There's something odd and interesting going on in Belgium when it comes to tournament Poker.
My latest PokerFirma.com contribution deals with the emergence of Poker clubs as serious competitors for casinos in the Belgian MTT environment.
0 Comments
I'm going to spend some time in Bratislava over these coming weeks and I'll be playing and shooting at Banco Casino so I've updated the map of places I like in the Slovak capital. Together with PokerFirma.com, we are working an a dedicated website including resources for traveling Poker players. This map is sort of the first taste of it. The project is ambitious and will feature tips, photos and descriptions of things to do or places we like in cities where we enjoy to play Poker. It's supposed to eventually function as a guide for Poker trips.
The Poker Trips section is up to date. December is still a bit of a blur but I know more or less what I'll be up to during November. Beat the Rake promos and full schedules are online in the POKER TRIPS section.
Coming up: Slovakia - Spain - Austria - Romania ... and the usual last minute randomness :-)
All photos of my Banco Masters week can be found in the album below. Expect plenty of Poker shots and impressions of Bratislava.
The question arises naturally: 'Why a Polish Poker Championship in Slovakia?' I asked myself the question too, sneaked around a little bit, did some reading and I'm preparing an article about Poker and gambling regulations in Poland as an explanation to why the Polish Championship specifically is one of the historical big partners of Banco Casino in Bratislava and Kosice.
The Poles will be back in Bratislava from 28th November to 5th December for loads of Poker action! More Poker in Slovakia is coming up for me over the coming weeks since I've been invited to join the Banco Casino crew for The Hendon Mob Championship Grand Final in late November.
Here I am in Bratislava after an epic trip across Europe made of non-high-speed trains between Luxembourg and Belgium before hopping on a flight to Bratislava and finding myself on another non-high-speed train ride between Slovakia and Austria for a short visit in rainy Vienna :-p
It took me almost 6 months but I'm finally back in Bratislava! I'll stick around for the whole Banco Masters during late October and I'll also stay for the France/Benelux Masters coming up in early November.
Details in the POKER TRIPS section with a BEAT THE RAKE promo below to play the France/Benelux Masters Main Event RAKE-FREE. All my recent Bratislava posts under the SLOVAKIA tag in my blog. Slovakia’s capital has been on my travel map numerous times already and it even looked like I was going to settle down a bit there for a while but the #allineverywhere force has been strong lately and I was not able to go back since late April 2022. Two months in Las Vegas, about two other months in Portugal and after a bunch of random trips to Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain or Colombia, I’m making a move to return to Bratislava soon!
October is going to be a busy one at casa (with no casa) The-Rounder.net!
Check out the POKER TRIPS section if you care to join somewhere. There's plenty of info online featuring new BEAT THE RAKE promos and hotel package offers. After the first stop of this mainly Belgian&French Poker travel group in Bratislava this summer, they are back on the road and coming back to Slovakia in November.
November will be bringing another wave of Belgians and French players to Slovakia's capital. The promoter will be Poker Belgique featuring the second edition of its very affordable France/Belgique Masters after a first decent leg early this summer. Get in touch for your bookings if you care to join.
All info about Banco Casino in Bratislava HERE. Check the POKER TRIPS section for promos. Over the coming weeks, Bratislava will be one of Europe's hottest Poker spots ! We've summed up the action in THIS POKERFIRMA ARTICLE . Don't worry, your German skills don't need to be that good to understand what we're talking about :-) Poker. A lot of Poker!
Also, check out the POKER TRIPS section for more #allineverywhere suggestions . The dates for the next Banco Casino Masters have been announced!
A great addition to my October planning knot :-) Banco Casino info can be found HERE and I'll add details and promos in this blog and in the POKER TRIPS section soon.
One of the coolest festivals around on the Poker circuit these days is THE FESTIVAL. The event is a Poker event but features loads of variants and special events in order to make this gathering of international Poker players not only an occasion to play cards.
During spring, it looked like I'd spend a significant amount of time in Bratislava for the rest of the year and then life happened :-) I will eventually be back in Slovakia but not immediately. Maybe for this event in case the stars don't align well for my Colombia plan in October.
After a recent home game in Tallinn, The Festival is moving on to Slovakia in October and the Bratislava schedule is ready. Have a look in case you're not familiar with the concept. It's a little bit of a special kind of festival. A few weeks ago, pretty quickly after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we planted the seed of the idea of training and relocation Ukrainian exiled women in order to give them the opportunity to build a new existence in Slovakia - not as refugees, not in shelters but as casino workers to build a new future.
The waiting game is on! For a Poker tournament photographer, the last day of the competition is essentially about patience after a whole week of insane coverage action.
The Banco Casino Masters festival was an opportunity to get back to some live Poker coverage for me. All in all, it's been an intense week full of excitement I had been missing along with stuff I really haven't :-)
I'm back in Bratislava for 5-6 weeks of Banco Casino action before moving on to Las Vegas for a 2-month WSOP 2022 cash game attack and gorgeous photo reports for PokerFirma.
The Kamzik Tower is an almost 200m high architecture feat imagined by Stanislav Majek, Jakub Tomasak, Juraj Kozak, Milan Jurica and Jan Privitzer before being constructed in 1975. Its main purpose is to operate as a radio and TV transmission structure. Since it is standing on a 437-meter hill, the additional 196m of the construction itself offer an observation deck at an altitude of roughly 600m. From up there, you get amazing views over Bratislava but you can also see vast parts of Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The location also seems to be a premium hiking destination since the tower lies within the Bratislava Forest Park ... and, of course, in grand consumerism fashion, there's a restaurant up there. :-) If you enjoy what you see and read, you can get more since I curate all recent relevant #allineverywhere content of the BLOG and occasionally from other sources via my Scoop.it account. A photo archive is available via the Photos & Coverages section and you might also be interested in checking the social media updates via the links below.
We use #allin4ukraine on social media in case you care to keep up and there is a SOLIDARITY section regrouping my blog posts similar to this one. If you wish to donate equipment, time or money, beam yourself to the CONTACT & INFO section and get in touch or use the following social media links: Facebook - Instagram - Twitter Damiano Nigro It looks like the Domink Demcak will not be available to shoot the Banco Masters in late April, so it's very likely I will (at least partially) jump in as the Banco Casino photo reporter for this huge event together with my buddy Denis as a blogger.
A nice comeback ahead after some two weeks away from Slovakia! Check out the POKER TRIPS section for details. Stuck between Kamanné Námestie Square featuring the abandoned modernist architecture jewel known as 'Hotel Kyjev' and the Old Market Hall, a very interesting building is standing tall since the mid 1930s in the heart of Bratislava just a 5-minute walk away from Banco Casino.
I'm so grateful for the awesome life I have and the great partnerships I was able to build over the years. In a few days, I will be flying back to Slovakia where I am setting up a base in a nice flat together with PokerBelgique buddies and we won't be lacking action for sure!
Banco Casino is up for a hot Poker April! This is it! The perfect illustration of the direct actions we've been working on with one of my favourite humans on the block, David Pichler, who is still in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, before leaving Slovakia, I got notified that nine Ukrainians from the Kharkiv and Odesa regions were about to start their training in the Kosice and Bratislava casinos and that they were being assisted to find decent homes in order to start a new peaceful and independent life. GG and thank you again, Jan Packa at Banco Casino, for your open mind. |
FIND CONTENT:
All
|