Munich Poker Fair

"Poker Events" and 888.com hosted the "1st Munich Poker Fair" at this weekend. They had a previous event in Nuernberg with big success but a way too small location. Here in Munich it was held in an event area called "Kultfabrik" in a huge hall. So it wasn't a surprise that the fair attracted a crowd of mainly young people between 20-30. As I heard about the big crowd that went to Nuernberg I tried to be early at opening time but there was a line already. The inside looked great with those 20+ pokertables in the middle and the exhibitors around on the sides.

They called it a "fair" that offered some tournaments in addition. I would call it a tournament with some exhibitors. Unfortunately not many exhibitors found their way to the fair. Of course Poker Events and their subsidiaries (Al Capone and Poker Travels) as well as 888.com The only other pokerroom with a booth was Intertops. Other exhibitors: ISA, AniMazing, PokerSpecs, Nuernberger Spielkartenvertrieb, Poker Magazin and Poker Olymp. Poker Olymp (with Tony Vardjavand) had a special guest: Marcel Luske made a quick visit on his way to the airport. Too bad he couldn't stay longer as he seems to be a very friendly and entertaining person. At the 888.com booth Michael Koerner from the DSF was there. Michael Keiner was scheduled for tomorrow.

Of course I met Razerlog from Salzblogger and we chatted a little before he had to work (as he was there for business). Another nice guy I was happy to meet in person after knowing him only via the internet for some time.

Of course most interest was in the tournament that awarded a WSOP seat as first prize. It cost €20 to take part. They have 20 tables (10 players each) and do 10 heats. First qualifies (second gets a second chance ticket). So 200 players advance to the final on sunday which is most probably again 20 winners advancing for a 2 table freezout. I leave it to you to do the math and decide if it is worth to take part in that tournament. I decided for myself that I take part once as I was there already. The structure is not crappy but below decent. You get 4,000 chips, blinds are 12 min. and escalate 50/100, 100/200, 150/300 and so on. I went out on 4th position (during a double all-in that eliminated 3rd position too). At this time we played about 90 minutes reaching blinds of 1,000/2,000 ... so at least you get some entertainment for your money ;-))

This event/fair will see most probably well over 500 vistors per day. Poker is "hip" especially with the young people. So what about gambling addiction? Honestly, the vast majority of people was here for having fun. In this generation alcohol and smoking will be much more dangerous than poker! Alcohol and smoking are more dangerous for peoples health but unfortunately both have a much bigger lobby...!