Official language: Spanish
Population: 5,891,199
Currency: Cordoba (NIO)

Current Exchange Rate
1 EUR = 24.4577 NIO
1 GBP = 27.0727 NIO
1 USD = 16.5400 NIO

Poker in Nicaragua
Poker is growing in popularity across Central America, but the poker craze has not yet swept through Nicaragua. The main reason for this is that until very recently, poker was illegal in the country. In fact, all gambling in Nicaragua was banned in 1979. Now that gambling is legal once again, casinos are slowly emerging. Today, there are just 10 casinos across three cities – Managua, Masaya, and Bluefields. Most of these casinos offer at least one poker table. The best place to play poker in Nicaragua is Pharaohs Casino in Managua, which has 4 specialized poker tables, one of which always offers Texas Hold Em. These casinos offer small monthly tournaments, but no large international poker tours have passed through Nicaragua yet.

Online Poker in Nicaragua
The lack of poker venues in Nicaragua means many people play online poker. The government of Nicaragua has only issued 1 online gambling license to the company that runs the state lottery – this means there are no dedicated Nicaraguan online poker sites. Instead, players use foreign poker websites. These sites are hosted in other countries, and they offer a full range of online poker games and tournaments. Most foreign poker rooms will be in English, but some may offer Spanish services as well. Until the government allows companies to offer online poker in Nicaragua, these foreign sites make a fine alternative.