Poker back at Holland Casino

After more than a year and a half, it finally seems to be happening. Poker is coming back at Holland Casino, Since March 12, 2020 it is no longer possible to play a live poker game at the casino, but that seems to be changing now.

This is announced by the Holland Casino itself. Previously, poker was expected to return to the casinos on September 1, 2021 at the latest but that seems to be postponed by a month.

From October 1, measures permitting, you would finally be able to play poker again in a Holland Casino establishment. The plans are ready at Holland Casino which plans to reopen the poker tables from the moment it is allowed again.

More (illegal) tournaments after poker disappearance at Holland Casino

Holland has a huge number of poker players and Holland Casino is the only place in Holland where you can play a legal cash game or poker tournament. Since the poker tables remained empty at the state-owned casino, illegality increased. Online casinos offering poker but still not licensed by the KSA became crowded.

Physical poker tournaments also became increasingly popular. Now these always take place, but during the lockdown one illegal poker tournament after another was rounded up by the police. There were raids in Hoofddorp, Boesingheliede, Haarlem and Den Bosch. In total more than € 100.000 cash and even weapons were seized in these raids and the organizers were arrested.

Poker at Holland Casino

Back in the day, when Corona was all about that Mexican beer, you could play live poker at 11 of Holland Casino's 14 branches. Today, that's zero but the expectation is that you'll be able to play poker again this fall, at least. However, a number of locations will stop offering poker.

Poker will return to Holland Casino in the following branches:

• Amsterdam Centre.
• Breda.
• Enschede.
• Leeuwarden.
• Utrecht.
• Rotterdam.
• Valkenburg.
• Venlo.

Changes at Holland Casino

In the past, you could walk into Holland Casino and, after being identified, walk straight to your favorite game to get started. Nowadays that has changed somewhat. There was a time when you had to make a reservation before you could visit the casino. Now this is only required on Saturdays and Sundays. The other days you do not need to make a reservation.

The one and a half meter rule applies in the casino and also there is a maximum number of players allowed in each branch. If the maximum number of players is reached, access will be denied until players leave.

The online Holland Casino will be launched on October 1

On October 1, Holland Casino will launch the online casino as one of the first legal providers on the market. This means that you no longer have to travel to a physical casino nearby. You can play casino games and poker at home or on the go.

The offer will be much larger than in the physical halls of Holland Casino. There is a special cooperation with Playtech. The online casino is built with the Playtech iPoker software. This is expected to provide you with over a thousand different games.

Live poker allowed in other countries

In Las Vegas, but also in France, Belgium and the Czech Republic at the WSOPE for example, you can already play poker in the physical casinos. This is done with a Plexiglas wall between each player. This seems of course the perfect solution to get all poker players to the tables as quickly as possible. The problem is, however, that these plexiglass walls are not an alternative to the one and a half meter measure that the cabinet has taken. Therefore, you'll really have to wait until those measures are passed, or modified, before poker is back at Holland Casino.

What does this mean for poker tournaments?

The real poker fans know of course that this also means another opportunity for the big poker tournaments that traditionally take place at Holland Casino every year. The last major poker tournament to be held was abruptly stopped on March 12.

Last year, the MCOP, the Masters Classic of Poker was cancelled for the first time in 30 years. Although first the small-scale cash games, How to make a deposit at an Indian casino, and poker tournaments will return, Holland Casino hopes to organize the MCOP at the end of the year. Everything depends on the measures of the government. For now, it looks like the tournaments will take place. Poker at Holland Casino is almost back!