Perth Poker Run

JUST WOW!

We are blown away with the response to our post about the 2027 Poker Run.

186660 views, 400+ new followers and over 1000 responders in 7 days.

We are very happy and very nervous. Nervous about just how many cars might turn up. We are already looking for a venue which can accommodate a bigger us. I guess we might look again at having an early bird booking service to ensure parking for our returning Poker Runners.

Thanks for your comments, suggestions and offers of help. Please keep them coming - an idea which arrived from Ambassador Car Care was to provide a special parking area or tent for newly built or restored cars.

We will definitely do that, I hope that encourages our car builders to finish their project by March 7th.

We will provide an additional trophy category for these cars.

The first suggestion for this trophy is FARM FRESH.

Can you come up with some alternatives please?

Does WA really need another car event?

We think so.

So after a gap of 5 years we will run the Perth Poker Run again in 2027.

Same guiding principles -

1) All proceeds after costs to a WA children’s charity. This time is Variety WA.

1) An event solely for pre 1978 hot rods, classics, daily drives, cars, vans, trucks, utes, pick ups and bikes. Absolutely no hoons.

2) A morning meet up for coffee and a show n shine.

3) Trophies for Best Poker Hand, best classic, best hot rod, best pickup, people’s choice and others.

4) A mystery cruise of around 2 hours to find checkpoints to collect cards for the poker run prize. Interlocking routes to see other poker runners who may also be lost.

5) A route designed for easy cruising for you guys who always have an eye on the temperature gauge.

6) A destination with grass and food & drink.

Watch this page for details and get your mates to subscribe.

At this stage we only have 2 pieces of info - it is a pre 1978 event only and it will be run on Sunday 7th March 2027.

Cheers RayRay

Thanks to Tania D for this awesome photo on the Kwinana Hwy.

Many thanks for those wonderful people who braved the weather and came to Big Al’s Breakfast last Sunday. The event was held to recognize and celebrate the legacy of Al and his Poker Runs.

We raised $2604 for Variety childrens charity WA from merch sales, donations and car entry. That is an amazing result considering the conditions.

In response to many comments on the day, we have arranged a 2nd breakfast at Valley Social in the warmer & drier month of November.

We will post an event here on this page in a few days. The same format will repeated - a breakfast show n shine for pre 1978 cars and then a coastal cruise down to Freo.

These photos show we did get some gaps in the weather, but we did run a couple of times for shelter.

We had a really good time this morning at Valley Social - many old friends of Big Al turned up including old school friends, workmates, sponsors and lovers of his past Poker runs. There were many stories being retold.

Unsurprisingly numbers were lower due to the winds and wet, so special mention must go to Kim who turned up in his open sided hot rod. Way to go Kim. On the plus side, there wasn’t much of a problem with dust.

It was fantastic to see many Poker Runners who were there in the 1980’s and 90’s, I guess the older you get the less sleep you need. So a big thank you for getting out of bed on one of the worst winter mornings we have had.
(For our international followers - it is deep winter in West Australia so a wet and chilly 15c). Maybe we should have given out medals for attendance.

I think almost $2000 was raised today for Variety WA children’s charity. I say think because mains power failed around 9:30am and we were unable to get a total from the efpos machine for the merch sales.

So mission accomplished. We remembered Big Al, we raised funds for children in need and we had a great time.

Now we have had a successful trial run at Valley Social, we can plan another on a drier day for those who stayed in bed.

It’s on. The volunteer team are on their way to set up. See you there.

BIG AL’S BREAKFAST IS ON.

Hi everyone, we have received several messages asking if Big Al’s Breakfast is still going ahead in view of the weather forecasts.

The answer is a resounding YES. We will be there…

Valley Social has a great event arena with UNDERCOVER seating and tables which can accommodate 300 people. They have crafted a menu for us and have additional coffee machines to provide a swift service.

We will have a merch desk selling what we have left from the 2017 ‘One more time for Big Al’ Poker Run. The list includes t-shirts, key rings, car stickers and limited edition signs.

