There are fewer players in the game thanks to the current economy, but poker runs remain one of the best bets for performance-boating pleasure.

Originally published in May 2009 issue

By Matt Trulio

At around 11:30 p.m., Stu Jones, founder and president of the Florida Powerboat Club, surveyed the small crowd in the Marriott Biscayne Bay lounge the night before the Miami Boat Show Poker Run in February. A year earlier during the same event, the place had been packed till midnight and beyond with poker-run participants. But Jones remained optimistic about the coming poker run weekend at Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

“We had 20 boats go down today, and there will be, I think, 50 or so headed down tomorrow, so we’re not doing too badly,” Jones said. “Last year, I think we had 90 or 100 boats. We’re not too far off.

“What has been hard is getting sponsors,” Jones conceded. “That’s just where the industry is right now.”

For Jones, who makes his living through the club by organizing and hosting as many as 14 poker runs a year, that meant soliciting nonmarine sponsorships for the Miami Boat Show Poker Run. So this year, in addition to stalwart supporters such as Typhoon Service Center, sponsors included “nonendemic” businesses such as Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale.

Jim Nichols, owner and manager of Lake Racer LLC, which has put on the Desert Storm Poker Run the past five years, reports the same level of decline in participation and sponsorship. At press time, the Lake Havasu event in Arizona had 75 registered entries, whereas at the same time in 2008 there were 100 boats registered.

“The biggest challenge we’ve had this year has been the drop-off in sponsorships,” Nichols said. “A lot of the East Coast companies like Mercury Racing and Outerlimits have dropped out, and many West Coast companies just can’t afford it right now.

“We’re in fair shape—we’ve picked up sponsorships from Red Bull and Johnnie Walker,” he continued. “And a number of our participants are also offering up sponsorship money because they want to see the run continue. If we can come up with another $10,000 in sponsorships we won’t have to cut back on anything.”

Like Jones and Nichols, Bill Taylor of Poker Runs America said he’s seeing a decline in sponsorship support. However, he said his first run of 2009 in St. Petersburg, Fla., is shaping up to have roughly the same number of participants as it did last year.

“That’s because of all the new programs we have this year,” he said. “At the Vinoy (the host hotel for the St. Petersburg event), we’re going to have a display of exotic cars with nothing worth less than $1 million—these cars are way above the Rolls-Royces of the world. On Friday, Todd Werner will display his collection of famous NASCAR racecars.

“That’s the kind of stuff you have to do to attract people to your events these days,” Taylor added.

Overall, poker-run participation reportedly has dropped 20 to 25 percent the last two years. While that’s a substantial decline, boats are being filled with four or five people as opposed to just a couple.

The reduced size of the fleet at the 2009 Miami Boat Show Poker Run to Islamorada certainly didn’t appear to dampen anyone’s spirits. Although most of the participants fell under the category of “repeat business,” the event attracted a few first-timers, including Derrick Wachob, whose new MTI 44 Corvette-themed catamaran earned the club’s “Best Catamaran of the Run” award.

“We just had a good time with everyone,” Wachob said. “It’s a great event with great people.”

– Matt Trulio is a freelance writer for Powerboat.

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