Run What Ya Brung Poker Run Kicks Off Lake Of The Ozarks Shootout Festivities
Besides the timing of its annual golf tournament, which has varied from year to year, for the first time in the event’s 33-year history, the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, which always takes place the last week of August, kicked off with an event in early June as the third annual Run What Ya Brung Poker Run took place Friday on the popular Central Missouri waterway. And the consensus is that the decision was a good one.
Mark and Tiffany Maasen enjoyed the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout Run What Ya Brung Poker Run in their new 38-foot Renegade center console powered by triple Mercury Racing 400R engines. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp/Helmkamp Photos
“In my opinion, adding a Shootout fundraiser earlier in the season was the right call—the poker run was awesome,” said Mark Maasen, a longtime Shootout board member who owns Poly Lift Boat Lifts in Sunrise Beach, Mo., with his brother, Mike. “There were 30-plus boats in the run and we all showed up at the bars and restaurants together so that was a lot of fun. We can’t all do that in the big poker run.”
Maasen, who ran the new Renegade Powerboats 38-foot center console powered by triple Mercury Racing 400R engines he and his wife, Tiffany, recently took delivery of from Marine Concepts Motorsports, was referring to the annual 100-plus-boat poker run held on the Friday before the two-day top-speed Shootout weekend hosted at Captain Ron’s Bar & Grill in Sunrise Beach.
Organized for the first time in 2020 with hopes of encouraging boats of all shapes and sizes to join the fun, this year’s Run What Ya Brung Poker Run, which started with breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at Captain Ron’s and included five stops at Larry’s on the Lake, Nautifish, Paradise, Redhead Lakeside Grill and Dog Days, was designated as a fundraiser for the Jessica & Malachi Brazil Foundation—an organization that provides scholarships to children in foster care.
Check out the slideshow above for more images from the Run What Ya Brung Poker Run.
“When the idea came up (to move the event), it was because we were trying to keep everything from being piled on to the same week; there’s just a lot going on Shootout week,” Maasen said. “I think it was a great idea. Not only does it bring some boaters out a little earlier in the season, it’s also an advantage in terms of the volunteers and not burning them out. We already ask a lot of them during Shootout week so having one less event to staff helps.”
The new director of the Shootout, Leah Martin, said she’s excited to see the Run What Ya Brung Poker Run grow.
“We had a lot of fun raising money for a great cause; the event brought out boats of all sizes—we even had a couple of PWCs running,” said Martin, adding that the board moved the poker run—as well as the Great Shootout Treasure Hunt that took place Saturday evening at Captain Ron’s—into early June because the events appeal to families and that way more of them could participate since they don’t have to worry about school being back in session at the end of August. “It was exciting to see so many powerboats in the run. Thanks to Taylor Scism, this year’s honorary chair for the Shootout’s live auction fundraiser, we had a great group of MTI customers show up for the run.”
According to Martin, there’s still plenty of time to register for the Shootout’s larger poker run, which takes place Friday, Aug. 26, and is limited to 120 entries. Sponsored by Poly Lift Boat Lifts and Lakefront Living Realty Missouri, the run features eight stops. For more information and to sign up, click here.
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