blonde poker forum

I want to make a list of ALL countries that we have been to collectively and get the 'major'/ main poker places to play so we can have a quick and easy place to go for poker and the countries view, policy, tax etc in each one...

WARNINGS
Top tip, don't assume that you can play poker on a cruise linwer. I went on a 3 day trip in Asia where the brochure advertised poker.  Made my way to the casino thinking mmmm Asian high rolling fish only to find the only poker table switches to baccarat when the ship is in Asia.  


Can you all help me..? - addresses and phone numbers where possible...

Here's a handful...      (I'll edit the op as we go from posts/ pm's)


Countryname, Region  
Afghanistan, Asia

Albania, Europe

Algeria, Africa

American Samoa, Australasia

Andorra, Europe

Angola, Africa

Anguilla, Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda, Caribbean
Grand Bay casino runs games.

Argentina, South America

Armenia, Europe

Aruba, Caribbean
Excelsior Casino has 7 tables in poker room

Australia, Australasia
Melbourne
Crown Casino - wide variety of tournaments and cash
Perth
Crown casino- All 2/5 aud, tonnes of action and big rake (10% up to $15). Tbf it was a pretty well run card room when I was there.
Adelaide
There was a tournament series on when I was there which attracted about 80 per event which nearly maxed out the size of the room. Cash games are 2/2, 2/3 and 5/5 same rake as Perth which makes the small game very hard to beat despite being soft. It is only open from 6 each day till lateish and not open on sun&mon.
Sydney
Star city- 1/2, 2/3, 2/5 run most of the time and there are interest list/ games going at peak time for bigger games and PLO. Rake is 10% up to $10 with a $5 hourly time charge which make the smaller games tough to beat.
The tourneys Monday (200+20), Wednesday (300+30), Sunday (1000+100) are good value and are well supported.

Austria, Europe
Kleinwalsertal Casino, Riezlern.
This is situated in the alps, just south of the German border and the Bavarian Allgau region.  Naturally this is a great skiing area! Pokerwise there is NLH and PLO cash games from 1/2 to 2/5.  Was quite an aggressive game.  Nice enough place, but quite tilting as you have to wear a jacket. If you don't have a suit to hand then they will loan you one to wear over your normal clothes. And you feel a bit of an idiot.

Azerbaijan, Europe

Bahamas, Caribbean
Nassau
There used to be a casino called the crystal palace that had poker, heard the poker room closed but I'm not 100% sure.

Bahrain, Middle East

Bangladesh, Asia

Barbados, Caribbean

Belarus, Europe

Belgium, Europe
Brussels
Grand Casino - tournaments and cash 1/2 and 3/6

Belize, North America

Benin, Africa

Bermuda, Caribbean

Bhutan, Asia

Bolivia, South America

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Europe

Botswana, Africa

Bouvet Island, Africa

Brazil, South America

Brunei Darusalam, Asia
None

Bulgaria, Europe
Kuban
Crystal Crown Casino - range of tournaments and cash games, has held big international tournaments
Platinum Casino and Hotel - decent range of games according to website http://platinum.bg/texas-holdem-poker-room
Kuban Hotel and Casino - Buyins range from E10 to E50 and run every day, unsure of cash action - likely £1/2+ http://www.casino-kuban.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=19&Itemid=19


Burkina Faso, Africa

Burundi, Africa

Cambodia, Asia
Phnom Penh
Nagaworld casino and Red fox poker club.  
There are games in a beach resort called sihanoukville but I didn't go there.

Cameroon, Africa
Yaounde
Home games, plenty of Americans about...

Canada, North America
Vancouver
BC there is a downtown casino called Edgewater which has about 30 tables mainly small stakes 1/2 but deffo normally a 2/5 and PLO game going. I believe there a couple of smaller places also in the region.
Niagara falls, Ontario
Is a like a tacky small Vegas and has plenty of games. I believe there is talk of building a super casino in downtown Toronto which will have poker.
Quebec
I believe Montreal has a casino which offers poker.

