Just as much of the online gaming industry is swiftly withdrawing from the US following the passing of laws effectively outlawing internet poker, Ladbrokes has announced plans for their January 2008 Poker Cruise to set sail from the port of New York.

The ladbrokespoker.com site, which never accepted players from the US, is to organise one of the biggest-ever gambling events on water with over $10 million set to be staked on the cruise.

The players will spend nine nights cruising around the Caribbean with over 1,000 of Europe’s leading poker players taking part in a range of tournaments – including a main event with the potential to have a prize pool of over $2 million.

While the ship will set sail from New York harbour no gambling will take place until the ship is in International waters and the cruise will only be open to players resident outside the United States.

Ladbrokes will be staging a series of online qualifying tournaments including freerolls and tournaments from just $20 starting from the end of November 2006. Winning players will receive flights, the nine-night cruise, a cabin with sea view and meals. Other players will be able to pay the entry ticket of around $5,500.

The launch of the 2008 Ladbrokespoker.com cruise is just one of a series of ladbrokespoker.com initiatives announced in the last few weeks.

Ladbrokes Managing Director, eGaming John O’Reilly commented: “Since the passing of the Safe Port act, players have been seeking safe harbour for their deposits and we’ve announced an increase in our monthly payouts to over $7 million in scheduled tournaments, upped our guarantees to over $3 million, increased investment in next year’s poker million and have now confirmed our plans for the 2008 Ladbrokes Poker Cruise.”