The Peppermill Legends of the Game Celebrity Tour has been a fan-friendly event ever since it moved to Reno from Sacramento in 2002, and
event organizer Scott Hampton plans to make it that way again. But if you want to mingle with the sports stars of yesterday, you’ll need to be a participant this year. “Last year we had people jumping over fences,” Hampton said, referring to the open-to-the-public golf tournament at LakeRidge. “(This year) we want to reward people who make donations to Evelyn. We want to figure out the right way, and not just let people run around the course. We want it to be a good experience for those who do play.” The annual event, May 29-31, pairs golf with poker and brings in more than 40 sports stars, including Gale Sayers, Vida Blue, George Gervin, Ken Griffey Sr., Curly Neal, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Larry Johnson, Jim Plunkett, Mike Rozier and John Taylor. Only four spots remain in the 40-team golf tournament, but there are still about 220 spots available in the 300-person poker tournament. Costs are $900 per person for golf, $200 per person for poker. “We need people for poker really bad,” said Hampton, adding that signing up more poker players is critical to his goal of raising at least $10,000 for Mount’s Community Outreach program. A golf foursome will be paired with a celebrity for two rounds of golf May 30 and 31 plus a pairings party at the Peppermill Resport Spa Casino on May 29.
The poker tournament, on May 29 and also at the Peppermill, will feature a celebrity at each table. Payouts will be based on the number of registered players, and any poker player who knocks out a celebrity will go home with the celebrity’s autographed shirt.