Cape Verde, Africa

Cayman Islands, Caribbean

Central African Republic, Africa

Chad, Africa

Chile, South America

China, Asia - officially illegal  
Beijing
Home games only, plenty of Americans/ Canadians/ etc around who have a variety of games, word of mouth only.

Christmas Island, Australasia

Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Australasia

Colombia, South America

Comoros, Africa

Congo Democratic Republic of the (Zaire), Africa

Congo Republic of, Africa

Cook Islands, Australasia

Costa Rica, North America

Croatia, Europe

Cuba, Caribbean

Cyprus, Europe

Czech Republic, Europe

Denmark, Europe
Copenhagen
Casino Copenhagen, Amager Boulevard 70, 2300 København S, Denmark, Tel. +45 33 965 965

Djibouti, Africa

Dominica, Caribbean

Dominican Republic, Caribbean

Ecuador, South America
Gambling has been made illegal recently.. all official casinos shut down

Egypt, Africa

El Salvador, North America

Equatorial Guinea, Africa

Eritrea, Africa

Estonia, Europe
Tallinn
Olympic casino - 1/2 cash games

Ethiopia, Africa

Falkland Islands, South America

Faroe Islands, Europe

Fiji, Australasia

Finland, Europe

France, Europe

French Guiana, South America

Gabon, Africa

Gambia, Africa

Georgia, Europe

Germany, Europe
Westpiel Casino's in Duisberg, Bad Oeynhausen, Dortmund and Aachen
Westspiel is a chain very much like G casino in UK.  In some casino's 1/2 is offered, but usually it's 2/5.  Budget tourneys are very rare and for the most part 300 Eu and up...for a poor structure. The tourney scene used to be extremely soft, although Germans being Germans I very much doubt that now.

The Germans have some peculiar takes on tournament rules.  The main tour is the Westspiel Poker Tour, which is based mainly around the Nordrhein Westfalen area of Germany i.e. its industrial heartlands.  Budget tournaments are usually found in settings more akin to UK Pub Poker Leagues.  The rake in this is scandalous and difficult to account for.  One big problem is that cash prizes are not allowed to be offered; so goods of equivalent value are offered.  That said, once known on the circuit cash prizes will be given discretely.

Warning. I had a bad experience with collusion at Bad Oeynhausen (just South of Hannover).  Effectively every player on the table lined up against me not knowing that I had a decent grasp of the language. Its not an isolated incident as I have spoken to 2 other completely unrelated people who had similar issues (one a Brit and one a Swiss national).  I also had slight issues with Dortmund Westspiel, but would rather not go into specifics.

Player wise - some are very tight, some are very Scandi-esque.  The players I always found easiest in the cash games were the Russians and, even more so, Turks and Albanians.  The latter 2 are terrible in general.

If anyone visits the Bielefeld and Moenchengladbach/Dusseldorf areas I can give info on members clubs etc (JJandellis)

Ghana, Africa

Gibraltar, Europe
Gib town
Gala Casino - wide range of tournaments and cash

Greece, Europe

Greenland, Europe

Grenada, Caribbean

Guadeloupe (French), Caribbean

Guam (USA), Australasia

Guatemala, North America

Guinea, Africa

Guinea Bissau, Africa

Guyana, South America

Haiti, Caribbean

Holy See, Europe

Honduras, North America

Hong Kong, Asia - officially illegal
Poker is illegal in Hong Kong but there is a big expat community - read 'find the Westeners' :D

