youtube

facebook

twitter

instagram
 

Poker in Spain

Introduction

Capital: Madrid

Population: 46,720,000

Currency: Euro (€)

Timezone: UTC+1

Casinos with Poker

  • Casino Barcelona
  • Casino Gran Madrid Torrelodones

 

 

Spain has a significant role in the world of international poker.

The European Poker Tour’s stop in Barcelona is always a highly anticipated event on the international poker schedule. It usually draws the biggest names which, in turn, draws significant media attention.

Also, Spain was one of the four nations – along with France, Portugal and Italy – who signed the European poker liquidity deal. This has been prominent industry news for years – the four countries agreed to open up their segregated national markets and share their player pools.

Gambling is popular in Spain, especially sports betting. The soccer loving nation’s betting market is even bigger than the UK’s. Poker is also commonly played. According to the World Casino Directory website, there are 45 operating poker rooms in Spain. It may not sound as many, but you can compare that, for example, to the neighboring Portugal, where that number is 5…

 

Famous Spanish Poker Players

Adrián Mateos has four WSOP gold bracelets. He won the €10,450 WSOP Europe Main Event for €1 million in 2013; the $1,500 Summer Solstice No Limit Hold’em event for $409,171 in 2016; the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up event for $335,656 the next year; and the $250,000 Super High Roller No Limit Hold’em event for $3.265 million in 2021. 

Under the screen name “Amadi_017”, Mateos has seen some success in the online MTT scene on PokerStars. In 2017, for example, he won a $2,100 SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker) 6-max event for $234,030.

David Lopez has cashed for over $3.15 million total playing MTT’s on both PokerStars and partypoker. His PS alias is “davaman”, while his partypoker screen name is “Sr.Penes”.

Sergio Aido has over $12.7 million in live tournament earnings. He won the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller for €1.589 million in 2019 in Monte Carlo. He beat a fellow Spaniard, Jesús Cortes, heads-up for that title.

 

– Playing Live Poker in Spain –

   Live Poker Legislation in Spain

Gambling became legal in Spain a few years after the Franco regime ended, in 1977. Then, all 17 autonomous regions got the right to set up their own licencing and regulatory framework. The 2011 Spanish Gaming Act was the first to introduce standardized nationwide rules, but those mostly pertain to online gambling. Land-based gambling is still under the control of regional gaming authorities.

 

  Live Poker Venues in Spain

One of the biggest tournament series in the world, the European Poker Tour makes a stop in Barcelona – almost – every year. The venue for the EPT events is usually Casino Barcelona.

There, the NLHE cash stakes start at €1/€3 and go up to €50/€100. However, if you rent the room out for a private game you can make the blinds as big as €1,000/€2,000! They also offer PLO (from €5/€10 to €50/€100) and Dealers Choice (€2/€2 and €5/€5) cash games to their guests. Please note that the only games you can pick at a Dealers Choice table are Hold’em and Omaha.

They usually have 2-3 tournaments per day on their schedule. Those are sometimes part of some of the biggest tournament series – aside from the aforementioned EPT, the WSOP Circuit, partypoker LIVE also host events in the casino. 

The biggest casino in Madrid is Casino Gran Madrid Torrelodones. There, you can find Hold’em cash tables with stakes ranging from €1/€2 to €20/€50, and PLO cash tables (from €2/€2 to €20/€50). They put on one tournament per day. The smallest event on their calendar is €35 buy-in, while the largest is €1,100.

 

 

– Casinos and Poker Rooms in Spain –

Casino Barcelona

Casino Gran Madrid Torrelodones

  Online Poker Legislation in Spain

The 2011 Spanish Gaming Act set up a nationwide licencing system. On the plus side, this means online poker is legal everywhere in the country; on the downside, obtaining a licence in Spain is hard. Online gambling sites also pay a 15% tax on their gross game returns.

However, all the major poker rooms are availablePokerStars, partypoker, etc. And, with the liquidity deal, players are now allowed to compete with other players from Italian, Portuguese, and French locations.