Florida Powerboat Club 2023 Season Kicks Off With Winter Poker Run

Think of the Florida Powerboat Club’s Winter and Spring poker runs as the organization’s “boutique” events and you won’t be wrong. Both happenings cater to those members who prefer smaller groups to the club’s bigger-tent events such as the upcoming Miami Boat Show Poker Run, Emerald Coast Powerboat Week and—of course—the annual Key West Poker Run.

Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones led the Winter Poker Run Fleet to Key Largo in his Flight 1130 Cigarette 38 Top Gun powered by twin Mercury Racing 565 engines. Photos courtesy/copyright of the Florida Powerboat Club.

Case in point, last weekend’s Florida Powerboat Club Winter Poker Run attracted just 20 boats. The group departed Grove Harbour Marina in Coconut Grove on Friday morning for the Playa Largo Resort in Key Largo, an upscale destination in Marriott’s “Autograph Collection” of properties. As if on cue, according to club president Stu Jones, the morning clouds were gone “like a miracle” just 20 minutes after the run began and skies stayed clear throughout the weekend.

From there, participants could do as much or as little as they wanted during weekend.

“Like our spring event, the Winter Poker Run to Key Largo features a casual format giving participants more time to plan their own activities and outings,” Jones explained. “But the club still maintained ‘group meeting places’ like the Sole By The Sea restaurant, overlooking the resort’s small but functional marina.”

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Enjoy more images from last weekend’s Florida Powerboat Club event in the slideshow above.

Jones added that warming temperatures made Saturday ideal for a day-trip through the “less-traveled Marvin Adams Cut,” which connects to Largo Sound and then to the Atlantic Ocean. Once they reached the Atlantic, club members who opted to make the trip enjoyed “a rough but adventurous romp in choppy seas” for about for 13 miles to Islamorada, which is home to the Postcard Inn.

“The Postcard Inn welcomed the club for a two-hour stopover, which gave participants a chance to enjoy the Tiki Bar and the Raw Bar for a pleasant outdoor lunch,” Jones explained. “This same venue will host the club for the entire weekend on the upcoming Miami Boat Show Poker Run, an exciting change to the club’s agenda. The Holiday Isle Resort, which became the Postcard Inn years ago, was the original destination for the Miami Boat Show Poker Run.”

The fleet returned to the Playa Largo Resort in the late afternoon. An outdoor wedding on a patio overlooking the marina was just getting started when the group arrived.

“The best part?” Jones said. “The bride chose to have several photos taken out on the dock with the shiny, colorful Florida Powerboat Club fleet as a backdrop.”