Player's Stories

Poker in Spain-Dead or Alive?

I was introduced to Texas hold em poker by my good friend Nigel Goldman, author, newspaper columnist & city trader and a accomplished poker player on the Costa Del Sol Circuit.

Nigel told me of a poker club on the mijas road called Aces and urged me to try it out.

Having come from a 7 card stud background i was keen to learn about this new game i'd heard of (new to me at least) called Texas hold em.

Aces was a revelation, 600 m2 of floor space divided into a bar area, separate snooker and pool area with maybe 10 tables, cash play room and 8 to 10 tournament tables.

The in house club trainer ran through the basics with me and i was away on my Texas adventures.

Tuesday nights at Aces usually had 80 to 100 runners with a very busy cash game most nights of the week.

Along came other clubs jumping on the bandwagon, clubs such as The Players Lounge in Benalmadena, Macauleys in La Cala, The Calahonda Sporting Club (My personal favourite ), Sit & Go and Caesars Sports lounge all in Calahonda.

At the same time Poker league in Spain were everywhere along the Coast from Nerja to La Linea and Campoker was playing 7 nights a week all over the campo from Alhaurin to Alora.

Now 2 years later, Aces has closed, Poker League in Spain disappeared without trace, Campokers' owner run off with the subscriptions, The Players Lounge sold out and the new guys fell foul of the law and closed down, as did Macauleys. Caesars Lounge a really luxurious affair with the sponsorship of Betfred, have scaled down to just 1 tourney & 2 Omaha cash games, the rest of the week it's cabaret time & all day breakfasts!

Malibu Beach opened and closed, Diamonds a cash only operation and play in an apartment in Benalmadena Costa !

Dotted around the coast there a few one night only venues usually with a fold a way table, cheap chips and a has been dealer taking far too much rake.
Calahonda Sporting Club have expanded and cleverly absorbed Sit & Go along the way and now hold successful tourneys as well as cash games.

A new Club opened up inland in Alhaurin El Grande about a year ago called The Royal Flush which runs tournaments as well as cash games 6 nights a week & by all accounts is thriving, so much so they have a poker festival in October with a €20,000 Guarantee!

I play "live" 6 nights a week and am pleased to report that Poker is indeed alive and well, you just need to know where to go!