St. Maarten: Paradise with Poker!

This column is being written from the beautiful island of St. Maarten. Although I have been to St Maarten many times during Card Player Cruises port stops, I have never spent a lot of time on the island. Now that I have spent a week here, it is my new favorite Caribbean island.

I am not just here on a vacation; I am here on a mission with Barry and Allyn Shulman of Card Player Media and Jan Fisher and Zack Lawmaster of Card Player Cruises. Our goal in coming to St. Maarten was to arrange a land-based series of poker tournaments at the beautiful Sonesta Maho Resort and Casino. After extremely productive meetings with Jurgen Bailom (Vice President of Operations for the Maho Group) and Jamie Lee (Vice President of Casino Operations for the Maho Group), I am happy to say, “Mission accomplished!” The newest stop on the Card Player Poker Tour will be held in St. Maarten April 24-May 3, 2015, and will be hosted by Card Player Cruises. The series will feature multiple daily tournaments with a wide variety of price points, supersatellites, cash games, and a $1,650 main event with a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool.

After spending a week here in paradise, I can highly recommend this venue to anyone looking to combine a great vacation with good poker action. We have arranged a rate of $140 per person double occupancy, or $190 single occupancy, at the all-inclusive Sonesta Maho Resort. This rate includes your room, your food, soft drinks, wine, alcohol, and even exotic umbrella drinks. The resort is located on Maho Beach, which is famous for airplanes that fly just feet over the heads of excited vacationers (there are some great videos on Youtube if you type in “Maho Bay airplane landings”). It has the nicest pool area of any hotel on the island and lots of daily activities like aqua aerobics, bocce ball, bingo, beer pong, beach soccer, dance classes, name that tune, outdoor movies, etc. If you want to bring your children, there is a complete kids’ activity schedule too.

Card Player guests lucky enough to attend the inaugural Card Player Poker Tour Caribbean stop will be treated to special amenities like VIP wristbands, a separate check-in area, and a private concierge lounge. There is also an excursions desk in the hotel lobby where guests can get assistance arranging activities like island tours, scuba diving, kayaking, snorkel trips, rhino riders, surfing lessons, swimming with the dolphins, sunset cruises, deep sea fishing, and catamaran sails.

The full-service casino is located across the street, but actually, it is only about 100 yards from the hotel lobby. The tournament schedule will include Survivor events, lots of mega-satellites, pot-limit Omaha, Omaha eight-or-better, no-limit, and all-in or fold events. You can find the full schedule on pages 4 and 5. There will also be a freeroll event for anyone who books by Dec. 31, 2014.

Even if you aren’t a tournament player, you will enjoy a great vacation in St. Maarten. The poker action doesn’t start until 1:30 p.m., which leaves lots of time to take advantage of all there is to do on the island.

If you are looking for the perfect holiday gift for the poker player in your life, this poker vacation is it! To book your room or for more information please call 888-999-4880.
Now, it’s time for me to get back to the beach!
Happy holidays. ♠

Linda Johnson is a co-owner of Card Player Cruises and is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame and the Women in Poker Hall of Fame. She is available to host poker events and seminars and can be reached at [email protected].