I plan to take a trip to Vienna in the near future. I would be interested in playing in a tournament or two (I prefer no limit HE events) while I am there. Can anyone provide me with information on where to play, types of tournaments available, etc.? I would also be interested in information on ring games that are available.
Answer 1:
The ‘official’ casino operation company (where you will also find BJ, roulette, craps and slots):
Answer 2:
In Vienna there are two main poker clubs – The Concord and Poker World. They both are open 24 hours, have lots of cash game tables, and run regular tournaments with buy-ins ranging from ATS100($8) to ATS500 ($40). The $40 tournaments usually have a prize pool guarantee of ATS100, 000 ($8,000) and are run on Tuesdays & Saturdays at 7:00 pm at the Concord and Fridays at 8:00 pm at Poker world. The concord is known for regularly having ATS100-200 Stud and HE tables running, while Poker world has lower limits usually 20-40, 30-60 and 50- 100. Both offer Pot Limit Omaha, typically with 2 blinds of ATS 50 and a buy-in of ATS 2000. The Omaha games come and go, depending on the mood of the players at the time. Best times are tournament nights as well as Monday nights, don’t ask me why. There are also government-run casinos in Vienna, Velden, Baden, Seefeld, Bregenz, Innsbruck, and maybe other places as well, but these have limited hours, limited number of tables, the rakes are high, the toke expectation is ridiculous and the personnel treat you like you are there to serve them and not the other way around. I personally avoid these like the plague. I think another poster gave the websites of the above casinos. In addition there is http://eppa.bigfoot.com which is the site of the European Poker Players Association (EPPA) – worth checking out.
Answer 3:
For a list of upcoming major tournaments in Austria and the rest of Europe, go to <http://www.yeayou.com/pokertour> This is a travel website I operate for major poker tournaments in Europe (primarily) with descriptions of the events.