone would be interested in. That way, you can stand out and get people interested in supporting your event like none other. Instead of having to put in all of the work on your own from marketing to running the event, we handle everything for you. We offer the supplies that you need to market the event and to run the event effectively. We are a complete fundraising platform that is perfect for fundraising for sports clubs. Request a quote today, and you can be on your way of earning money for your sports club.

A wedding might be the biggest day in a woman’s life, but every man will tell you it’s his Tips for the Best Man: • Create an invite list – This is probably going to be one of the most crucial things you have to do as the best man. It might sound trivial and can easily be pushed aside when planning the day’s events. It’s best to start making the list first, so you can make sure all the guys attending the wedding are invited, plus any other close friends, colleagues and associates that the groom wants at the bucks party are available. A list will also let you work out what kind of activities, facilities, services and entertainment you want, based on the number of people and based on the budget. Also, let’s not forget that it’s not uncommon for the bride’s father and man mountain brothers to sometimes attend these things. So this is another reason (albeit for self-protection) why you need to speak with the buck directly and find out if this is the case and how it might affect or delay the start of the more saucy part of the night. • Don’t hold it the night before the wedding – Make sure you leave plenty of time to recover from the bucks party. Two weeks prior is usually a good time frame, allowing people to sober up, shrug off any injuries and give the body hair the groom may lose a chance to grow back. Holding the bucks celebrations on the same day as the hens party is a good idea. That way both partners will be out enjoying themselves rather than worrying about the other person. Unfortunately, this might make it tough for friends attending from interstate or overseas but enough warning gives everyone the chance to plan travel and take any time off work. The best part is: if one or two of the groom’s mates can’t make it before the wedding, it’s the perfect excuse to have a second bucks party! • Collect any cash before the bucks party – You don’t want to spend the bucks night collecting money from guys and then being remembered as the best man who ruined the night because you lost your wallet in the taxi, thanks to a pile of $5 and $10 notes that made it impossible to close your wallet like you were George on Seinfeld. So make sure you give everyone your bank details and a cut off date to make payment. • Pick and book your venue/s – It is always good to book a room for the main festivities, but if you decide to just hit the town and go to a few pubs or bars, it is worth calling them up in advance. Some places don’t like large groups of guys, so find venues that will happily accommodate you and avoid any potential queues. There’s nothing worse than everyone waiting half an hour and losing their buzz just to get in! If you need help with a venue, the team at Poker Deluxe can organising something no matter how big or small your budget… You can even hold your bucks on a poker boat cruise. • Don’t run out of alcohol – Perhaps the most important thing on the bucks night is that you don’t run out of alcohol! No matter how good the activities are, if you have free flowing booze, everyone will lighten up and have a good time! As the best man, it’s your job to have at least a little stockpile of drinks that can be called upon if the night turns into a big one – or in the emergency that licensed venues have called last drinks. • You can also try our friends at Liquid Infusion and have your drinks and cocktails completely catered for by professional bar staff in your home or private venue. • Plan for food during the day and night – Nearly as important, especially if your party goes all day and into the night. Even ordering pizzas to one of the venues can make sure some alcohol is soaked up so people are re-energised and ready to make the night great. • Look after the buck (kinda) – As the best man, it is your responsibility to make sure the buck gets home in one piece. So get him drunk, and make a fool of him, but don’t go overboard. If you can see he’s getting intoxicated quickly, sneak a few glasses of water into him, ensure he eats throughout the day and make sure he finishes the night with a dirty, greasy filled kebab. • Finally, pick fun activities for the bucks party guests – last but not least is the selection of suitable activities. A poker night with waitresses and professional female dealers is the perfect way to either start your night or as part of an exciting day. At Poker Deluxe we offer a range of bucks party packages, with something to suit everyone’s taste. We can even bring it all to you: the tables, chips, girls and more to create that casino buzz. Or we can help find the perfect venue for your bucks party. You can even have your bucks night in one of our associated strip clubs in Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide, with free function room, topless dealers and sexy girls all around for the ultimate bucks party experience. You can choose from tame to raunchy and anywhere in between; Poker Deluxe has it all, with a range of exciting and entertaining bucks night party packages that can be tailored to suit your needs. If you’re looking for other activities and tips for the big day, then here is a list of ideas from previous bucks parties we’ve held poker events for: prizes – silly gifts for the guys as they arrive or get knocked out of the poker tournament beer pong – a drinking contest memorabilia – t-shirts, hats and stubby coolers with an embarrassing picture of the groom boat cruise – why not combine it with a Poker Deluxe event and topless dealers/waitresses day at the races – wear your best suit, have a drink, a punt, see the pretty fillies, then finish of with a poker tournament at one of our partnered strip clubs racing – go-karting play golf – get in 18 holes and use a golf cart pimping pad – rent a house in the city or at the beach for a weekend away and we’ll come to you bbq – lunch and pre-drinks at one of the groomsmen’s house pub crawl – visit all the bars the groom frequented when he was single eat meat – go to a top steak restaurant paintball – shoot the groom and his mates in the $%^! go to the footy – dress up and go to the footy or cricket before a night out and poker cricket in the park – play your own one day cricket match with moustaches that would make Booney proud road trip – pile in the van and hit the road for weekend away. To find out more about holding a bucks party for your best mate, then contact one of the experienced staff at Poker Deluxe and you and your mates will have a night to remember. That’s all for now, so from everyone at Poker Deluxe, good luck at the tables and ‘may the flop be with you’

