BLACK PEARL SEAFOOD CHOPHOUSE POKER RUN
—days
—hrs
—min
Register Your Boat
Black Pearl boat and compass mark
The first annual

BLACK PEARL
SEAFOOD CHOPHOUSE
POKER RUN

Speed · Style · Sound
Danfords Hotel & Marina · Port Jefferson, NY Sat Oct 3 — The fleet arrives and docks. Brunch, then the Welcome Party with live music.
Sun Oct 4 — The Poker Run. Push-off at noon, the $10,000 hand, awards ceremony. The Black Pearl is open to the public all weekend — no boat, no ticket and no invitation needed.
Register Your Boat No boat? The harbor is open all weekend →
National Powerboat Association Presented by the National Powerboat Association
The film
Seventy-five seconds

Watch the run

Sound on. Two classes across the Sound — the full sixty-mile course for Open Class boats, Milford and back for Class A — five cards, and one hand worth ten thousand dollars, hosted by the Black Pearl Seafood Chophouse and produced by the National Powerboat Association.

$0
Best hand takes it
60miles
5cards

A poker run across the Long Island Sound. Pick up a card at every checkpoint; the best five-card hand at the awards ceremony takes ten thousand dollars.

Open Class: Port Jefferson → Milford → Norwalk → home  ·  Class A: Milford and back

Two courses across the Sound

Draw at every checkpoint. Play the hand you ran.

Where the cards are dealt

Three docks, one hand

Stop 01 · Start & finish

Black Pearl
Seafood Chophouse

Danfords Hotel & Marina · Port Jefferson, NY

25 East Broadway, Port Jefferson, NY 11777

40°56.87′N  073°04.12′W

The restaurant Danfords Open in Maps
Stop 02 · Connecticut

Dockside Brewery

On the Housatonic River · Milford, CT

40 Bridgeport Ave, Milford, CT 06460

41°12.02′N  073°06.44′W

docksidebrewery.com Open in Maps
Stop 03 · Connecticut

Norwalk

The western turn · Norwalk, CT

Host dock to be confirmed

Coordinates to be announced

Leg 1 Port Jefferson → Milford — out of the harbour and straight across the Sound, then up the Housatonic to the brewery dock 15.4 nm17.8 mi
Leg 2 Milford → Norwalk — back down the river and west along the Connecticut shore, standing off Stratford Point and Penfield Reef 17.8 nm20.5 mi
Leg 3 Norwalk → Port Jefferson — out of Norwalk harbour and back east across open water to the dock you left 18.4 nm21.2 mi
Total Three stops, one hand, home before the awards ceremony 51.6 nm59.5 mi
Short course Class A — boats 18′ to 28′: the same crossing to Dockside Brewery and the same draw at the dock, then straight home to Danfords  
Out Port Jefferson → Milford — across the Sound and up the Housatonic to the brewery dock 15.4 nm17.8 mi
Back Milford → Port Jefferson — back down the river and straight across to the dock you left 15.4 nm17.8 mi
Total One Connecticut stop, then home 30.8 nm35.5 mi

Both courses are measured along a navigable track between the docks — about sixty miles of water for Open Class, thirty-five for Class A. The committee sets the final course, the checkpoint positions and every berth at the captains’ briefing; see the whole run on one map.

TWO CLASSES.
TWO COURSES.

If you have a boat, you can register her — there is no invitation to wait for and no list to get onto. The fleet runs in two classes, split by length, and both run at the same time — the bigger boats take the full course, the smaller ones the first leg and home.

Open Class
Boats 29′ and up · the full course

Sixty miles — out across the Sound to Milford, west along the Connecticut shore to Norwalk, and home. A card at every dock; any missed on the course can be picked up at the finish.

Class A
Boats 18′ to 28′ · the first leg

Thirty-five miles — straight across the Sound to Dockside Brewery in Milford and back. Same hand, same awards ceremony, same harbor waiting for you.

National Powerboat Association badge Produced by the National Powerboat Association — running the Northeast's rallies since 1976.
Register Your Boat
Two days on the harbor

The weekend

Saturday · 12 PM

The fleet arrives

Boats launch and dock at Danfords, and the registration and merchandise desk opens. Walk out onto the deck and the boats are right in front of you. Open to everyone

Saturday · 1 PM

Brunch at the Black Pearl

Food and drinks à la carte. Reserving a table directly with the Black Pearl is strongly recommended if you want to sit with your crew. Open to everyone

Saturday · 5 PM

The Welcome Party

The registration desk closes for the day and the party starts at Black Pearl Seafood Chophouse: food and drinks à la carte, live music. Open to everyone Who's playing →

Sunday · 9–10 AM

Registration

The desk reopens at 9. Last call to register for the run is 10 AM. Entrants

Sunday · 11:30 AM

The drivers' meeting

Mandatory for every registered boat. The course, the checkpoints, the safety brief, and how the two classes run at the same time. Registered boats — mandatory

Sunday · 12 PM

Push-off

The fleet pushes off the docks and heads out across the Sound. Open to everyone

Sunday · 12–4 PM

While the fleet is out

Open Class runs sixty miles to Milford, Norwalk and home; Class A runs to Milford and back. Upstairs, the NPBA members’ lunch runs 1–4 PM and the card pulling station opens at 2. Lunch and cards: registered crews, second floor

Sunday · 4 PM

The awards ceremony

On the second floor of the Black Pearl. The NPBA presents Best Looking Crew, Best Looking Boat, Spirit of the Black Pearl Seafood Chophouse, Spirit of the NPBA, King Navigator of the V-Bottoms and King Navigator of the Catamarans — and $10,000 cash for the best poker hand. Registered crews

Sunday · 6 PM

The party

Food and drinks à la carte and live music at Black Pearl Seafood Chophouse. Book a table directly with the Black Pearl. Open to everyone Who's playing →

Monday, October 5

Rain date

If the Sound is unrunnable on Sunday, the run moves to Monday, October 5 — the same times as Sunday.

Your host

Black Pearl
Seafood Chophouse

Black Pearl boat and compass mark

Black marble, brushed gold, and a wall of chinoiserie peacocks — the room this event is named for. The brunch, both parties, and the awards ceremony upstairs all happen here, at Danfords on the Port Jefferson waterfront.

Steaks over open flame, a raw bar off the morning boats, and a cocktail program with its own following. Bring the crew; bring whoever asks why you love the water.

Steak over open flame at Black Pearl
Over the flame
Smoked cocktail at the Black Pearl bar
The bar
The Black Pearl dining room and ship's wheel
The dining room
Steps from the dock

The harbor keeps you

Danfords hotel courtyard

You

Danfords Hotel & Spa rises directly over the marina — harbor-view rooms, the spa, and a two-minute walk from your berth to the Black Pearl.

Danfords takes 20% off its usual rates for entrants, members and guests — book online.

Danfords marina docks at sunset

Your boat

Slips at Danfords' operating docks and Freedom Boat Club on East Broadway, with Port Jefferson Marina standing by for the overflow fleet.

Every hull is placed by the committee — no captain hunts for a slip.

Tell us your LOA. We handle the rest. Register Your Boat

Bring her to Port Jefferson.

Two classes of boat, two courses, one registration form — and it is the National Powerboat Association’s. Entries, fees and membership all run through NPBA, so every button here takes you to their Black Pearl Poker Run page to register. There is no waiting list and nothing to be approved for.

Open Class — boats 29′ and up · the full 60-mile course Class A — boats 18′ to 28′ · the first leg, Milford and back
Register Your Boat
Not running? — weekend guests · sponsor the run · ask us a question