5

A little more focused than my other question. I'm an American, going to southwest Europe soon. I want to play a little poker (Texas Hold 'Em preferred) while I am there. Googling for poker rooms in Europe is producing terrible results though. Monaco and Monte Carlo have come up more than once and they don't even have poker at all. I mean real poker anyways. Not the table games that call themselves poker but they build in a house edge just like roulette or craps. Other results include American cities (what?) or places I probably won't go this trip.

Also on a previous trip I ended up at a casino in Austria that claimed to have poker but when I arrived they said they weren't offering it that day for no special reason. Best answer here would be rooms that are consistently open, not just randomly or sometimes.

My rough plan goes northeast Spain, south coast of France, north Italy, Switzerland, and Bavaria. Are there any reliable places to play Texas Hold 'Em or other kinds of poker in that region?

4
  • There are poker games and tournaments here in Europe, but it's largely seen as an American game (here in the UK at least). Bluff magazine might be worth a look although I think it's mostly London.
    – A E
    Jun 22, 2016 at 19:15
  • In France, money related games are strongly framed by law. To play poker, besides casinos, that don't seem to fit your need, you should look for 'cercles de jeux'. A quick search shows that there aren't any 'cercles' in the south coast. jouerpokerenfrance.fr/poker-en-live/cercles.html. So you are leaved to yourself finding some illegal and possibly not so funny places ... I suppose that would require some local acquaintances.
    – audionuma
    Jun 22, 2016 at 19:21
  • 2
    Please specify specific places you will be traveling to it makes things easier to help you find accurate answers.
    – Max
    Jun 22, 2016 at 19:35
  • @Max Chicken and egg, sorry. Having things to do would make me more likely to go to a place but it takes a long time to look up what to do in all possible places. Was hoping the answers to this question would help narrow down my plan. Will update with more specific locations when I know them.
    – Europe2015
    Jun 22, 2016 at 19:49

1 Answer 1

4

For gambling, like it or not, I would only go in state sanctioned casino; This will limit the risks of being scammed (IMO, mostly due to language issues).

Try a different type of gambling, that can make things interesting compared to just trying to re-create what you do at home.

For example, Monte Carlo casino have "American table games", including Texas hold'em poker.

http://www.casinomontecarlo.com/games/american-casino-games/ultimate-texas-hold-em-poker/

Other casino in Italy seems to also have poker tournaments (of some sorts); maybe contact them to see if they have them daily (for example the Venice casino does not have daily tournaments in june and maybe july 2016 according to the web site).

Casino in Switzerland seems to be of the same type.

( I did not look further).

2
  • 3
    "Ultimate" tends to be a weasel word meaning "not quite". The rules booklet from the Monte Carlo casino discloses that their "Texas Hold'em Ultimate" came is played against the bank, not against other players. That is sure not to meet the OP's expectations if what he wants is to match wits against other players. (Calling something "poker" if you're not even playing against someone who has a choice between betting and folding is at best horribly misleading, arguably dishonest). Jun 23, 2016 at 1:29
  • 1
    Henning is unfortunately exactly right. I appreciate the effort but what you found actually is the example I used in my question as what I was trying to avoid. Replying to your second paragraph, just because I am asking about poker in this specific question does not mean I will not also try other things.
    – Europe2015
    Jun 24, 2016 at 1:13

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .