Phil Peterson’s Key west Poker Run started some 41 years ago as just an idea to drum up some business during a normally slow time of year for his motorcycle business in Miami and Key West. Phil thought if he had a Poker Run to Key West in August and made an event of it, that would do the trick. Phil and a handful of local motorcycle riders, mostly from the Mustang Motorcycle Club decided to try it. The Run started early Saturday morning with sign up at the Miami Store, a ride to Key West hitting five restaurants or bars to draw a card and arriving in Key West in time to get cleaned up for the Awards Dinner, Dance and Bike Show. The best hands would win prizes and as an added attraction they had a Best Dressed Contest (where riders and their passengers would wear matching boots, pants and shirts with their helmets panted to match their bikes) so not only was the bike judged but also the riders we judged for the best looking couple and they were awarded trophies. On Sunday morning they would have a Field Meet showing off their rider skills and scored for different events i.e. slow race, roll a barrel with your front tire, ride over the teeter-totter plank etc. Competing for trophies) In those days there where small well organized riders clubs with a lot of camaraderie and friendly competition between clubs. Everyone would return home on Sunday afternoon and this went on for many years in the early days of the Poker Runs.
Today the Poker Run has grown into a major event with police estimates of ten to fifteen thousand riders. In the recent years it has managed to sell out all of the Key West Hotels with more and more riders staying on nearby Islands and traveling into Key West for the day or party that they want to attend. Drew Peterson, Phil’s son, now manages and promotes the Poker run and believes another way that we can grow this event is to make it a Key’s Bike Week with a Key West Poker Run. So this year the plan is to have motorcycle rides, events and attractions throughout the Upper and Middle Keys to attract riders to come and stay for the Week and Island hop. There are thousands of hotel rooms and places to stay thought-out the upper and middle keys. The idea is to ride down and ride all over the Keys for the first three or four days and enjoy many of the things you can do like, snorkeling or dive trips, fishing and fishing trips, kayaking, jet skiing, para-sailing and of course enjoying Paradise while eating, drinking and shopping. Then there is the Poker Run which will start one day earlier this year on Thursday. Poker Run stops will open on Thursday morning when the first stop Gilbert’s Resort in Key Largo opens at 9am. The run ends on Saturday at 5 pm in Key West at the last stop which is the Conch Republic. So far all of the first four stops Gilbert’s on Key Largo, Post Card Inn on Islamorada, The Island Fish Co on Marathon and Boondocks on Ramrod Key plan on having special events and parties all week long with each of them having one big party day in that week. You will find all of the hotel accommodations listed by mile marker and rates with phone numbers and e-mail addresses for all of the Keys by visiting Petersonsharley.com and clicking on the Poker Run link.
New this year, the Peterson’s are working with Yuengling to give away two new Harley-Davidson Motorcycles at their annual New Model Open House/Pre Poker Run Parties. On Saturday September 14th at Peterson’s Harley-Davidson of Miami and on Sunday September 15th at Peterson’s Harley-Davidson South one lucky winner at each location will win a new motorcycle or a $10,000 Peterson’s gift certificate.
Florida Powerboat Club members took part in the 27th Key West Poker Run, with the first departure from Haulover Marine Center and Grove Harbour Marina. The Key West Poker Run village will be event headquarters for the four days of the tournament, with daily entertainment and dining at the Conch Republic Seafood Company. There will also be daily powerboat excursions and fun runs so participants can enjoy their boats while exploring local waters. Stu Jones, leader of the Florida Powerboat Club, says he is “picking up all the pieces” following his epic Key West Poker Run that took well over 200 teams from Miami to the USA’s Southernmost city for six days of fun, sun and Race World Offshore ‘s Key West Offshore World Championships.
Again, the yearly recurring events in Key west will happen auto–magically as they do every year and as they are listed at Petersonsharley.com in the poker run link and in the agenda or programs. Events like the 6th Annual Upper Duval Crawl on ThursdayNight, Vendors Village on Green street on Friday and Saturday, Sunset Festivals at Mallory Square, The Hog Roast at Schooner Wharf BarFriday Night, Duval Street Party closed to motorcycle parking and foot traffic only Friday and Saturday, Rick’s / Durty Harry’s Bike Show by Big Bike Rider’s Association Saturday, Sloppy Joe’s Biker Beer Garden sponsored by Yuengling Beer, 19th Annual Blessing of the Bikes by the Christian Motorcycle Association, Biker Bash Pool Party at the Southernmost Hotel Collection all weekend, Biker Bloody Mary Brunch at the Southernmost Beach Café on Sunday. The main event is the awards for the best poker hands and the one game of Texas Hold-em for the New Harley-Davidson 883 Iron held at what used to be called Cowboy’s now under new owners it is called The Rose Tattoo Bar .
Again this year, you can sign up on line now for the Poker Run at petersonsharley.com or in person starting September 1st , at one of the Peterson’s Harley-Davidson Dealerships. You can also sign up in Key West at the Conch Republic Seafood starting September 19th and you can do the Poker Run in reverse or draw all five cards on the spot. Buy as many hands as you like and increase your chances. Sign up for the Poker Run is ten dollars a hand and you will also receive a discount price of five dollars for a parking band for each motorcycle. The band will give you free parking on Duval Street for the Friday and Saturday Street Parties. If you do not sign up for the Poker Run you will have to buy a Duval Parking band for ten dollars on site when entering Duval Street. All proceeds go to help local charities like the Diabetes Research institute and the Key West Rotary Club so sign up and help a good cause.
