Just spent 12 days in Bulgaria. Went to play the Microgaming tournament which was held at Casino Sofia. Bricked the main event but a run in a side event gave me one cash at least. I'd highly recommend this tournament series.

I really liked Sofia a lot. Definitely a lot less overtly touristic than the other Eastern European capitals I've been to (Bratislava, Prague, Budapest, Tbilisi) - I enjoyed the vibe there a lot. There are bit parks and forests that are very close to the centre of the city, plus a giant mountain is very close too. People were very friendly and the younger people mostly spoke some decent English. Found some interesting bars and food options and had a very pleasant time strolling around. Metro is very easy to use and costs 1 lev per journey (50 cents)

Burgas is a port city. Sadly it rained almost all of the time I was there, but did get the chance to eat some nice food. The last day the weather was great so we got the opportunity to spend time on the beach and in the 'sea garden' which is the huge park that runs alongside the seafront.

Also did a daytrip to Nessebar which is a very touristy little town up the coast. Didn't really enjoy it but then the weather was also bad! Not my kind of place though.

Plovdiv is a hidden gem. Didn't know much about this city but I'd highly recommend it. Lots of old buildings, streets, ruins including a very cool amphitheater. There is a part of town called Kapana which is small streets with little shops, bars etc that is excellent to hang out in.

Sad I didn't get the chance to make it to Varna or to the mountains but it is good to save something until next time.

=============

It is really really cheap. I found the prices generally about half of what things would cost in Berlin which makes travelling and being there very affordable.

We travelled around on the buses which was very easy and not too expensive. Buses were pretty comfortable, we booked them all on the day of travel. The ones we used had wifi. Roads are mixed, some good, some bad

As for the poker. My feeling is that the Bulgarian poker scene suffers from government taxation. There was only one casino in Sofia I could find which ran tournaments - I was told that this is because every poker table in a casino is taxed quarterly. So it doesn't make financial sense to have a bunch of tables to run tournaments, most just have a couple for cash games.

Casino Sofia is in the centre of the city. I won a package so got to stay at the Radisson next door which is a decent hotel with a great view of the parliament and the cathedral.

I generally enjoyed the poker there. The local players were good natured, the games were fast and the dealers were good. Unfortunately the casino is horribly smoky, despite the fact that it is officially non smoking. I really hated that my clothes stunk of second hand smoke every night. They get around this by not providing ashtrays at all. If you smoke, then you use a coffee cup as an ashtray. I was also told that they get a warning when the inspector comes and then nobody smokes on that day, other than that it is no problem!

Officially the tournament area was non smoking, but it was next to the rest of the casino. I was seated next to the owner of the casino in one tournament and at the break he lit up a big fat cigar and stayed in his seat. I guess nobody is going to argue with him?!?

Beer was free in the casino in and the food was incredibly cheap.

It seems they have the best cash game action in the city including a biggish PLO game and of course NLH.

I did a quick look around other casinos in the city but I couldn't find much going on. If you are in Sofia then I'd say Casino Sofia is the place to play.

I also played a small tourney at Casino Ritz in Plovdiv. I really liked this casino. Great decor which reminded me of the Golden Nugget in Vegas. They only have three tables but run MTTs every day. The biggest of which is a 100 lev/50 euro freezeout on Saturday night. Cash games begin once people bust from the tourney.

Didn't find any poker in Burgas but there is at least one casino up the coast at Golden Sands which will be busy over the summer months.

Other random things:

It is tricky to get used to Bulgarian people nodding to mean no and shaking their head to mean yes.

Rakia is a tasty fruit brandy. Mixed quality but if you find someone with a nice homemade bottle then you are on to a winner.

=====
Will add more later and also post some pics. If anyone wants any more info then let me know.

In short, I'd highly recommend a trip to Bulgaria!

Nice read. Definitely need some pics.

Thank you for taking the time to share your trip report.

Questions:

What were the lowest stakes (and buy-in amounts) for the cash games?

What times did the cash games begin/end?

---

Thanks again!