Marcus Whitfield
Founder · Tournament Director
Dealt his first casino shift in 2004. Still insists on shuffling the ceremonial first deck of every charter.
About us
The crew behind Australia's card room at sea
Southern Seas Events began with a borrowed blackjack table and a forty-foot charter boat on the Brisbane River. Six years later we run the country's only dedicated poker-event fleet — and we still check every chip tray ourselves.
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Founded
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Events delivered
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Guests welcomed
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Crew & dealers
Every chip counted, weighed and logged. Every table inspected before a single guest boards.
Our standard
A casino floor is a promise
When someone sits at one of our tables, they're trusting us with their evening. That means dealers who never rush a learner, blind structures that finish on time, bars that never run dry and a crew that treats your grandmother and your CEO with the same attention.
We run fewer events than we could. Every sailing gets a dedicated producer, a rehearsed crew and a weather-checked course. If any of the three isn't right, the night doesn't sail — that rule has cost us money and saved our name.
4.98
Average guest rating
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Clients who rebook
Leadership
The people at the top of the gangway
Four principals, one shared habit: they're all still on board for every sailing, somewhere between the card room and the bridge.
Elena Vasquez
Head of Production
Ran stage builds for music festivals before trading fields for decks. Owns every light cue and rigging point on the ship.
Capt. James Rourke
Fleet Liaison · Master Mariner
Twenty-six years on passenger vessels. He decides whether we sail, and the answer is only ever yes when it's safe.
Priya Anand
Guest Experience Director
Former luxury-hotel concierge. Keeps the list of every member's drink, seat and superstition.
Tom Okafor
Pit Boss · Dealer Crew Chief
Sofia Lindqvist
Executive Chef
Ben Hartley
Head of Security
Aiko Tanabe
Brand & Design Lead
Recognition
Noticed by people who notice
Event Caterer of the Year
Australian Event Awards · 2024
Best Themed Corporate Event
MEA National Awards · 2023
Luxury Experience of the Year
Qld Tourism Awards · 2023
Top 50 Event Producers APAC
Eventex Index · 2025
Backstage
Twenty-four hours to build a casino
The ballroom you play in tonight was a conference room yesterday morning. Our production crew works to a run-sheet measured in minutes — felts down by 14:00, chips weighed by 15:30, lighting locked by 17:00, doors at 18:00.
06:00 — Load-in, Pinkenba
Thirty-four tables, twelve thousand chips and a cashier cage come up the service gangway before the cleaners finish.
14:00 — The floor takes shape
Felts tensioned, dealer shoes charged, tournament clocks synced to the ship's own time server.
17:30 — Doors
Guests board to a string quartet and a glass of something cold. The first shuffle is sixty minutes away.
00:40 — Strike
Trophy awarded, tables folded, ballroom back to a ballroom before the ship turns for home.
In print
What the papers made of us
The Australian
"Part tournament, part theatre — the most improbable night out on the Queensland events calendar."
Travel & Leisure · Mar 2025
Business Traveller
"The offsite that ended the era of the hotel conference room. Clients remember a final table; they forget a projector."
Corporate Special · Nov 2024
Broadsheet Brisbane
"Worth the booking lead time alone for the moment the city lights slide past the card room windows."
City Guide · Jul 2025
Partners
The ecosystem behind the evening
Ships, kitchens, bars and production partners we trust with our name — and yours.
Coral Pacific Cruises
Fleet partner
Meridian Catering
Galley partner
Barossa Reserve
Cellar partner
Nordlight AV
Production partner
Sentinel Maritime
Security partner
Rotor Pacific
Transfer partner
Reef Restoration
Sustainability
Harbour Talent Co.
Artist agency
Safety first, always
The boring part we take seriously
Every charter sails under the ship's SOLAS certification with its own crew, medical officer and safety systems. Our event team layers on top: briefed evacuation marshals per deck, AEDs at the card room door, and a paramedic on every manifest over 100 guests.
Deck marshals
One trained crew member per 25 guests, in uniform, all night.
Ship's medical
Onboard clinic, defibrillators and a doctor on overnight sailings.
Weather protocol
BOM marine forecasts drive every go/no-go call, 72 hours out.
Fully insured
Public liability to A$ 50M through Lloyd's coverholders.
Reef commitment
Every sailing plants coral
We don't do vague offsets. For each charter, Reef Restoration Foundation plants nursery-grown coral fragments on the Great Barrier Reef — the count is printed in your post-event report.
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Fragments planted to date
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Charters carbon-audited in 2025
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Shore power while berthed
We are an event production company, not a casino. Our
poker evenings run as private social games and promotional
tournaments — guests play for trophies and prizes, not
cash. We handle all compliance under Queensland gaming
rules and each state's equivalent when we travel.
We charter from Coral Pacific Cruises under a standing
agreement, which means the vessels keep their professional
crew, certification and insurance while we control
everything inside the ballroom doors.
Forty-six licensed dealers on our roster, most with casino
or major-tournament backgrounds. Every dealer completes
our onboard training — maritime safety, guest service and
the specific pace of a cruise event — before working a
table.
Yes. We run inspection evenings at Pinkenba most months,
plus a 3D virtual walkthrough you can take from your desk.
Corporate clients can also attend a guest seat at a public
tournament night before committing.