With the new COVID-19 situation, the Spanish government has decided to extend the entry ban on non-essential trips imposed on the majority of third countries residents until late January.
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This week, the CNP Madrid Gran Final partner, Hotel Pax, sold out but the organisation snap-found a deal with another place nearby.
I am planning to enter Spain soon in the middle of the latest Covid wave that visits Europe for the holiday. Entering Spain as such does not seem too tricky for now depending on where you are coming from.
I must admit, I am pretty speechless about what is happening again in Europe in terms of complications when it comes to travel restrictions, curfews and lockdowns. After spending the last 2 months in the U.S. , I had almost forgotten what the European Covid circus was about. One spot on the old continent seems to be ok though: the weather is nice, restrictions don't seem to be too bad and Poker promoters are still holding on their plans for now. How about spending the winter weeks in Spain?
I am leaving Madrid tomorrow morning on a flight to Brussels where I will stay less than 12 hours before moving on to the Czech Republic.
I am still enjoying the Casino Gran Via Poker action together with Alex Rotenberg these days. The Golden Poker festival is still in full swing and I am really stoked to meet again with people from all over Europe. We are shooting a lot of photography these days and we're compiling our favourite shots in a common album. Find the Madrid Flickr archive just below and you might also visit THE-ROUNDER.net Facebook page.
There's more coming since the festival will be on for another full 2 days. You will also find plenty of updates and shares in INSTAGRAM stories and TWITTER.
Buenos dias and greetings from Madrid! Today is already the 4th day of the Golden Poker comeback to Casino Gran Via! Last night was a busy Wednesday with more than 200 entries in 1B the Main Event after 137 entries in Day 1A. Poker Red is providing the official coverage of the festival (links below) with photo and video illustrations by David Piriz.
I am here for the cash games basically ... ;) but I am also super pleased to spend some time with Alex 'Brutally Honest' Rotenberg who is teaming up with me this week to provide images and updates here on THE-ROUNDER.NET.
The Madrid Golden Poker Championship starts today for a full week of Poker in the heart of the Spanish capital.
I will be in Madrid from Wednesday. Check out the full schedule below and see you there!!
With already more than 1000 entries in the Main Event, the Golden Poker Championship is starting to sell out. Yesterday, the management announced a few modifications in the schedule with a new opening event and two extra Main Event Day 1s in an attempt to dilute the incoming flow of reservations.
The Melia Innside hotel is also sold out for now but NH still has a few rooms close by. Get busy now through the POKER TRIPS section if you're still intending to join the gathering in Madrid next week!
The SPF train is stopping in Madrid at Casino Gran Via in late November for one week. The official schedule has just been released on Twitter!
SPF is off to places again! After a successful comeback festival in their home casino in Castellon this summer, the brand is on the move again with an upcoming festival in Murcia. Find all details in the tweet below and check out the POKER TRIPS section for more updates about Poker events this fall and winter.
The initial plans was to spend 2-3 months straight in Portugal during autumn but then ... life ... :) Plans would be half the thrill if they would not change, so here we go. I'm flying to Luxembourg for a quick pit stop before taking another trip to Madrid for the GOLDEN POKER CHAMPIONSHIP : to grind the juicy cash games, maybe play some tournament Poker (Damian, please don't!), meet los amigos and to ...
... SHOOT SOME POKER PHOTOGRAPHY !! :D
The Golden Poker Championship Madrid is closing in and there is some good news: the capacity of the event could be increased a bit thanks to the efforts of the Casino Gran Via staff.
It's still a good idea to book your tournament seats online in advance ... âDetails below - see you in Madrid!
It's gonna be goodbye Portugal for a while from early October for me. Looks like I am going to spend most of my October in Spain. First, I will be heading to Madrid for the Golden Poker Championship event before moving on to SPF Murcia for the end of the month.
Find these events and more coming up in the POKER TRIPS section of this site.
Only dates so far but that's already exciting enough to share the news :-) Updates incoming soon for the next Spanish Poker Festival in Spain and we're off to Casino Gran Via in the heart of the Spanish capital. Vamos!
Stay tuned on spfpoker.com and in the POKER TRIPS section of my site. View galleries further down or view more of my PHOTOS here.
Spain seems to be back in business for good when it comes to live Poker. SPF, CNP, Golden ... some of the major actors of Iberian Poker are back! While the SPF Castellon is on at the moment, some Covid curfews are still in place on the Mediterranean coast which is not a great thing in terms of cash game profitability. That's why I decided to skip the festival and I am now back in Madrid for a week of Gran Via cash game action in the heart of the capital where the local government is very relaxed about sanit(ar)y measures and opening times. We play with masks but the plexiglass separations are mostly gone here. Finally!
