Puerto Rican brothers Arthy and Alex Cruz have attended the Leverick Bay Poker Run so many times they’ve lost count.
They enjoyed it so much that they kept coming back as they event grew, and they estimated that this year’s visit was their 10th.
The brothers’ orange speedboat Seven Seas — a 42-foot Kevlar-and-carbon-fibre vessel that they said travelled from St. Thomas to North Sound in about 40 minutes —participated in the 14th annual poker run on Sunday.
According to co-organiser Javier Lopez from JL Marketing in Puerto Rico, 225 boats participated in this year’s event, with 185 poker hands sold.
“The poker run is one of the biggest nautical events in the Caribbean,” Mr. Lopez said. “It has been growing 15 to 20 percent over the years.”
Slow start
The event, which is not a race, started out slower than usual. A new safety measure was put in place after a collision last year sent seven people to the hospital, and for the first time on Sunday the contestants were required to follow a lead boat out of North Sound at a leisurely pace.
But after rounding a coral reef to the east of Mosquito Island, the boats throttled up as they passed under Sir Richard Branson’s new villa overlooking the sea.
A handful of sleek speedboats quickly shot ahead of the pack, roaring toward the first stop: Harbour View Marina in East End, where competitors drew the first of five playing cards.
They proceeded to three more stops — Scaramouche Restaurant at Sopers Hole; Pirates Bight at Norman Island, and Rendezvous Bar in Spanish Town — before returning to Leverick Bay in the late afternoon.
There, Javier Maduro’s full house with aces won $8,000 for the best poker hand, and other contestants were presented with awards in categories including best dressed crew and most original boat.
After the prize money was given out, the remaining $14,000 is to be donated to local charities.
In the region
For Arthy Cruz, who typically competes in four poker runs each year, the Virgin Islands’ event is among the best in the region.
“I think it’s the more interesting, and the biggest one in the Caribbean,” said Mr. Cruz, who is from Aguadilla on Puerto Rico’s west coast.
When he first competed in the Leverick Bay event, it was small, and Puerto Ricans were few and far between, he said. So he went home and spread the word.
Now the event — which drew 12 entries when it launched in 2002 — annually sees as many as 300 boats, many of which come from Puerto Rico.
One group who heard about the poker run from the Cruzes was competing for the first time on Sunday.
José Ponce, who is also from Aguadilla, came aboard the 24-foot centre-console powerboat Toin with his wife’s family.
“We hear from a lot of people telling us about the event,” said Mr. Ponce, adding, “We’re really with the whole family, you know: to have fun, go around the islands.”
They arrived in the territory on Friday aboard their boat, which bears his brother-in-law’s nickname: Yovin Vargas said his nephews call him “Toin,” mispronouncing tio, the Spanish word for “uncle.”
Businesses
Other boats participated largely to promote businesses. Beer Money, a Regulator 32 with an all-female crew, was advertising a new initiative by International Motors, which started selling Suzuki Marine engines in March.
“We’re just trying to get the name out there now because nobody knows about it yet,” said Captain Nicola Sorrentino, a third generation employee of the family business. “This was our first advertising thing.”
For Malkin Roberts, the Poker Run was a chance to show off Team Any Weather, a 1991 32-foot Mirage speedboat that he recently finished refurbishing.
“The boat was a shell,” said Mr. Roberts, a businessman who owns a car and jeep rental business. “I bought it from a guy in St. Thomas and fixed it up.”
He and Kiwana James, a banker who called herself the boat’s “first mate,” have participated in the Leverick Bay Poker Run in the past, but this was their first time on their own boat.
“It’s a different feeling, because you basically worked for your own vessel,” Ms. James said, adding that she pitched in with the refurbishing effort. “I helped with the design; I washed down the boat; I launched the boat.”
The work had paid off when they won three prizes at the BVI Exquisite Boat Show on Saturday at Village Cay Marina: best overall, loudest stereo, and second best interior.
Others came to Leverick Bay on Sunday just to watch the show.
Gregory Levons brought a boatful of children from Anegada, but he didn’t feel that his 22-foot Bertram was up the task of taking on the Poker Run.
“I came from Anegada just so I could bring the kids so they can watch the start, then we’ll go back,” he said. “Probably next year when I get my other boat sorted out, I’ll definitely be a part of it.”
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