The first Ante Up Poker Cruise out of New York City is poised to be a big one, with more training, more tournaments and, for the first time, a few passengers will win their way onto the cover of Ante Up.
The Oct. 20-27 cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas sails out of Cape Liberty in Bayonne, N.J., spends two nights docked overnight in King’s Wharf, Bermuda, and has been designated an Ante Up Poker Tour event. Some of the highlights:
- The Ante Up Poker Tour series will include four multitable tournaments: a $100 survivor event, a $100 bounty event, the $400 Ante Up Team Championship and a $350 main event, the winner of which gets a personalized Ante Up Tour champion’s jacket. Single-table satellites for the main event will run frequently on board.
- The Ante Up Team Championship is a unique format, featuring teams of four with each teammate playing in their own flight. The top two players from each flight advance to an eight-player heads-up bracket, with the winning player earning the cover photo on the December issue of Ante Up Magazine for his or her team and their friends. Teams will be able to use timeouts during the heads-up bracket to strategize with teammates who are still in the event.
- Lee Childs returns for the fifth time as the on-board professional player. In addition to a free, two-hour intermediate strategy class, Childs plans three separate advanced strategy tracts (cash game, tournaments and hand analysis) for an additional 15 hours of instruction. Free Omaha 101 and Poker 101 courses will be offered as well.
The Ante Up Poker Room will be open more than 60 hours on the cruise, offering cash games of all types and limits and single-table tournaments. Guests also enjoy an open-bar bon-voyage cocktail party. Rates start at $699 per person based on double occupancy and are guaranteed through Aug. 2 or while supplies last.
Ante Up also has a cruise scheduled Dec. 2-7 out of Tampa, Fla., and will soon announce more cruises for 2014. For more information, visit anteupcruises.com and to book, contact Jeanne Cosenza at (727) 742-3843 or cruises@anteupcruises.com.
