Less than one week away, the ninth annual Four Horsemen Poker Run June 7-9 on Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago currently has 75 boats registered, its largest fleet to date. New for the 2018 event, the run will include three on-water card stops rather than dealing five-card poker hands at the awards party that evening.

A record-setting fleet is on tap for the ninth annual Four Horsemen Poker Run in Wisconsin. 

With “card boats” on the course for the first time at the event, organizer Shannon Radtke is urging participants to approach those vessels with extra caution.

“Three of our five card stops on are on the water this year, so please plan accordingly,” she said. “Assign a crew member to carefully step up and take the card from the people distributing them on the card boats. So please approach our card boats with caution and do not be in a hurry. Remember, these folks are part of our amazing staff of volunteers

Boats will be divided into below 80-mph, 80- to 110-mph and 110-mph classes. Led by official event/pace boats and beginning with the slowest group, starts will be staggered. Safety and patrol boats will be posted throughout the course for the day.

“We have a record number of boats and participants this year, so safety is our top priority,” said Radtke.

Weather allowing, early arrivals on Thursday can enjoy a “tie up”—a new addition to the even this year—at Streich’s Bay Sand Bar, followed by registration from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the South Hall of the Best Western Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center, the official host hotel. A cocktail reception with a no-host bar and dinner there begins at 6 p.m.

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