With January over, Coyote, the UK PropTech Association and event sponsors WSS Associates were keen to kick off February with a bang – by hosting their first ever PropTech Poker Night.
The aim? To host a first-class networking event for 40 PropTech industry professionals and at the same time raise as much money as possible for industry charity LandAid (more below).
So, the scene was set. The Coyote break-out room was decked out in full finery and looking like a shot from Casino Royale, tempting nibbles on hand and drinks flowing.
Andy Dyer, Coyote Co-Founder and Sales & Marketing Director, formally introduced the evening. Play then commenced on four separate tables, each with a croupier running proceedings.
Early speculation was that Coyote Head of Development, Greg Emes and Richard Belgrave of Leverton were the players to watch on table 1, with big bets being placed and plenty of trash talk!
Elsewhere, the room was awash with industry figures battling it out for the £500 on offer for first prize…Whilst enjoying a great opportunity to meet new contacts and catch up with old ones.
‘Half-time’ came around with the arrival of 30 pizzas from a local restaurant to give the players much needed fuel to push on with the second round of poker; but not before getting a chance to catch-up with those from other tables and re-charge glasses!
As pizza was eaten and conversation flowed, the microphone had to be brought out to get our attendees back to their seats in time for round two of play!
Players quickly dropped out across the room after blowing their remaining chips and before long we were left with an intense final table. Glasses were topped up, the crowd gathered round and suspense built as we entered the final show down of the evening…..
So, who made the podium at the end of the night when the chips were counted?
Shockingly, our very own Andy Dyer took the top prize of £500! “Fix!’’ we hear you cry?! We can promise the independent croupiers verified the winner and Andy took the prize fair and square.
In close second, with a superb effort, came Shan Walls of Hyre, netting a not-to-be-sniffed at £200!
The 3rd podium place was grabbed by MJ Mapps’ Costas Koureas, winning £100.
So, a great selection of winners, who all very kindly decided to add their prize money to the pot heading to LandAid. Many thanks, gents – very generous.
It was great to welcome Caroline Fraser from LandAid on the night to say a few words about the charity – and we were delighted that she ended up staying for the poker too! LandAid is the property industry charity and works to end youth homelessness in the UK – a cause close to our hearts. Caroline said: “Big thanks to Coyote, their clients and very generous sponsor WSS for making this event such a success and for raising much-needed funds. A brilliant idea and great fun!”
And a special thanks to Phil Lord and the team at WSS associates for their sponsorship of the night. Established in 2003, WSS are Real Estate recruitment specialists with a particular focus on PropTech. We hope to co-host more events in the future with Phil and WSS.
Oli Farago, Coyote CEO was thrilled: “On behalf of Coyote, WSS, UKPA and LandAid – a huge thanks to all that came and supported the night. We promise the next event is already being planned!”
The final donation made to LandAid was a whopping £1,500. Anyone wishing to add to the total can contact caroline.fraser@landaid.org
