ACES CAR CLUB POKER RUN
Words: Anna Marco
Photos: Mike Basso & Alan Zusman
Southern California is the birthplace of hotrodding and the Aces Car Club offers many fun activities such as their Aces Poker Run to promote this lifestyle in today’s era of hybrid vehicles.
The Aces CC
The Aces are a traditional hot rod club founded in 1952 by Bob Hill, Sr. The club is open to owners of pre-1965 hot rods and vehicles that emulate hot rod culture of the 1940s to early 1960s. In 1995, Bob Hill, Jr. decided to resurrect the club his father founded in Bellflower, California, and today the Aces Car Club continues to support and promote events aimed at preserving the history of hot rodding. The Aces CC has chapters in Europe and Nevada and the European club hosts the Aces Alpine Run as well.
Poker Run
The Aces Poker Run is a combination of a reliability run and poker game in one. What started out six years ago with 75 cars, has now expanded to 200 vintage cars and motorcycles. This poker run is an offshoot of the now defunct Ranch Run from San Diego. Today, everyone participates in a 5-card hand, 50-mile hot rod poker game that snakes through picturesque Trabuco Canyon, California.
The game starts and ends at O’Neil Park and during the zigzag route, all players get playing cards (from four different stops: main road, Majestic Canyon, Silverado Canyon and Lake Irvine) with the last card obtained when they complete the course back at the park. The top eight winning hands get door prizes and there is a celebratory barbecue afterwards. In the evening, rodders and vehicles can stay overnight for a campout, if desired.
This event has lots of support from individuals and car clubs alike such as the Lifters, Gearheads, Shifters, Cavaliers and Burbank Choppers. Bob Hill, Jr. jokes, “The cards are marked so there is no cheating. One year Sammy ‘Godfather of Rat Rods’ Vildasola rolled in with an impossible winning hand of five Aces from a four Ace pack so that’s not going to happen again. He’s The Joker himself.”
Hot Rod Community
The Aces make no profit from this event. The entry fee covers the food, dash plaques, and ancillary items needed for the show. The club states that the event was started for the hot rod community to celebrate driving their cars. It’s a cruise along with fun and camaraderie.
The date for the next event is November 5, 2016. They also do the Resurrection Show in May. See www.acescarclub.com for details.
