Europe and Poker

[piersmajestyk]

I have been pondering a move recently to some place different for awhile and after reading through the CP Europe magazines it struck me as perhaps a nice place to spend some time playing cards and seeing some different areas. For those who live in Europe what are some of your thoughts on the various card playing locales as well as a generic synopsis of the cost of living in the various countries. My wife has been to Ireland and loved it and I have to admit that it seems pretty apealling to me as well compared to some other places but since I have never traveled there I don't to prejudge any place over the other. Thanks for any thoughts.

[Molina]

[piersmajestyk]

[Molina]

Also, i doubt the Irish cardrooms will be open during the day, probably 6-7pm until 3am, though thats sheer speculation. Whats happened to the house you were going to build on the plantation? How long are you thinking of living in Europe?

Molina

[piersmajestyk]

I am still going to build it as it doesn't cost very much so it will be ready when I return. I would probably only stay a year or so if I decide to make that move, nothing permanent. I just have a scratch to see some place new and spend some time in a different environment.

[Saltirescot]

If it is of any help it might depend on how frequently you were planning to play as to where you might base yourself.

If you were planning to play every few days then the available card rooms in Dublin/Amsterdam/Vienna might dry up very quickly and you would become well known very quickly.

London of course would not give you problem given the size of this metropolis. It is though a very expensive city and in my opinion hugely overrated though I've never much liked any sprawling city.

If you weren't playing very often and treating this more as a life experience then I would recomend Amsterdam as a base.
English is freely spoken by everyone, it has a great airport (Schipol) with links to the rest of Europe by plane or by rail through Central station and places like Paris and Brussells are only a few hours away.
It is also a very pleasant city in which to live (though by no means cheap) though if you are coming from Venezuela then I would imagine you are prepared for this in any European city.

I couldn't comment on the poker scene in Amsterdam though I would doubt it is that big and Dublin is likely to have more action but Dublin does suffer from the fact that it doesn't present the breadth of travel opportunities that Amsterdam offers and while there are many direct flights to mainland Europe often it will be two flights and changing planes in London or Amsterdam.

Hope this of some help.

[piersmajestyk]

Thanks for the input SScot. The ease of travel aspect is definately something I need to consider as well as it would be nice to visit as many places as possible while I am there without having to hop on a plane to do so.

The one thing that I picked up from Rolf Slotboom is that there wasn't too lively of a scene for poker unless that has changed recently. I will still probably play the majority of the time on the internet so perhaps that wouldn't be such a big deal but it would be nice to have a pretty sizeable poker room nearby that had quite a few offerings in regard to limits and games.

[Felonius_Monk]

From what I hear, Dublin has some pretty loose games. The cost of living is pretty high in Britain, and, outside of London, you won't find a lot of poker. London is an absolutely brilliant city, however, if you can put up with the cost, and, if you're prepared to play NL or PL, there's a lot of cardrooms and undoubtedly there'll be some good action.

Amsterdam is a lovely city though never played poker there. Vienna has a few of the bigger games in Europe and I hear the action is also good there (lots of Middle Eastern rich folks seem to gravitate there for some reason) but the cost of living will be somewhere between extortionate and astronomical. Cheaper would be living in a smaller town and "commuting" in to work (the train system in mainland Europe, esp. Austria and Switzerland, is excellent, though the price of fuel for your car will be 3 or 4 times higher than you're used to). Not everyone in Austria/Switzerland speaks English, especially in smaller towns. Paris is rumoured to have some good action, as well as some interesting games (Courcheval for instance; 5-card PLO with the first board card dealt before the hole cards), though I don't care much for the place. It's too expensive and, in general, one of the more stand-offish (some might say rude) places to visit, though I don't know about staying. Again, everyone will know English though generally won't always go out of their way to use it.

Hope this helps.

Monk
xxxxx

[piersmajestyk]

Thanks for the input Monk. I think if I do pull this off I will probably lean toward living in a smaller town and commuting and with the price of gas the train system sounds like a gem.