Portugal has entered its 4th month of winter 2020/2021 lockdown. Psychologically speaking, this one has struck me a lot harder than the spring lockdown of 2020.

With all work projects down the drain and almost no opportunities to play live, my focus has stayed on online Poker and studying A LOT but we all know how your soul starts melting when you hit a longer streak of swinging down variance lane and I was forced to navigate strong inner emotional currents.

My mum keeps hating it :-p but it still looks like playing Poker is THE revenue generating activity that will make me stay afloat. That said, I have only been staying afloat financially. Mentally, the ride through the winter months has been rough and ugly.

If you hav a routine of playing online on Winamax and you have not been able to play since yesterday morning, you should read what follows before tilting further.

As a matter of fact, it has been impossible to connect to the French online Poker market leader servers since roughly yesterday 10:30am. The reason is somehow unusual as some key Orange telecommunications installations have been vandalised bringing down a huge part of the South Paris area Internet network including two French departments. The damage happens to be so severe that the Internet provider initially announced that it would take them until Saturday afternoon to bring back online thousands of clients including private individuals and many companies among which Winamax with its servers that happen to be physically located in that area. By now, there are maybe hopes to get everybody back online for Thursday night as Poker News France reported but it seems the situation is already improving today.

After the success of the winter edition in February 2020 and after moving the dates of the big #spfpoker summer Poker party to later in July/August in order to accommodate more players more comfortably, it's now time (with no big surprise) to announce the latest COVID-19 victim in our festival schedule.

Besides, Sevilla, Granada and San Roque, the SPF festivals of Madrid (May), Valencia (May), Bilbao (June) and now Rozvadov (July/August) are officially cancelled with all Al Anadlus events in between also suppressed from our calendars and there might be more following. Officially, we are trying to work out new dates and possible solutions for 2021 but the blow to the organising teams is significant.

Every online Poker traffic analyist site is going nuts these weeks! Spring has been amazing this year ... not necessarily the weather although it has been very nice here in Luxembourg over the duration of my already +six-week self-isolation (6 weeeeeeks?! - OMG!!).

As a non-stop traveling Poker player, photo reporter and film maker, this has been an experience I had not tested for 10-15 years. I cannot really tell but it has been longer than I can spontaneously remember since I stayed for so long in the same spot and I am not even mentioning the fact of staying in the same house. As a homeless rounder, the movement restrictions brought a lot of interrogations about myself. Not only was I (and I still am very much) worried about the future of my projects in the film and photo industry, I also had to face the prospect of not being able to go back to the live Poker tables ... potentially for months ...

So it's official now! There will be no Poker party in the Nevada desert this summer. The mother of all Poker festivals has folded yesterday. Officially, it is postponed to fall or winter 2020, talks and rumors about an online edition of the 51st annual World Series of Poker are being mentioned here and there but many believe that we are more probably heading towards a plain and simple cancellation of the world championship of our favorite game.

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.

The corona suckout has struck hard and it looks like we are off and away for a relatively long time out. I am kinda stuck in Peñiscola, Spain for now but I am healthy and I spent my time in zones where outbrakes were small or non-existent so I should be allowed to leave Spain for Luxembourg during the coming week. Vamos a ver ...

For the rest, all my travels are on hold for the moment as all events I was planning to attend have been cancelled anyway. What's more, all of my photography, reporting, filmmaking ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶p̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶d̶a̶n̶c̶i̶n̶g̶ gigs have been cancelled until this summer. Sick bad beat!

I guess, I will be back to the online grind for a few weeks ... #allinnowhereforawhile . I will keep my POKER TRIPS section updated as soon as things get moving again.

Time to think about new projects ... In the meanwhile, enjoy some photos I shot in Spain over the last days.

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!

10-day time out in Luxembourg before moving on to The Netherlands for the upcoming Holland Casino Series on the coast of Den Haag.

