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Yo! I'm in Groningen, in the North, which is the largest city up this way. I don't know really how Amsterdam compares in terms of action, since I haven't played poker there. There is only one place I know to play in Holland, the Holland Casino, which is state-owned, with outlets around the country. There may be others, but I don't know about them, and I kind of doubt they would be legal, but I am not sure about this.
All the games here have dealers (thank god), though some are inept - students with two weeks training who have trouble picking out the winning hand. Amsterdam should be better. Here in Groningen they run 3 10 EUR SG's a night with no rake. I won one of these on my limited NL experience. Rake on ring games is 10% over 10 EUR. Here they have a 2/4 limit 40 EUR min 100 EUR max buy-in, and the 2/2 NL, min 50 EUR and max 200 EUR. Only three tables total, so usually there are two 2/2 NL games and one 2/4 limit game, unless there aren't enough people for the limit. From the Holland Casino website for Amsterdam, it seems like they have 10 EUR SNG's and 50 EUR multitables on certain days in the week. I do know that they will put a 5/5 game together here in Groningen, but it is rare to have enough players here for that level, but I am guessing that it should be no problem in Amsterdam.
Beware, the poker starts at 8:00 pm a and closes down at 3 am on weekdays, and opens at 2: 00 pm on weekends, closing at 3 am.
So, all in all, Groningen here is mostly amateur hour compared to a US poker room, but isn't it wonderful? Usually at least 3-4 serious fish at any given time at the NL tables (weekends are best of course), and I mean fish as in they never sat down at a poker table before. And almost ALL fish at the limit games here. I suspect too that the regulars here that I see as "good" are probably just fattened up on all of the soft pickings and probably couldn't handle a serious game with some semi-professionals.
Amsterdam probably has many more tables- but I would suspect much less fishy, but I am only guessing, since you are likely to find a bunch of partying tourists there too. Who's the Dutch guy that's a serious pro ? The one that wears his sunglasses upside down?
Guys here have told me they found nice soft cash games during and after the tournaments in Amsterdam. I'm not a player by any means, just now picking off the 0.05/.10 NL games on Full Tilt- but the casino here in Groningen is a paradise - regularly the 2-3 friends with a few drinks blowing 50 at limit, or buying in with 50 at the NL table. Kind of funny, but the Dutch have a gambling streak from what I can tell (I'm American). Everybody speaks english so no problem anywhere. You do see poker on TV here, and the biggest fish are the young guys who are playing Gus Hansen.
You'll find the Holland Casinos clean with polite staff if your experience is like mine. I've played at Foxwoods, in Vegas, Colorado (low limit for fun, but I usually run about even), and this is the softest I've ever seen. Even the regular players seem to be way pumped up on a little bit of knowledge from what I can see (otherwise I shouldn't be able to stay with them with my limited NL experience). One young guy whose game I respect a lot (probably the best I've seen here; I saw him switch up gears really nice and set up a few guys with some early bluffs and let them take some wins) took down 900 EUR profit at my table over a span of about 4 hours (I ended up 30 EUR up on the night). I just steered very wide of him and saw him take the fish down before I could get to them. Best I've done here is 200 EUR in one session. He's a regular 4 table internet guy, so there are likely some good quality sharks here (to me at least), but this guy and a German guy who drives the 2 hours here to Groningen every month or two to take down the game are the two that I have spotted that would be way out of my league. I think there are some regulars here who win regularlay on the internet and at the B&M, but mostly they all seem to be cowboys to me.
I might suggest to take a train ride to one of the other Holland Casinos outside of Amsterdam - my bet is that the action will be much softer. No city is more than 2.5 hours from Amsterdam by train. Check out the Holland Casino website: www.hollandcasino.nl.
Everyone hear goes for NL like TV, but if you can get a limit game you might like it. The NL guys here for the most part don't even understand the concept of taking the bluff out of their game in limit, or just not even care enough to bother paying attention. You hear a lot of how much limit sucks from guys here - and it seems mainly that there isn't enough gamble to it for them. I've never encountered a regular here who understood limit like a couple of read-throughs of Slansky's low limit hold'em book would give you. I regularly beat the regular NL players who were stuck on the limit table here waiting for a seat at the NL table. I've just had to switch my game to NL since there are always two tables going here (and maybe no limit table). So, I'm just polishing up now on Full Tilt to try to take down the 2/2 game here, since I think it is definitely do-able for me in the not too distant future. You guys should probably be able to demolish it. Remember, in Holland, Amsterdam is much more sophisticated (and worldly) than the other places like Groningen, Utrecht, or Leeuwarden.
The Dutch Open is also happening at the various locations starting around 20 August all the way through Sept., so picking up some of the cash games on the side may be good. My experience here comes after about 20 sessions over the last 3 months. At first I thought it was too good to be true, but it really seems to be. The realistic possibility of taking those games down is what got me to really start studying up and getting serious about my poker. When I started winning at the limit game here, I didn't really have much more to my game than good starting hands and position play. The times I've seen guys here take off for a smoke when the button comes to them just makes me giddy.
Any specific questions you have? I'd be happy to help however I can.
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Greetings and a thank you
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Originally Posted by bigred