Hungary, Europe

Iceland, Europe

India, Asia

Indonesia, Asia

Iran, Middle East

Iraq, Middle East

Ireland, Europe

Israel, Middle East

Italy, Europe

Ivory Coast (Cote D`Ivoire), Africa

Jamaica, Caribbean

Japan, Asia

Jordan, Middle East

Kazakhstan, Asia

Kenya, Africa

Kiribati, Australasia

Kuwait, Middle East

Kyrgyzstan, Asia

Laos, Asia

Latvia, Europe

Lebanon, Middle East

Lesotho, Africa

Liberia, Africa

Libya, Africa

Liechtenstein, Europe

Lithuania, Europe

Luxembourg, Europe

Macau, Asia

Starworld 25/50 is the main game about 10 tables there, expect a massive wait list and a wait of over an hour
Wynn 50/100 the main game, waitlist are a lot better in fact if you can afford it this is the slam dunk place to play in Macau
Venetian mixture of 25/50 and 50/100, waitlist are pure jokes and I waited over 2 hours for a game ( had a meal inbetween) and still no dice the rake is bigger here
All games in hong kong dollars which is about 12 to the pound.

Macedonia, Europe

Madagascar, Africa

Malawi, Africa

Malaysia, Asia

Maldives, Asia

Mali, Africa

Malta, Europe

Marshall Islands, Australasia

Martinique (French), Caribbean

Mauritania, Africa

Mauritius, Africa

Mayotte, Africa

Mexico, North America

Micronesia, Australasia

Moldova, Europe

Monaco, Europe

Mongolia, Asia

Montenegro, Europe

Montserrat, Caribbean

Morocco, Africa

Mozambique, Africa

Myanmar, Asia

Namibia, Africa

Nauru, Australasia

Nepal, Asia

Netherlands, Europe
Venlo/Rotterdam
These are run by Holland Casinos.
From memory tournaments are limited to about 45 runners, as the cardrooms are very small.
There were .5/1, 1/2 and 2/5 games @ PLO and NLH.
The younger internet kids were the better players, although the general consensus amongst the Dutch was that the most dangerous players were the Germans from just over the border.

Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean

New Caledonia (French), Australasia

New Zealand, Australasia

Nicaragua, North America

Niger, Africa

Nigeria, Africa

Niue, Australasia

Norfolk Island, Australasia

North Korea, Asia

Northern Mariana Islands, Asia

Norway, Europe

Oman, Middle East

Pakistan, Asia

Palau, Australasia

Panama, North America

Papua New Guinea, Australasia

Paraguay, South America

Peru, South America

Philippines, Asia
Manila
Resortsworld casino, several other places too that I didn't go to
Cebu City- Waterfront Casino
Angeles City- Several cards room apparently but I didn't go there.

Pitcairn Island, Australasia

Poland, Europe (difficult)
Warsaw
Empire Casino - wide range of low stakes games due to new law

Polynesia (French), Australasia

Portugal, Europe

Puerto Rico, Caribbean

Qatar, Middle East

Reunion, Africa

Romania, Europe

Russia, Europe

Rwanda, Africa

Saint Helena, Africa

Saint Kitts and Nevis, Caribbean

Saint Lucia, Caribbean

Saint Pierre and Miquelon, North America

Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Caribbean

Samoa, Australasia

San Marino, Europe

Sao Tome and Principe, Africa

Saudi Arabia, Middle East

Senegal, Africa

Serbia, Europe

Seychelles, Africa

Sierra Leone, Africa

Singapore, Asia

Slovakia, Europe

Slovenia, Europe

Solomon Islands, Australasia

Somalia, Africa

South Africa, Africa
Johannesburg
Emperors Palace Casino -  Held the WPT Johannesburg recently, regular cash games and tournaments.
Montecasino, Fourways - lots of games, cash is effectively £1/2 with games sitting pretty short.  Tournaments are wide ranging from £30 freezeouts to £1k big GTD tournys.  Dealers are shocking most of the time.
North West Province
Sun city Resort - No idea what is here, but I've been told there are a lot of cash games and a lot of tournaments.