No accommodation deals to share with you for that one but I'll happy to meet buddies for sunset drinks by the sea :)

This one will be followed by Sevilla and Granada in Spain for the beginning of March. More info in the POKER TRIPS secton!

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.

9 stops have been announced last December when #spfpoker 2020 was launched. In the meanwhile, we have increased this number to 11 and it might not be over yet ... While we are preparing for the first stop of the year at King's Resort Rozvadov, watch out for new announcements in the POKER TRIPS section and find out about the upcoming stops below.

Get in touch if you need info or assistance to join us somewhere!

I left the Iberian peninsula last night and I am getting ready for month number 2!

February will kick off with the SPF King's Winter Edition and I am planning to make my way to Prague a bit before. Maybe to enjoy myself in one of my favourite cities in Europe and maybe to go play my favourite card game in Rozvadov ...

As a matter of fact, the Big Wrap will soon be back just before the Spanish Poker Festival. For the rest of the month, it looks like I'll be cruising around again quite a bit besides the Czech Republic with trips to Dublin (IE) and maybe to Scheveningen (NL). I have no accommodation options to share for Scheveningen for now but King's can offer you good deals for your rooms during the Big Wrap.

For the #spfpoker stop at King's, we have a few 5* packages left including airport shuttles from 3rd to 10th February. Also, don't hesitate to request offers for single nights.

Dublin is always a great place to be to play cards and I have hotel deals to share with you.

Scroll down for visuals and out more in the POKER TRIPS section.

For their 7th edition, D4 Events are hosting the DUBLIN POKER FESTIVAL again at The Bonnington Hotel Conference Center featuring the 13th European DeepStack, the 7th Amateur Championship Of Poker and the popular Irish Seniors' event.

Save the dates from 13th to 23rd February 2020!

Structures have been improved and the Big Blind Ante is being introduced for all tournaments this year.

Double and twin hotel rooms are available on site for €99 par night if you stay for a minimum of 3 nights.

For booking, you can get in touch through the CONTACT & INFO section!

The 3* and 4* hotel packages have sold out over the last days bringing the SPF packages to a total of more than 160 already. The first SPF King's edition of the year is building up!! In addition, a group of 100 T.I.P.S. Indians will be around for the High Roller events.

The finals of SPO 2019 are coming up in a few days! I'll be off to Portugal tomorrow before making my way to awesome Seville. The SPO finals Main Event prize pool has already +€25k added money coming from the various promotion over the year (Buy-in Plus). As a very special feature you also get a discount for every stop you've played. All details HERE.

Above, you'll find the last minute hotel promo SPO has just fired out on their social media pages.

Interested in joining? Get in touch via my POKER TRIPS page!

For this coming new year, you can call me 'El Ambassador' ^^

As a matter of fact, after years of collaboration and of #nuncasuerte , I am very veeeery happy to be officially part of the Spanish Poker Festival crew as an ambassador for the brand.

We have lanched a completely new website this weekend under www.spfpoker.com with the announcement of the 11 SPF stops of 2020. There will be 9 cities on the tour map with two stops each in Madrid and in Rozvadov. Also, you will find some new spots on the map like the stop in Vigo for instance. Find out all there is to know about this upcoming #spfpoker year.

I can help you find all the info to make your way to the stops in case you are planning to drop by and you will always find the available packages in the POKER TRIPS section of this site.

See you on the Spanish roads!

What about some cash game in Georgia?

CASH GAME WEEKEND offers 100% cash game stops, mostly in Eastern European cities and often in Georgia lately where they operate in Batumi and also in the capital, Tbilisi. Their next stop is coming up at the amazing Jewel Casino in Biltmore Hotel and there's plenty of accommodation packages available.

The SPO is a recent project on the Spanish Poker map and it is a pretty pleasant one. Casino Admiral Sevilla is very fine and freshly renovated gambling establishment and it is located not far from the heart of wonderful Seville.