New this year is a contest for the Oldest Official Phil Peterson’s Key West Poker Run t-shirt with $500 going to the winner, time and place to be announced. There will also be the Furthest Traveled Contest the winner must have ridden their motorcycle the entire distance, to be announced at the final awards at 11 pm Saturday night.
Make plans to attend and enjoy this world famous annual charity event all for a good cause. Sign up and stay up with the latest updates on the Poker Run at petersonsharley.com
The post Key West Poker Run Evolves into Key West Bike Week appeared first on USRiderNews.
Decades ago, motorcycle rally organizers were looking for something to make their events more compelling for participants. The novelty of simply getting together a large group for a long ride had worn off. Organizers needed a bigger and better hook.
But what if, they surmised, the long ride had several stops and at each stop participants picked up a playing card before riding to the next one—all with the goal of coming away with best five-card stud poker hand in the group? And what if the holder of that hand—or the top three holders of the top three hands—came away with some kind of prize?
Would that add to enhance the fun of the rally? The answer was a definitive yes and the popularity of motorcycle rallies with poker-run format skyrocketed. So it was only natural they would find their way into the go-fast powerboating world, and that was exactly what happened in the early 1990s when Canadian Bill Taylor founded Poker Runs America and launched a series of events. By the end of the decade, Stu Jones, another Canadian who had immigrated to the United States, founded the Florida Powerboat Club, which launched its own series of poker runs.
Though Poker Runs America still exists and produces events, their popularity and attraction have faded. The Florida Powerboat Club is still thriving, though—as you’d guess from the name of the outfit—all of its poker runs are in the Sunshine State. But the larger poker-run growth segment of the last 20 years by far has come from local, volunteer organizers who produce events to raise money for worthy causes. From the three-year-old 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run in Upstate New York to the Boyne Thunder Poker Run, which will celebrate its 17th anniversary, one-off events are the hottest tickets in the poker-run world.
Poker-run newbies come with plenty of questions, as they should. What follows are the five most common queries from poker run novices—and the most simple and basic answers.
Poker Runs: Frequently Asked Questions
Is my boat big enough for a poker run?
A quick review of a website covering the high-performance powerboating world (such a speedonthewater.com, as a good example), would lead you to believe that if your boat isn’t at least 30 feet long it has no business in a poker run. And while there are a lot of the boats much bigger than that at most poker runs, smaller vessels are more than welcome at most events.
That said, shorter runs in protected water are a better fit for smaller-boat owners. The Florida Powerboat Club’s Key West Poker Run, for example, covers 200 miles, a portion of which is in the open Atlantic Ocean. For a 20-foot sportboat, that likely would be much too tall of an order. But the relatively short Old Hickory Poker Run, which is moving from Nashville to Chattanooga this year, on the Tennessee River would be ideal.
Is my boat fast enough for a poker run?
No matter what kind of powerboat you own, the answer is yes because poker runs are not races and were never intended to be. The more you get into the events, the more you’ll hear organizers emphasize this. Historically speaking, bad things happen when people start racing in poker runs. If you want to race, buy an offshore raceboat built for the job and join a circuit with the requisite safety assets for racing. Poker runs are social events on open public waterways. They are not races.
How much does it cost to enter a poker run?
Poker-run entry fees vary greatly from event to event depending on location, amenities and more. But expect to pay anything from $100 to $800 to enter. If you participate in a destination poker run where the fleet travels to a location and stays there overnight (or multiple nights) lodging and dock fees will be separate from your entry fee.
Is drinking allowed during a poker run?
All reputable poker run organizers strictly prohibit captains from consuming alcoholic beverages while the run is underway. That means captains are not allow to drink at lunch or fuel stops—“just one beer” is one too many, and if the offending party is caught in the act he or she will be booted from the event, and likely all future events, by the organizer.
As for passengers, they are generally allowed to consume alcoholic beverages outside of their vessels, meaning at the lunch stop. But as a captain, you absolutely have the right to tell your passengers not to drink—and it’s a solid strategy in the event something goes wrong during the day—during the event. As the person at the helm and responsible for the safety of everyone on board, the last thing you need is an inebriated passenger when it comes time to dock, much less respond to an on-water incident if needed.
Something else worth noting? Reputable poker-run organizers will require you to show your title and your current insurance policy when you register for their events. And while that can seem like “a hassle,” you should far and fast away from any organizer who does not ask for these documents, as that organizer likely is running an insured event.
Just one more thing: Wearing personal flotation deviceswhile underway is mandatory for all captains and passengers at all properly insured poker runs. If a poker run you’re considering has no such requirement, find another event to support.
Finding a Poker Run Near Me
At present, there is no master list of domestic poker runs. Here again, a search on an online portal such as speedonthewater.com or offshoreonly.com would prove useful. But here’s a quick list of 10 of the most popular poker runs in the United States:
Miami To Key West Poker Run Route Map
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Miami To Key West Poker Run 2020
Editor's Note: All photos by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.