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, South America

South Korea, Asia

Spain, Europe

Sri Lanka, Asia

Sudan, Africa

Suriname, South America

Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Europe

Swaziland, Africa

Sweden, Europe
Stockholm
Cosmopol Casino

Switzerland, Europe

Syria, Middle East

Taiwan, Asia

Tajikistan, Asia

Tanzania, Africa

Thailand, Asia

Timor-Leste (East Timor), Australasia

Togo, Africa

Tokelau, Australasia

Tonga, Australasia

Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean

Tunisia, Africa

Turkey, Middle East

Turkmenistan, Asia

Turks and Caicos Islands, Caribbean

Tuvalu, Australasia

Uganda, Africa
Kampala
Pyramid Casino (legit 0.50/1 game)
Kings Casino (bent 3/6 game - beatable with rungood)

Ukraine, Europe

United Arab Emirates, Middle East

United Kingdom, Europe

United States, North America
here there is craploads of live poker
Las Vegas
Everywhere... Vegas reviews from this year please!
Nevada- Outside of Vegas
There is lots of little casino offering small stakes limit/no limit normally on the borders with other states. The Peppermill in Reno is probably the only place to find higher stakes games.
California
Poker is massive here, as it is considered a game of skill under state law. Lots of legit big games especially in LA with the Commerce being the worlds largest poker room. If you are near a centre of population in California you will find a game. Bay 101- San Jose, Bicycle Casino- LA, Pechanga- Half way between San Diego and LA, San Manuel casino- San Bernadino are other places I have played with loads of action and games.
Florida
They have got rid of the stupid $100 buyin rule and action is big and plentiful state wide. The only place I have played is Seminole Hard Rock- Tampa which was 50+ table rooms with a wide variety of games.
A ton of rooms in South Florida area with seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and The Isle in Pompano Beach being the best.  
Louisiana
Harrahs in downtown New Orleans about 20 tables of fishy tourist action limit and NLHE.
Mississippi
Played at Beau Rivage, Biloxi was pretty dead as it midweek afternoon had 3/4 tables of 1/2 nl going on.
Washington state
There are 3 Indian casino about 20-30 miles outside of Seattle. I played at Snoqualmie and Tualip mainly small stakes limit and no limit.
Montana
Has loads of weird little casinos which are mainly a couple of banks of slots. I did find a game in Great falls but is one table and a bit of a joke, lacks big enough cities to get games going in general.
Arizona
Casino Arizona, Phoenix this is a big room 50ish tables with lots of games.

Other states that I know have poker are Pennsylvania (been a big explosion recently since legislation came in)
New Jersey (Atlantic City obv)
Connecticut (Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun)

New York (Turning stone, none close to NYC).




Uruguay, South America

Uzbekistan, Asia

Vanuatu, Australasia

Venezuela, South America

Vietnam, Asia

Virgin Islands, Caribbean

Wallis and Futuna Islands, Australasia

Yemen, Middle East

Zambia, Africa

Zimbabwe, Africa

Can the mods add info from a comment to the op?
Will they?

Cambodia- Phnom Penh- Nagaworld casino and Red fox poker club. There are games in a beach resort called sihanoukville but I didn't go there.

Philippines- Manila- Resortsworld casino, several other places too that I didn't go to
              -Cebu City- Waterfront Casino
              -Angeles City- Several cards room apparently but I didn't go there.

Bahamas- Nassau- There used to be a casino called the crystal palace that had poker, heard the poker room closed but I'm not 100% sure.

Sweden- Stockholm, Cosmopol Casino.

South Africa- Johannesburg- Emperors Palace Casino.

Denmark- Copenhagen- http://www.casinocopenhagen.com/index.cfm

ty sir...

lets get this ball rolling..........

Where's greeky? lild? dm? Mondeo (team eureka)? TK? Bet Jason's been about too..... :P

Canada

Vancouver, BC there is a downtown casino called Edgewater which has about 30 tables mainly small stakes 1/2 but deffo normally a 2/5 and PLO game going. I believe there a couple of smaller places also in the region.

Niagara falls, Ontario is a like a tacky small Vegas and has plenty of games. I believe there is talk of building a super casino in downtown Toronto which will have poker.

