According to the extremely likeable Casey Harrison, one of the primary organizers behind the Tickfaw 200 Poker Run hosted by Blood River Landing in Springfield, La., this year’s 30th anniversary of the two-day, 200-mile poker run (May 4-6) is already shaping up to be a great one.

Louisiana’s Nate Michel is planning to run Remote Access, his Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats 47 GTX, at the 30th annual Tickfaw 200 Poker Run in early May. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

“We’ve got all of our permits in place and we’re getting registrations in every day—people actually started signing up in November,” said Harrison, who works closely with Blood River Landing owner Joey Fontenot on the massive undertaking. “All of the RV spots are already reserved, most of the houses around here have been rented and the hotels are starting to fill up. We don’t anticipate many changes this year although one of our bigger stops in Madisonville, Friends Coastal Restaurant, closed so we’re waiting to see if someone else is going to open up there or if we need to look for another stop.”

Harrison said they are likely going to hold a more focused drivers’ meeting this year on account of some of the accidents that occurred at other events in 2016.

“I think it’s something we need to do because we get a lot of people from out of town who may not necessarily know where they’re going or that they shouldn’t run three boats wide on the rivers around here,” explained Harrison, who also said the event will likely recognize the late boaters who attended Tickfaw on a regular basis, such as Anthony and Tammy Reece of Kentucky and local enthusiast Richie Prince.

According to Harrison, a primary focus of the 2017 event, which has continued to fundraise for local waterway organizations throughout the years, is to generate enough money to purchase some rescue vehicles—at least two Deuce and a Half M35s and a Hummer—that can be of assistance during flood disasters.

Once again Shoot 2 Thrill Pix’s Pete Boden, Speedonthewater.com’s chief photographer, will be on hand to capture all of the action from what is arguably the biggest and most outrageous performance boat event in the country.

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