Poker Cruises – Play Texas Hold ‘em On The High Seas

If you’re a poker enthusiast you’ve probably played poker just about anywhere you could hold a game. In dorm rooms, in military barracks, casinos, bars, backrooms, in the dingy apartment above the garage of someone named Jimmy Jackknife, and yet for a lot of you these days it’s mostly on the Internet in one of the many online poker rooms. We love playing online but admit sometimes the walls can begin to close in on you, especially during the winter.

The antidote? Book a poker cruise.

Even though a lot of people may still have the image of cruise ships as the last refuge of retired carpet salesmen and their wives, cruise lines have been steadily expanding and diversifying and offering cruises designed for certain demographics. And given the increasing popularity of poker, more and more tournament cruises are being added as well.

Even though just about every cruise ship offers a casino, poker themed cruises hold nightly games at a variety of limits, offer lessons, seminars, workshops and have been hosted in the past by pros such as Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker.

This year Carnival Cruise Lines held the 2009 PokerPro Challenge, a series of No Limit Texas Hold’em tournaments that took place during each voyage of the line’s 22 ships from May through October. The winners of the preliminaries will compete for a $25,000 cash prize during a six-day voyage in January 2010.

Carnival Corporation’s senior vice president of casino operations Rodney Dofort commented, “With the increasing popularity of No Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournaments throughout the gaming community, these events which combine the excitement of a high stakes casino tournament with the opportunity to enjoy an exceptional vacation experience, should prove highly popular.”

Carnival has cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Bermuda, Europe, and Alaska.

The World Poker Showdown also offers its WPS Caribbean Poker Cruise aboard the Freedom of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever built. This runs from April 25th through May 2nd 2010, and features nightly tourneys with buy-ins ranging mostly from $100 to $300, with the exception of No Limit Hold’em Event 4 which has a buy-in of $2500.

Cardplayer is another organization running cruises and will  host five in 2010, starting in March with a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise. They also have a Mediterranean cruise, and Alaska Cruise, as well as a cruise along the Mexican Riviera.

Our pick for the top upcoming cruise for 2010:

The World Poker Tour Boot Camp Cruise featuring Mike Sexton. The six-day cruise leaves from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and begins on January 17th, aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas. Besides Sexton, Nick Brancato and Roy Fuller  will also serve as instructors. Cruise fares start at $440 per person, and are based on double occupancy. The boot camp, which runs for two of the six days out, costs $1,895. Ports of call include Belize City, Costa Maya, and Cozumel, with the ship remaining at sea for two full days of nonstop poker at all levels.