Quebec- I believe Montreal has a casino which offers poker.


USA- I will go state by state here as there is craploads of live poker obv.

Nevada- Outside of Vegas, there is lots of little casino offering small stakes limit/no limit normally on the borders with other states. The Peppermill in Reno is probably the only place to find higher stakes games.

California- Poker is massive here, as it is considered a game of skill under state law. Lots of legit big games especially in LA with the Commerce being the worlds largest poker room. If you are near a centre of population in California you will find a game. Bay 101- San Jose, Bicycle Casino- LA, Pechanga- Half way between San Diego and LA, San Manuel casino- San Bernadino are other places I have played with loads of action and games.

Florida- They have got rid of the stupid $100 buyin rule and action is big and plentiful state wide. The only place I have played is Seminole Hard Rock- Tampa which was 50+ table rooms with a wide variety of games.

Louisiana- Harrahs in downtown New Orleans about 20 tables of fishy tourist action limit and NLHE.

Mississippi- Played at Beau Rivage, Biloxi was pretty dead as it midweek afternoon had 3/4 tables of 1/2 nl going on.

Washington state- There are 3 Indian casino about 20-30 miles outside of Seattle. I played at Snoqualmie and Tualip mainly small stakes limit and no limit.

Montana- Has loads of weird little casinos which are mainly a couple of banks of slots. I did find a game in Great falls but is one table and a bit of a joke, lacks big enough cities to get games going in general.

Arizona- Casino Arizona, Phoenix this is a big room 50ish tables with lots of games.

Other states that I know have poker are Pennsylvania (been a big explosion recently since legislation came in), New Jersey (Atlantic City obv), Connecticut (Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun), New York (Turning stone, none close to NYC).

There are a few more in australia now.  Star casino in sydney has quite a few tables.  I assume the ANZPT poker tour visits places where poker is regular. 

I have played 1/2 in the Olympic casino in Tallinn, Estonia.  I think they have a few casinos dotted around that part of the world.

Top tip, don't assume that you can play poker on a cruise liner. I went on a 3 day trip in Asia where the brochure advertised poker.  Made my way to the casino thinking mmmm Asian high rolling fish only to find the only poker table switches to baccarat when the ship is in Asia. 

Poker is illegal in Hong Kong but there is a big expat community.  Macau has massive amounts of gambling but poker is pretty sparse in comparison.  Nothing like as common as Vegas.  Maybe it has improved in the last couple of years?

havent been but a good poker buddy of mine moved to Columbia. He tells me most poker rooms are only ever open for a month or two then closed down by the authorities because of money laundering.

You can edit your own post to add info.

Does blondepedia still work? Perhaps that'd be a useful inclusion

I know I can, but it would help me if the mods are willing to help me take this on..?

I think this is a clearly valuable resource if we keep it updated together... I don't know if there is something like this elsewhere, but I can't find it if it does exist.

Lets be the first full worldwide poker playing map!

Tighty said there will be an update soon, and blondepedia would be part of it...

duno what's on the updated site tho, mods... any clues?

Aruba

Excelsior Casino has 7 tables in poker room

Just back from Qatar. Poker is illegal there and I wouldn't risk the underground stuff.

I guess all other Arab states would be the same, KSA certainly is.

bbbbbbBUMP

 ;bump;

Antigua and Barbuda - Grand Bay casino runs games.  Florida - a ton of rooms in South Florida area with seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and The Isle in Pompano Beach being the best. 

Anyone help me with games in or near Montego bay, Jamaica?

Panama is full of massive fish who love to punt their nose coffee dough around in the cash games at the casino.

Metro Card Club is probably the best place to play in Manila although most of the casinos have a poker room also

http://www.metrocardclub.com/

ahem..

Cough cough

Slovenia

Perla Hotel & Casino, Nova Gorica. Poker Room Manager: Bojan Hrovatin +386 41 733 211 (weekend)
website: http://www.thecasinoperla.com/index.php?id=pokerroom
email: pokerroom@hit.si

Cracking hotel and nice poker room. Card room manager will arrange free transport from/to Trieste or Venice airports and good room rates for groups.

