High-stakes poker games can happen in some pretty spectacular places. It’s not surprising to see multi-million dollar prizes awarded in a single event. With that kind of money on the table, the World Series of Poker and other series choose some swanky surroundings for the games.
Poker is a card game that attracts an estimated 100 million players around the world – and that’s just online.
We’re going to share 3 of the most gorgeous places where you can play poker – but before that – have you ever played in a poker freeroll? That’s a free tournament with a real cash prize to win, and it can be the perfect way to start playing, without any risk. On our site, you can see today’s freerolls schedule.
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is in Monaco and sits along the French Riviera. It’s featured in gambling movies like Oceans 12 and it was even the setting for the very first scene of the first James Bond movie. The movies did a great job of showing Monte Carlo’s casinos and opulence (and there is a lot of both those things).
The European Poker Tour hosts regular tournaments here, but you’ll have no problem walking into casinos and playing poker like Bond.
A shot from a PokerStars EPT in Monte Carlo
There are less-expensive places to take a vacation, but Monte Carlo is unlike any other poker destination. Being at the base of the Alps along the Riviera is unforgettable, no matter how much you win or lose at the tables. For most of us, freerolls are an easier way to play.
Las Vegas
Unless this is your first time on the internet, you know the reputation of Las Vegas. If you haven’t been blinded by the Strip’s lights yet or felt the spray of the fountains, put this destination on your list.
The birthplace of Texas Holdem poker is everything that it’s hyped up to be.
The Taj Mahal Casino & Resort in a shot from Rounders
Vegas has been in more poker movies than any other place in the world. Matt Damon in Rounders gave a pretty accurate view of Las Vegas from a poker player’s point of view. In the movie, and in real life, Las Vegas is a kind of holy grail of poker, with a mythical history.
Back in 1970, some of the best-known players in the world set up a tournament that would show (in theory) the best player in the world each year. That’s how the World Series of Poker started, which still runs to this day in Vegas and other places around the globe, like Paris and Rio.
People flock to the Las Vegas Strip for poker, but there is also blackjack, magic shows, musicals, plays, and round-the-clock entertainment. It’s known to be expensive though, so you definitely won’t find any freerolls here.
Macau
People sometimes call Macau the “Monte Carlo of the East”, but in some places, it looks more like Las Vegas!
Macau is a Chinese region and there’s been a poker boom here in recent years. Lots of top pros show up for the Triton series, some of the biggest cash games and tournaments in the world. The Asia Pacific Poker Tour makes stops here, but non-professionals can play in lots of casinos too, like the Venetian, Babylon, Wynn, and Macau Palace.
Gambling is a big no-no in China, but Macau has a liberal stance on different forms of gambling, as long as the player is over 21. It’s actually a special administrative region, just like Hong Kong, so Macau has enough autonomy to go all-in on poker.
A shot of the Macau skyline