Corporate team building is all too often pushed aside for another day and can easily be forgotten about altogether. The trouble with that is team building is not only valuable, but a necessary activity for any company trying to attract and retain quality employees. Team building activities and corporate games can be used to celebrate company or individual milestones or to help staff bond and become a strong cohesive team. The company will benefit through increased levels of cooperation among staff of different departments and a feeling of accomplishing a collective goal for the team. Work tasks can become easier if everyone is on the same page and can eliminate competitiveness between colleagues, since everyone is working towards a common goal. Communication Team building exercises can dramatically increase internal communications of company employees in all departments, while also helping to break down perceived barriers between management and staff. A fun, well-organised and well-delivered team building event will do far more to improve the way your employees interact within your organisation; it will carry over into their relationships with customers. Knowledge, skills and techniques can be shared, practiced and improved through team building activities, so colleagues can see how other departments operate. Once every employee understands their associates’ needs, and gains an insight into other departments, then levels of communication will improve immediately. Commitment Commitment to your company, colleagues and corporate goals also improves with regular team building activities or events. Participation is key, because when everyone attends a company team building event, bonding on a personal level between employees occurs, strengthening your company. Team building results in everyone pulling in the same direction. By actually experiencing this feeling through team building activities, your team understands what can be accomplished when everyone pulls together. Collaboration You will see an increase in collaboration among company departments and employees after a successful team -building session. This is due to the new levels of communication flowing within the company and its employees. Barriers to working together will be reduced and obstacles to cooperation will be eliminated. Working together in team building activities helps your departments understand what each person needs from the other members of the company. Culture Your employees will have the opportunity to experience and put into practice the desired office culture during team building events. Through activities your business partners will experience the values of your company and also have the chance to use these values during the team building activity. By using these values with their co-workers, your employees will begin to understand your culture and values and why they’re important for success. Talking about culture is fine but actually experiencing it, makes your office culture a reality. May the flop be with you!

It’s with great pride and excitement that we can announce after more than 400 events around Australia, Poker Deluxe has reached our goal of helping various charities and sporting clubs raise over $1 million. Funds raised for sporting clubs have been used to buy new equipment, make upgrades to ageing facilities and assist their junior and senior teams with cost of travel to compete at regional, national and international events. In addition to helping grass roots sporting clubs, Poker Deluxe have also been able to assist many reputable charities, such as The Starlight Foundation, Queensland Flood Relief, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation, Variety Club, Movember and Sids and Kids. We worked together to raise much needed funds for medical research, support and treatment. On top of the $1 Million that has been raised, Poker Deluxe has also awarded over $750,000 in prizes to the players who have shown their support by attending their local sporting fundraiser or charity poker fundraiser. This staggering prize list includes over 250 x 50″ plasmas TVs, poker tables, JB HiFi vouchers, gold class movie tickets, chipsets, wine and, last but not least, over 200 Thailand and Bali holiday packages at five-star resorts. So not only are sporting clubs and charities benefitting, but so are their guests. We’d like to thank all the many clubs and people who have held their fundraising events with us, especially to those who have returned year after year, because without your support, we’d never have been able to reach this milestone. And finally, a huge thank you to the man who started it all from humble beginnings at Poker Deluxe, Paul Walvisch, whose vision, hard work and amazing team of staff and partners made it possible. So if you’re a sporting club or charity on the lookout for a new and unique fundraising ideas, then a Poker Deluxe fundraiser is just the thing to earn you a guaranteed $1,000 profit* and help us start on the next goal of $2 million raised! Thanks again to everyone and may the flop be with you.