On October 3rd, SEPA celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a huge casino party! Think Vegas, baby. Cards, games of chance, slight of hand, and of course, your favorite Southeastern Chapter members crooning the night away. SEPA transformed the velvet beauty of the Four Season's Catering Hall into an unforgettable night on the strip... Vegas attire was admired, but not required.

Players were given SEPA's 20th Anniversary funny money with which to purchase their gaming chips. Lessons were provided during the night. Members met for an evening of bidding, betting, wagering and winning! Members also enjoyed a magician and "SEPA's Night at the Races" where the vendors were given a horse. The members placed bets on the vendor's horse. If their horse won, they won a prize.

The grand prize was award to the person who accumulated the most chips. Towards the end of the night, it appeared as if Mary Sharp would take home the grand prize after she amassed over $5,000 winning the Texas hold'em tournament. Mary was quoted as saying "those rookies didn't see it coming".

Mary Sharp took her winnings to the craps tables and gave Mike Hofkin (Raeann Hofkin’s husband) a run for his money. Mike pulled ahead betting thousands of dollars at a time on the dice. It was getting late, so Mary gave what was left of her winnings to Alicia Milligan to keep the competitive pressure on Mike.

Mike and Alicia continued to make outrageous bets. After all, it wasn't their money!! At this point, Stacey Hart throws in the towel. With only $5,500 chips and only 30 minutes to go, she realized she couldn't possibly catch up to Mike or Alicia since they obviously had 3 times as many chips.

But wait!

The dealers talk Stacey into betting all her money on a one time roll; something that pays $15 to $1 and only an 18% chance of winning. The dice were rolled

Stacey's number hit!! Stacey won $82,500 chips!!! Stacey's total accumulated "funny money" wealth was $88,000 chips. She walked away with a big smile, a few balloons, and the huge grand prize!! She left Mike and Alicia dumbfounded, confused, and scratching their heads in disbelief.

Alicia refused to give up. She decided to bet everything on the roll of the dice. However, she was not as lucky as Stacey and she lost it all. Lesson learned, you win some you lose some, but you will never win if you don't take the chance!

Thanks to Russ Walker from Ultimate Software, Ken Meeker from Kronos, and Tim Mower from Accounting Principles for their support at this event. A huge "thank you" also goes out to all the committee members for planning the event! Events such as this would not be possible without the support of our vendors and our volunteers!