Discover Morocco's Thriving Poker Scene and Legislation
When one thinks of gambling and Morocco, a movie classic may be the first thing that comes to mind. The famous 1942 drama Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, is set in a luxury night club-casino in the large coastal city of Casablanca in Morocco.
Gambling is very popular in the country outside fiction as well. While fact is the population is a whopping 99% Muslim, and Islam does condemn gambling (calling it “maisir”) in the texts – however, despite all that, there is absolutely no legal restriction on gambling, land based or online, what so ever.
Therefore Morocco is one of the most prominent destinations in Africa when it comes to gambling. Many European tourists come to play there every year. Worldcasinodirectory.com lists 7 casinos in 5 different cities within the country. The biggest one out of the 7 is the Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort in the city of El Jadida. The city of Agadir has the most casinos, 3 to be exact.
As for poker, they can be considered quite a prominent location for the game also. They have been the home to WSOP International Circuit and World Poker Tour events as well. Pokerdiscover.com has 4 operating poker rooms in Morocco listed on their website.
Famous Moroccan Poker Players
Currently, William Kakon sits on top of the Moroccan all time money list on Hendon with $1.045 million in live tournament earnings. He was born in Casablanca but now lives in Florida.
Kokan is a WSOP gold bracelet winner. He took down the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event for $196,055 in 2015. That is also the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date.
Second on the list is Anas Tadini with $764,659 in career earnings. His biggest live tourney score is $105,954. He earned that by finishing first in the AED13,200 France Poker Series Main Event at the Mazagan Resort in December 2011.
On the virtual felt, a player playing from a Moroccan location under the screen name “bibichov1989” has amassed $318,000 in online MTT cashes on PokerStars. “CasablancAA” from the city of Casablanca has $385,373 in online tournament winnings.
Online Poker in Morocco
Online Poker Legislation in Morocco
In Morocco, online poker is largely unregulated, as the country’s gambling laws focus more on physical casinos and sports betting. While there are no specific laws targeting online poker, local regulations do not officially permit or license online gambling platforms. Many international poker sites are accessible in Morocco, and residents can participate, though they do so without legal protections. For a regulated poker experience, players often visit licensed casinos in cities like Casablanca or Marrakech.
Best Online Poker Sites in Morocco
Live Poker in Morocco
Live Poker Legislation in Morocco
There is no relevant legislation that would regulate gambling in the African country. Thus there is no authority to turn to for licences either. It’s essentially a “free-for-all” when it comes to gambling in Morocco.
Live Poker Venues in Morocco
We’ve mentioned the Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort in El Jadida in our intro. While they do not feature it on their website, they do have a casino room that has hosted poker tournaments in the past. In September 2016, for example, they put on the €11,000 Mazagan10 High Roller NLHE event.
When it comes to prominent poker events, however, Casino de Marrakech takes the cake in Morocco.
They were home to the WSOP International Circuit twice in 2019, and once in January 2020, right before the Coronavirus crisis hit. The WSOPC had events with buy-ins ranging from AED2,000 (~$550) up to an AED30,000 ($8,250) high roller. Casino de Marrakech also hosted WPT Deepstack events in September 2019 with buy-ins between AED2,000 and AED30,000 as well.
If you’re looking for year-round consistent poker action, however, Casino Atlantic in Agadir may be the place for you, They run daily No Limit Hold’em and Omaha tournaments. The smallest NLHE event on their schedule is a MAD250 ($27.50) buy-in with a MAD200 ($22) rebuy and add-on. Meanwhile, their biggest event is a MAD2,200 ($240) NLHE freezeout tournament. They also have a weekly MAD150 ($16.50) PLO tourney.
On top of the tournaments, they also have a cash game room running 24/7 with NLHE and PLO tables. The lowest stakes tables are MAD10/20 ($1.10/$2.20), while the highest are MAD100/$200 ($11/$22).
![Morocco [MAR]](/assets/images/flags/4x3/ma.svg "Morocco [MAR]"){kind=small}
