Poker and Adventure Racing: Together at Last
So: when was the last time you rappelled down a 200-foot waterfall?
Adventure racing is incredible. It really is. The stamina and the willpower it takes to be an adventure racer - to complete a hundred-mile mountain bike race over a mountain pass in the pouring rain, or a 25-mile kayak in rising ocean chop, or a 200-foot rappel down a deep canyon waterfall - is beyond most of us; it takes a physical endurance and a mental strength most people just don't have.
Unless, of course, they're a poker player.
Team Santa Fe Adventure Racing - Adventure Racing
Team Santa Fe is an inspirational nine-member team of athletes from Santa Fe, New Mexico who have tackled - and won - some of the most grueling, multi-sport adventure races in the world. Team PokerJunkie.com... well, some of us might have a hard time running from the cab to the poker table.
So at first glance, the connection between the two - the rugged, outdoor adventure racing and the sedentary, indoor, food-serviced game of poker - seems tenuous at best. How can you compare playing cards at a casino table or in front of a computer at home to the primal, grueling, multi-sport animal known as adventure racing?
Well, you can't. Exactly. But you can draw some parallels. And whether you believe those parallels to be true, we're proud to sponsor Team Santa Fe Adventure Racing anyway - we think we have a lot in common, and are happy to support another group of people committed to the ideals and the growth of a lesser-known sport.
Special "Sitting Down" Endurance
Here's where we think the two great sports - adventure racing and poker - intersect. With long sessions ending late and little sleep, a poker tournament can put your endurance to the test. Staying focused on your game for hours upon hours, without losing any concentration, involves its own particular form of stamina. Facing repeated adversities without losing patience is what separates the good poker players from the great. Are you with us so far? We hope so. Seriously, we're not trying to equate the physical demands of adventure racing with a poker tournament. But it is very true: the mental battle is critical to both, and just like adventure racing, critical strategic decisions must be made by exhausted competitors under immense pressure - with constantly variable circumstances to adjust to and overcome.
Taking the baton from Team Santa Fe Adventure Racing
We find Team Santa Fe Adventure Racing to be an inspiration. Not just for their athletic accomplishments, however impressive they might be - a first in the Horny Toad Hustle Expert 50+ for founding member Jan Bear, a first in the Quest for Fire Adventure Race for the Women's Team to name just two - but for their commitment to growing the sport of adventure racing and helping others at the same time.
Ten per cent of all their sponsorship money is shared with charitable organizations, and since the founding of Team Santa Fe in 1998, they've made donations of more than $6000 to organizations as diverse as the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the ASPCA.
PokerJunkie.com is excited to be a part of that, and excited to continue our sponsorship with such an inspiring team. And who knows? As the demands of poker become more and more grueling, and a healthy exercise regimen and diet seemingly more and more essential to maintaining an edge in the hyper-competitive poker world, you may just see us out there rappelling down the waterfall with you.
Congratulations on all of your incredible accomplishments Team Santa Fe. We look forward to seeing you succeed again and again in the future.
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