I know a lot of you have been to Europe for all sorts of poker tours....


cmon guys n girls!

details pls....

Olympic casino Tallinn, Estonia

Nice city, lovely old town

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_M7mySuUsa6c/TFQExYGDTwI/AAAAAAAALyw/saPXrycdaRA/s640/IMG_0053.JPG)

(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_M7mySuUsa6c/TFQJArMFmDI/AAAAAAAALzU/1OL4pbG3qw0/IMG_0061.JPG)

Nice casino


Best, the prettiest valets and dealers anywhere I have ever encountered

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_M7mySuUsa6c/TFQoJHikmnI/AAAAAAAAL3k/f66shHcyaDU/s512/IMG_2778.JPG)

(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_M7mySuUsa6c/TFRdLvUGrhI/AAAAAAAAL8w/_InV1Q7lNCI/IMG_2816.JPG)


I will write up Barcelona, Lloret De Mar, Vienna, Wiener Neudstadt, Dublin, Cork, Waterford at some point..run tour events at all of them

I've been to Tallinn recently.. and wandered down that street..

maybe drunk

maybe singing

maybe @ 7am...

:D :D

Also in Belgium, Circus Casinos in Namur and Spa, tournaments and cash -  1-2 and 2 -5 in Namur at least (not played at Spa but assume at least 1-2).   

Also played in a Tourney in Casino at Blankenberge on the coast with1-2 and 2 -5 cash games there too when tourney was on, I presume other times too.

Thanks fella/ladyfella, welcome to blonde.

 ;welcome; :hello: ;cheerleader; ;letsparty;




;starwars;

(been a while folks, you can forgive me)

Thanks fella/ladyfella, welcome to blonde.

 ;welcome; :hello: ;cheerleader; ;letsparty;




;starwars;

(been a while folks, you can forgive me)

[/quote]


welcome and thanks and def a fella

should we add a UK section?

Mods make it a thread that stays at the top?

???

Sorry John, but I'm not sure it warrants that, judging by the comparative number of views & Posts.

31 Posts & 793 views in a month is extremely low. Many blonde threads regularly beat both those numbers in a single day.

If players are visiting a strange & faraway land, or want a UK Venue, they just stick a thread up.

I am not saying it is a bad thread, but the numbers suggest very low interest or activity.

Completely agree sir, I understand how the business side works.

Just wondered after the last couple of days having two different 'xx town where is poker' threads going up..

Any suggestions for making it better??

Not really, & I was not saying it was "bad", or there was anything wrong with it. It just does not generate much interest, more because of the subject matter, & nature of forum users than the presentation or style.

When a poker player visits a strange place, & uses blonde to seek info, they do not search for a thread such as this, it is quicker & easier just to start a fresh thread, & they ALWAYS get a good response from the blondes. If it ain't broke, & all that.

In more general terms - NOT related to this thread, if you want a busy thread, there are numerous ways of making that happen, generally revolving around regular updates, interesting & varied content, well-written & presented, with a few photos for good measure. All imo of course.

Ultimately, however, a successful thread has to be interesting to a wide range of people. That's the key.

Fair, might look to putting up a different photo from my travels every so often... might perk a little interest.

There is plenty of poker in Bulgaria ...even tho they use the currency leva the poker buy ins and payouts are done in €
Tourneys 7 days
Buy ins range from €10 re buy to €50 f/o at the Kuban hotel and casino in sunny beach ...although I think there are 3 casinos in sunny beach alone!

Thanks mett

 ;bump;

More help please boys and girls... we've been more places than this between us! :D

Concord in Vienna was a decent card room when I went in 2007 and it has a 'spa' next door too :D

Couple to add from my recent travelling.

Macau- 3 poker rooms.

Starworld 25/50 is the main game about 10 tables there, expect a massive wait list and a wait of over an hour.

