What is the reverse raffle event?

That Picture has nothing to do with this post - but it was taken in the winter when we hold the raffle - so like it's cold and you need somthing to do during the winter right? Go to the raffle.

What is the reverse raffle event?

To start off it is a charity event that the tribe makes all its yearly operating funds. We don’t sell cookies or do car washes – just this one event and it’s actually a heck of a lot of fun.

It’s held in one of the party rooms of Guy’s Party center in Akron on waterloo road.. Most everybody in the area has been to a funeral I mean wedding reception at Guy’s. The ticket is $55/each but that gets you a lot and is really a value. Guy’s puts on a pretty good buffet meal with roast beast, chicken, potatoes/sausage, rigatoni, veggies, etc. They start you off with table service of salad and appetizers, then you hit the buffet, roast beast carving station, and after that table service with some type of desert. The food at Guy’s is generally above average for buffet and the selection is good. Also include is a full open bar, including beer (both bottled and draft), wine AND mixed drinks. Be careful they poor a good drink at Guy’s and if you want to drink be sure you have a non drinking driver.

Entertainment and dancing: Scott Summers (outstanding service award winner) sometimes brings his band or he sets up his DJ Stand. He does this professionally and is the local rep for Roland music so he has top notch equipment. Karaoke is sometimes on the program, and there is a dance floor. Scott can keep the crowd on the floor and knows how to work a room with music. Not too loud, not too soft and the right genre for the crowd.

There is a silent auction: Many of the tribes bring items, as well as we solicit local business to donate. If any of your tribe members owns a local business or works for local business please ask for a donation. Restaurants often give meals, auto places give car washes -even large corporations can donate.

IMPORTANT: Everybody should ask their employer to give a contribution. Even big corporations such as Goodyear and Microsoft have provided donations in the past.
The key is we as tribe members just need to ask. Also individual tribe members can put forth items. These donations are tax deductible.

The way the auction works is that throughout the first part of the night you can walk around and ‘bid’ on items that interest you. Generally the price value of the items range from $20 to $80. It’s called silent as you write in your bid on the auction sheet, up until the time the auction closes. Bidding on items is purely optional. If you win something its best to pay with a check/cash , yes we can take credit cards but it’s a pain.

SIDE GAMES: These are mini-game events. One or two mini-game poker type tables will be running. There a dealer gets five people together and does quick poker type games for prizes. Generally you pay $1 or $2 for each hand and the prizes change based on what we have to offer. There are also various raffle tickets being sold for various items as well as a 50/50 drawing where the winner gets 50% of the collection.

MAIN RAFFLE: The main raffle is a raffle but backwards. Your entry ticket has a number on it from 1 to 300. At the start of the main event we start pulling numbers and the idea is to NOT get drawn. Last number in the barrel wins. In addition, tickets drawn at various points also receive cash prizes. This prize points and amounts are shown on the program. The winner of one of these interim checkpoint prizes has an option of keeping the cash or having their number put back in the barrel.

As the numbers are drawn Vanna White will be there to mark off the numbers already drawn on a big numbers board, so if you miss something you can easily catch up.

Related to the main raffle is the “side boards”. The local lingo is “main board” for the main event raffle and side boards are side bets. We start selling side boards at the start of the evening. There are usually two side boards all having numbers from 1 thru 300, and we don’t start until we sell them all. Each side board sets up its own pool of money and the winners of the side boards win from that separate pool. A lot of people like to buy a side board or two as it increases their odds of winning. Side board numbers sell for $5, but we can change that amount based on attendance. Don’t quote me but I think the winner of a $5 side board gets $750. Side board number are a very popular prize at the poker table.

We also run bingo during the raffle. Walking around will be people selling bingo cards. As the numbers from the main raffle are called you fill up your bingo card. First person with a full card yells bingo and wins the bingo money. Bingo payout is determined by how many bingo cards were sold.

There is also the 11th number raffle. This is the most confusing thing for newbies. Earlier in the night will be somebody selling 11th number raffles. The winner of this raffle gets a very special main event ticket number 11. Number ll ticket only gets put into the drawing when there are 10 tickets left in the main board drawing. That means the holder of ticket 11 stands a 1 in 11 chance of winning first prize.

When it gets down to this final 11 the remaining ticket holders are called up. As it gets down to the final 5 the group has an option of splitting the money right there or go for it all individually.

One minor thing to note is that on your actual ticket there is a number as well as a stub for you to write in your name / phone number. The stub with your name is what gets turned in. You keep the big side of ticket and show it at the door for entry. Your tribe chief needs all stubs and money before the event. We put the stub with your name in a small bottle and that goes in the main event drawing barrel. We also try to print up a list so everybody knows everybody’s number as it is fun to heckle people as they are drawn. The number list only shows tickets sold prior to the printing of the list. Leftover main event tickets just for the drawing will be sold at the event I think they go for $25. We will be sure we have all numbers 1-300 sold before starting the raffle. Leftover main board are also a popular prize at the poker table.

Perhaps this is more detail than you need to know. It’s actually very easy once your there and flows well.

For $55 you get food, drinks, entertainment and an entry into the main raffle event. Everything else is optional,(but do please tip the bartenders.) All and all its actually a pretty good deal if you think about it. More important it is a really fun way to raise money for the tribe.

Look for me dealing at the poker tables. The event is Sat March 7th - 6:00pm

Big Dog

UPDATE: - I found some older pics from past raffles - enjoy