Cruisin' to Happiness and Fun!

Another year has nearly passed, and Card Player Cruises has once again been around the world. It often is hard to remain objective when talking about poker and cruising, and I certainly am biased when you consider that my life is totally consumed with both. By the time you read this, we will have returned from the last cruise of 2004, to Mexico. We are now busy trying to find new and better ways to keep the cruises fresh and fun. I am writing this from my cabin aboard the Carnival ship Legend, with the beautiful ocean off my balcony. Have I mentioned lately that I might have the best life in the world? If I haven't, I certainly should have. Reflecting back on 2004, I have so much to be thankful for.

Approximately 3,000 poker players and their families traveled with Card Player Cruises this past year. We even had some family reunions and parties. One frequent cruiser, Dana Forrest, brought three generations of his family with him. His parents, Evelyn and Harvey, were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and accompanied Dana, his wife, Mary, and their three kids, Elijah, Jeremy, and Brianna. Having all of those mouths to feed, Dana found it necessary to win the limit hold'em tournament aboard ship.

Poker on the balcony

The number of cruisers will increase dramatically in 2005, assisted in part by the PartyPoker.com Million IV that will be held on a chartered ship, as it was in 2004. And add to that the growth in poker in general. Hordes of new players are lining up to play poker everywhere, and everything from backrooms to modern, chic casinos are rolling out the red carpet to host the onslaught of players who continue to turn cardrooms into gold mines. Gone are the days when the small-cardroom manager wondered if he would be able to stay open. Now, his thoughts are turning to expansion and growth. The biggest problem in the poker industry today might be the recruitment of qualified staff. Dealers schools are popping up everywhere, and the scramble to hire those graduates is increasing.

On our Panama Canal poker adventure, we had some logistical problems that we hadn't previously encountered. We had too many players for the number of poker tables and amount of space we had! It was unreal. What business owner wouldn't love to be in the predicament of having too much business? Trying to find a way to help meet the demand, we did what anyone would do to find a place to spread a game: We had a game on the balcony of our own cabin! Usually, I share a cabin with one of my business partners, Linda Johnson. On this cruise, Linda invited those wanting the poker lessons that we offer to come to our cabin when no other space was available. All 12 of the tables in our poker room were in action and had lists, and there were no lounges on the ship where we could give lessons, so into our cabin came about a dozen poker wannabes. Linda gave them lessons and then spread a $1-$2 limit hold'em game – right on the balcony with an ocean view and an occasional sea gull flying by. Pictured in this column are those players, and the best dang view in the poker universe!

A few days later, I went to the cabin in the afternoon to take a nap. As you can imagine, all of that salt air and fun is very tiring. No sooner did I lie down than the phone rang. It was Linda calling to ask me to tidy up a bit, as the $1-$2 game was returning to our cabin! Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate this time, as it was windy and rainy. Not wanting to turn away those new players who were so enamored with the game, we put a beach towel on the small table in the cabin, lined the players up on the couch and on makeshift chairs, and dealt the cards! A fine time was had by all. Class dismissed.

As always, please contact me with your poker-related questions or comments, or with column ideas. For poker cruise information, go to www.cardplayercruises.com. Who knows, you might get to play poker in my cabin!