Wynn 50/100 the main game, waitlist are a lot better in fact if you can afford it this is the slam dunk place to play in Macau.

Venetian mixture of 25/50 and 50/100, waitlist are pure jokes and I waited over 2 hours for a game ( had a meal inbetween) and still no dice the rake is bigger here.

All games in hong kong dollars which is about 12 to the pound.


Australia

Perth crown casino- All 2/5 aud, tonnes of action and big rake (10% up to $15). Tbf it was a pretty well run card room when I was there.

Adelaide- There was a tournament series on when I was there which attracted about 80 per event which nearly maxed out the size of the room. Cash games are 2/2, 2/3 and 5/5 same rake as Perth which makes the small game very hard to beat despite being soft. It is only open from 6 each day till lateish and not open on sun&mon.

Sydney star city- 1/2, 2/3, 2/5 run most of the time and there are interest list/ games going at peak time for bigger games and PLO. Rake is 10% up to $10 with a $5 hourly time charge which make the smaller games tough to beat.

The tourneys Monday (200+20), Wednesday (300+30), Sunday (1000+100) are good value and are well supported.

longy this has to be the worst attempt at a thinly veiled brag I have ever seen :)

Yeah I am having a terrible time of it Jason  ;)

lol. Ying and yang. For every jet setting poker player there is one ex player looking for jobs around Scunthorpe

Anyone ever played at the casino in alicante spain?

Any games going regularly here... or anywhere along that coast. trying to plan a trip in the summer as a lads break with my dad and golf and poker always go together swimmingly!

updated a few more..

lets keep this going

Thank you sir.

Spain

Currently on holiday in Spain and have played in two different casinos while I have been here

Alicante

Played here twice both times when I arrived they had 2/5 games going (two tables with room for three) the min and max sit downs were 100/500 which I thought was quite shallow both times the play was of a pretty low standard rake I believe was 10% capped at 15 euros so pretty high but I'm not 100% sure as I was not 100% sober.
Casino is on the harbour in alicante and is called Casio Mediterranean - they also charged a 'day fee' of 3 euros to go in. On the door it says no flip flops or shorts but they let me in in shorts and shoes so I think it's meant to be no flip flops and shorts. I tried again in the day time in flip flops and shorts and they wouldn't let me in. To gain membership they said its at mangers discretion and takes 30-40 visits.
I heard that the poker starts at 4-6pm but I'm not sure as I didn't pay at these times but I played once from 8-1 and once from 11-3. The game was full most of that time with sometimes two tables open. I believe these games run 7 days a week.

They seemed to run daily comps starting from 8pm and looked to be buy ins ranging from 50-200 euros but I guess this is schedule and time of year dependant. ( I visited mid September)

La zenia (torrevieja)

This is a new ish casino. The casino is now not in torrevieja but in la zenia centre commercial ( big shopping centre) it's only about 10-15 mins driv from torrevieja and not that hard to find. This was a smaller casino with only 1 cash table which was 1/2 (50 min/500max) I went on a Sunday evening at 8pm and the list was about 11 strong for the cash table but they were not going to open another one. Again the table was pretty soft noting to scary, the regs seemed pretty poor but the table banter fun. This game closed about 2pm and a reg said it gets going about 6pm every night them fizzles out around 2am. They had less tourneys than alicante about 3 a week at the 50 euro buy in mark. The casino is only small but they were comping drinks all night including beer. Staff were friendly and quite a few English speaking staff members who were very good.

Also in the centre commercial there were some very nice restaurants and plenty of shops to offload the missis on if that's what you need!

Around this area I also heard Murcia casino gets games going (further inland) and lots of the bars/pubs have games going if you ask the right people as some are played behind closed doors

Thanks

Hope this is helpful

Callum

P.s does anyone know if there are any casinos with poker in benidorm?

Potentially going Paris and Vilnius.... anyone got some answers?

