#8 Montesino Casino - Vienna

I'm usually in Vienna for a week or so throughout the year so I'll usually play a couple of tournaments while I'm over. I played at the 2 main clubs - the Concorde Casino, and the Montesino. Both are poker clubs as opposed to Casino's with a card room.
It always amazes me how well the Austrians seem to run pretty much anything and the card rooms are no exception. Both Casinos are stops on the major tournament circuit and the Montesino is now also a venue for the World Poker Tour.
I was a bit of a whipping boy at the Concorde Casino where the standard of play was unbelievably high. Sometimes I felt like I was playing the cards face up. Montesino I've fared better with some good runs in the tournaments, but not quite managed to take it to the big money prizes.

Smoking

Austria also don't have a smoking ban yet, so when you get given your seat, your asked if you want a smoking table or non smoking. If your familiar with how the poker tournament works your know how pointless it is.
Basically, as players get knocked out of the tournament, a table will get new players moved from a full table, or a table will be closed and the players redistributed to keep the numbers at each table balanced, until ultimately there is just one table of players left and eventually one player. So if your non smoking you can have a smoker moved to your table with in a few minutes or vice versa, still its the thought that counts....



Venue:Montesino / Vienna
Year: Dec 2010 - to present
Tournament Success: Not much
Cash Game Success: Absolutely None
Summary: Very cool setting in the gasometer area of Vienna, nice card room, well run, the big fields for the tournaments mean the chance for serious prize money for reasonable entry fees. If your there, go!