Hi Guys,
Stumbled on this thread as i've been trying to find some good games / tournaments here in Morocco for quite a while.
Have been here for two years on and off. I've tried and tried to play low-stakes poker in Morocco to no avail. I live in Casablanca which is not a tourist city so there are no casinos. Apparently there are clandestine games that go on here, but you have to be in the know.
Headed down to Marrakech last year hoping to find a lively poker scene at Hotel Es Saadi. What a joke. Call the place a casino? It's just a dump full of slot machines. Arrived in the place at 8 pm in the evening and spoke to the brush. He explained that there was just one table of poker! The game started at 10 pm or 11 pm and was structured as a 5 euro / 10 euro table. Not sure what the rake was, I didn't stick around.
Have recently tried to organize a trip to Agadir. There are tournaments happening there this weekend from 25 to 29 June and apparently there will be cash tables at 2,4, 5,5, 5,10 and 10,20 and 20,40 levels (this is what I read in the email but whether that's what happens is another story). If you're interested you can email this guy in France
benlambert@club-internet.fr as far as I recall he has a blog in French on the interweb and has bene playing for quite a while.
As for Tanger, I would love to get some information about the Movenpick / Casino Malabata. Would you believe when you call them on the phone, they refuse to give you information about the game structure? I've never come across a Casino that was so dumb or arrogant. It's got something to do with the culture here where gambling is against people's religion (hichouma). So they refuse to give you information about the games. I was told I had to turn up at the Casino to find out... Like.. Thanks!
So, if anyone has information to share about Tanger I'd love to hear more.
One thing I learned was that the Movenpick is organizing a tournament on July 3 and 4. If you ring them they will give you the tournament director's number.
Otherwise, apparently a new Casino will open in El Jalidida (near Casablanca) as from October.
So that's all I know about the poker scene in Morocco. When I came here originally I'd hoped to play a lot more live poker but haven't had a single opportunity.