I know of the aviation club..  but it has a joining fee now of €150 and infamous rake...
other options?

€150 membership but think rake is a lot less now, 2% and capped i think. There are no other options.

Brazil

Manaus - Amazon Poker Club

Casinos not legal, but there are limited poker clubs.

Cash games 5/10 local currency (BRL Circa 3.5 BRL:1GBP)

Tourneys between £20 & £50 with around 50 runners most nights. Not the safest of areas but the club is welcoming to English players.

I was their first and they did a proper presentation to say welcome, didnt like me as much when i took some of their money though.

Been back a few times and welcomed every time.

A mate of mine spends quite a lot of time in Brazil, playing a fair bit of live poker whilst out there.

He has gotten himself into plenty of comedy situations playing when he's hammered, but luckily enough it has never caused him any trouble that I know of.

I would be a little surprised if anyone happened to be up in Groningen, Netherlands.......

However, if you are, there's normally a pretty sick 2/2 Hold 'em game and on Monday's a 2/2 4 card Omaha game at Holland Casino.

Tourney's capped around 50 runners with a buy in usually 50 - 100 Euro's.

https://www.hollandcasino.nl/en/establishments/groningen

IRELAND/DUBLIN

http://fitzwilliamcardclub.com/

USA/LA

http://www.commercecasino.com/

Berlin, Germany.

Three casinos but sadly now a monopoly for Spielbank Berlin so the rake is pretty high.

Potsdamer Platz. Former home of the EPT and by far the most action. the €2 entry fee to the casino always rankles with me though

Cash games 2/2 and 5/5 every evening and afternoons too at weekends. Several tables and you usually don't need to wait long for a seat. Daily tournies with a weekly €100 and a €300 most months. Action is great, players are awful. Floor and dealers are very good and all speak English.

Alexanderplatz (beneath tv tower) Limited action but a 1/1 game most days. Daily tournies too but will only get 20-30 runners.

Hasenheide - The Ghetto casino - coincidentally down the road from my apartment. 1/1 game most evenings and daily tournies with fields of 20-40. Patrons mostly Turkish Germans with a statistically impossible high % of taxi drivers. Play is mindbogglingly bad but the atmosphere is absolutely awful and you will want to slit your wrist after an hour.

Recommendation: Play at Potsdamer Platz!

More info in German here:
http://www.spielbank-berlin.de/poker-floor

Hamburg, Germany

Casino Esplanade. The high roller type place. Runs some pretty big games sometimes. I believe the lowest they spread is 2/5. Lots of business types play in here. Dress code, jacket and shoes. Jacket can be removed if you are wearing a button shirt underneath!

Reeperbahn. A great 2/4nlh game in here pretty much every night. You can put your name on the list by going in during the day or call them to get on the list. Game starts bang on time in the evening, if you aren't there exactly on time then you lose your spot. Two tables often run. Amazing games featuring clueless Chinese tourists, local pimps, stag parties etc

Just finishing a 2 week trip to Florida. Firstly the games are good, really good, my mind was blown on many an occasion!

The Miami metropolitan area has at least 10 rooms, mostly dog tracks with poker. The nicest probably being the isle casino pompano beach but that is the most reggy rooms, still soft.

The best action and highest action is probably at hard rock Hollywood, this is proper casino and attracts the most tourist rec poker money.

Almost all the action is nlhe with an even split between 1/2 and 2/5 though 5/10 and higher does run. Lots of donkaments going on as well getting decent fields.

Outside of Miami there is decent poker rooms in Jacksonville (bestbet) and tampa (hard rock). Think this is an attractive little trip for live pros looking for an alternative to Vegas especially at this time of year.

Would it be a nightmare to get around to the different casinos without a car? Are there hotels next door/nearby?

Thanks for the info!

You need a car to do this

As flushy said a car is essential in South Florida. All the rooms are spread out and public transportation is pretty dire, there are hotels on the hard rock properties but they are joke expensive for what they are and no rates for poker players.