We are hoping for another accurate weather forecast like we had today.
A brilliant sunny day, I even saw a Mustang convertible on the Hwy with his top down.

However today’s BOM forecast was fronted by an image of a black cloud with rain, the words said 75% chance of 8mm. They were not wrong, it did rain but not 75% of the day. If it does rain, we will be under cover.

Now we understand you might not want to bring your t-bucket to the show n shine, so if you prefer come in your daily drive have a great breakfast, meet old friends, support Variety and remember our old mate Big Al.

See you there.

Very important news

Yesterday the volunteer team went to the Valley Social venue to finalize the set up for Big Al’s Breakfast and taste test the food for you.

Our verdict was - their food is amazing!

The venue too is fabulous - we have the entire arena and external covered patio donated for our private event. Thank you Glenn & the team on behalf of Variety WA.

Here are some food pics of their muffins and breakfast burgers. They will also have 5 coffee machines manned to quickly give you a winter warm up.

Now we need your help.

We need to know approximate numbers for the chef.
Given the expectation of 180 cars (300 people) we want to ensure there is enough food available.

If you are coming to Big Al’s Breakfast please reply with a 👍🏽 for each person who wants feeding. That will help enormously. Thanks.

Just a reminder - entry to the event is $20 per car.
Enter via a marked private lane next to Valley Social.

Pre 1978 cars enter the arena - other cars in the marked car park. Proceeds to Variety WA.

See you next Sunday.

See you next Sunday 31st May in Valley Social for happy memories of Big Al.

Pre 78 car event - please bring cash for the gate - a fund raiser for Variety WA.

We have spent the morning in the store looking for the remaining merch from the last Big Al’s Poker Run held in his memory in Feb 2017.

So far we have found about 20 sets of playing cards, 200 yellow plastic caps for star pickets, 400m of bunting and these lovely treasures in the photos.

We have the last 4 photo albums featuring 100 colour pages of that 2017 event. Three of them with Hottub on the front cover and weirdly one album with Butch & his gang.

There are 50 t-shirts, 40 key rings and various signs and 5 limited edition panels featuring that huge banner that greeted poker runners at each event from 1997.

We will be raffling some of these items at the breakfast and selling the remaining merch to raise funds for Variety WA.

Tomorrow we look for more treasure in the other store. Send me a message if you want some free picket caps or bunting.

BIG AL’S BREAKFAST 2026

Incredibly it’s been 10 years since we lost Big Al in June 2016.

In his memory and his fabulous Poker Run we have organized an event to remember his legacy and raise funds for Variety Children’s Charity WA.

Join us for a nostalgic breakfast featuring hot rods and pre 78 classics.
Any make, colour, condition is welcome so long as it’s legal and registered.

On Sunday 31st May at Valley Social we come together to honor Big Al’s accomplishments and celebrate what would have been his 75th year and possibly the the 45th annual Big Al’s Poker Run.

The great team at Valley Social have donated their function space so we can display our cars in a special dedicated area and they will be providing (at your cost) a range of Big Al’s breakfast specials and coffees.

There will be an entry fee of $20 per car with all proceeds going to Variety WA in keeping with Big Al’s practice of donating to children’s charities in WA.

We are expecting about 180 cars with many returning Poker Run supporters, so pull out those old t-shirts, bring your trophies from the past - display them on your dashboard and enjoy a warm community breakfast, share stories and admire these timeless machines.

Whether you’re a die hard enthusiast or just curious, come and relive the golden era of WA motoring with us. Mark your calendar - bring a friend or the family and celebrate Big Al’s passion.

Details :- Sunday 31st May - gate open at 8am close around 10am.
Address:- Valley Social. 8731 W Swan Road, Henley Brook.
It’s about 5k north of the Reid Hwy.

If you are interested in a post breakfast coastal cruise give us a 👍🏽by return and we will see if there is sufficient demand.