After the Israel Poker Tour of early July, Cash Game Weekend is back with another cash game festival during the early August period so why not get back to Batumi on the Georgian Black Sea shores for some great live Poker action around the clock?! Dates: 04-09 August, 2021 Location: Royal Casino & Hotel Batumi Get in touch with me for complimentary service & accommodation offers for players. You can get your premium room for free for 7 hours of play per day or 35 hours of table time over the 5 days.
It has been almost a year now since the Al Andalus Poker Circuit Main Event in Seville. The Al Andalus Seville festival was the first of a dozen Poker festivals scheduled throughout Andalusia during 2020. The event was scheduled from 9th to 15th March 2020 if I am not mistaken but we never made it to Day 1C since the festival was interrupted after the end of Day 1B when the first countries of Europe were starting lockdowns. I bagged a decent stack for Day 2, a Day 2 that never came so far and the organiser has been quiet ever since.
There are still no updates about when we are going to be able to carry out the rest of the event. You will find a link to the photos I shot during my brief stay in the PHOTOS & COVERAGES section and I will post news if there is a way to pull this off during 2021.
Exactly two weeks have passed since I made my way from Spain to confine myself at some friends' place in Luxembourg and although I could not have dreamt of better conditions to stay in lockdown, I am growing anxious about the sad record I am about to set. It must have been 10 years since I last stayed in the same spot for 15 days or more...
Psychologically speaking it's really hard to stay confined when all you usually do is moving around. It's especially hard when you don't have a place of your own to be confined in while watching everything you had been working for over the last months and years is crumbling as you helplessly watch the days go by. We are for instance starting to give up on some of our cinema release projects switching to VOD release solutions with #sawahmovie in Belgium for instance. The financial loss will be huge: 5 ... maybe even 6 figures and hundreds of hours of work by dozens of people are just going down the drain. Not much news about the Luxembourg release of 'My grandpa is an alien' until now and I am still investing last energy bursts to try to keep the #chagosfilm dream alive. More news will follow via our production company Wady Media. Also, it does not look like we will get back to playing live Poker before autumn and international photo reporting also seems far away as travel restrictions will still last for weeks or months according to what I have learned from government and institution officials I know personally... Tough one to keep a traveller's blog active in these times so all I thought of doing for now was to update my photo section with recent shots of Portugal and Spain. I am not shooting much in Luxembourg these days as I am mainly focused on helping those I can (I helped producing Covid19 info videos for the population and I am assisting social workers in translating and spreading useful news to people in need). I am also seeking solutions for myself as I am not eligible for any government help so there are probably tough times coming up for me financially speaking with no home, no income and no more ongoing projects to lean on. Being stuck in one of the most expensive places in the world (a room in a shared flat costs up to €1.000/month over here) will probably consume what's left of my bankroll and reserves in a matter of months if I don't act quickly. Right now, the best I can do in order to soften the fall is getting back to grinding the online Poker tables as standard job search looks kinda hopeless. Enjoy some of my latest photos and stay as safe as you can out there. I'll be back in Sevilla soon. Goodbye Sevilla Poker Open - Welcome Al-Andalus Poker Circuit!
You'll find links to photo albums of my stops there during last December and January below. Enjoy!
My POKER TRIPS section got an update!
A new #spfpoker flyer was uploaded with the new date for SPF SUMMER at King's and you'll find info for the March festivals I am planning to attend in Spain. For the rest, there should be some surfing and cash game action going on in Portugal and maybe some more cash games in Brussels later during the month. After the grand kick-off of SPF 2020 in Rozvadov in early February, we are heading back to Spain for the first Spanish leg of the tour this year. See you in beautiful Granada this March just after the Al-Andalus Poker Circuit stop in Seville.
Need help for accommodation and travel options? I might be able to assist you! As announced earlier this year, the SEVILLA POKER OPEN has become an Andalusia Poker tour with the Al-Andalus Poker Circuit!
The first leg will be played this coming March in Sevilla. Find detailed info below. If you need assistance for accommodation and travel tips, get in touch! Big upgrade in the Andalusia Poker scene for this year as the success of the four 2019 Sevilla Poker Open stops have turned into a new Poker circuit in Sevilla, Granada and San Roque! Bienvenido, Al-Andalus Poker Circuit!
You can stay tuned about detailed schedules and join us through the POKER TRIPS section. |
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