Miami To Key West Boat Poker Run
22nd Annual Key West Poker Run:
Florida Powerboat Club ‘s premier event, the Key West Poker Run, will kick off on Wednesday with the first of two departure days from Miami to Key West, according to the group’s leader, Stu Jones. The event encompasses six days of fun, sun and speed.
The Key West Poker Run is November 4 -10, 2014! Boaters from around the world will be converging on South Florida to make the 170 mile run from Miami to Key West. Participants will race to several checkpoints throughout the scenic Florida Keys (including Key Largo, Islamorada, and Marathon) to collect their poker playing cards, refuel, and socialize.
- 2020 – 28th Annual Key West Poker Run- World Championship Offshore Races July 2, 2020 Florida Powerboat Club’s signature poker run event, attracts a global roster of participants and features scenic cruising from Miami to Key West, through the beautiful Florida Keys.
- The Key West Offshore Poker Run is an almost 400-mile roundtrip poker run from Miami to Key West. This year the event has over 200 poker run teams from all around the world that are participating.
- Key West Poker Run Florida Powerboat Club Staged in conjunction with the SBI world championships, the Florida Powerboat Club's Key West Offshore Poker Run took place during the same week. The event attracted a global roster of participants and featured a run from Miami to Key West through the Florida Keys.
- Miami Boat Show Poker Run. Spring Poker Run. Tampa Bay Poker Run. 2020 Key West Poker Run: Gallery 7 – Girls. FPC Winter Poker Run 2020- Episode 2.
The big thrill of the Poker Run comes during the final leg of the run, from the Bahia Honda Bridge to Key West. The performance boats throttle up and demonstrate their capabilities, many traveling at speeds well over 100 mph. Pace boats are present to maintain safety and helicopters fly overhead to record the excitement. Some of the fastest performers, such as Nortech boats, reach speeds so fast that the helicopters can’t even keep up with them!
Need a Boat for the Poker Run??
The 50 Nortech Roadster 2009 is your boat!
The owner of the 50 Nortech has been active in performance boating since the late 1970s. His current boat, the 50 Nortech Roadster 2009 “Gold Rush” is fitted with quadruple 1150 hp engines which, operating on 89 octane, run at an impressive 168 mph at 5400 RPMs. The life expectancy of these engines is much higher than most competitors because she is built to run on 89 Octane at lower RPMs. These particular engines currently have only 35 hours. Being a heavier boat, this 50 Roadster is safer to handle than much of her competition. The current owner is comfortable handling the boat at 125 mph with his family. For poker runs, at speeds in excess of 160 mph, a throttle man is highly recommended in addition to the driver. With her catamaran hull, she performs faster than mono-hulls in the calm waters due to more air lift and less drag.
“Gold Rush” is stored in an indoor garage in Southwest Florida. She is well maintained and operated at regular intervals to ensure she is meeting optimum performance. “Gold Rush” seats up to 6 passengers in her custom Connolly Leather seats. Her owner has had a change in plans and is ready to sell. All reasonable offers are encouraged!
Asking $695,000. Contact Joe Marino 954-328-2059 or joe@ayssales.com
Stu Jones, head of the popular Florida Powerboat Club, is resurrecting a poker run that dropped off the schedule a decade ago.
Known as the Spring Key West Poker Run, the event was once a quite popular part of the FPC calendar years ago, attracting more than 40 powerboat teams and featuring an agenda that was completely different to its sister event—the November Key West Poker Run. For 2020, the March 19-22 getaway will be back, with an entry roster of under 50 boats and a more laid-back agenda, according to Jones. It will include a visit to Boca Grande Key (“a place that we’ve been locked out of for over probably five or six years,” he says), and lodging at the Hyatt Centric Key West Resort and Spa. The four-day adventure will feature a Thursday departure from Miami and a Sunday return.
“I was waiting to see how we hit the numbers on the November run to Key West,” Jones told Powerboat Nation. “When we hit record attendance, I realized that key West is such a popular destination for boaters that it seems a shame that we would only go there once a year.”
Miami To Key West Poker Run
Jones says he’s committed to growing the Spring Key West Poker Run event for the foreseeable future. “It will allow participants to enjoy something that’s a little more casual and less stressful than its November counterpart, with slightly better rates, not as much demand and competition for dockage and marinas,” he says.
Jones said one major highlight of the spring run will be the opportunity to take his club members on an organized fun run to Dry Tortugas National Park, including Fort Jefferson, the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas. “It’s one thing that we’ve never done in our club’s 27-year history,” he says. “Everyone asks me about it during our November run, but there have always been too many moving parts, too many other things happening. But the spring run will have a completely different, more relaxed format, and with an extra day, we’ll have the opportunity to take optional local boating trips.”
Meanwhile, Jones is about to embark on his group’s Winter Poker Run (Jan. 24-26), which will take them from North Miami to Faro Blanco Resort on Marathon Key.
Jones said that one consequence of his group’s growth and success has been that members need to plan further in advance. “There’s no such thing as a last minute booking anymore,” he observes. “You can’t just call me a week before the poker run because the weather looks good and say you want to go. It doesn’t work like that anymore.”
The new normal, he explains, suggests that members start planning their poker runs at least 120 days out, with a 60-day deadline that locks in the lowest event and hotel rates. “At the 30-day deadline, rates go up and there’s no guarantee that the participant will get the room or the slip that they request,” Jones says.