Holland Casino Will Host Master Classics of Poker

Holland Casino in Amsterdam, the premier Dutch poker room, is currently preparing to host the Master Classics of Poker (MCOP) tournament. Some consider MCOP to be the most significant European poker competition throughout the year. It is an immense annual 9-day competition, now in its 19th year. Most games with be Texas Hold’em, No Limit, though there will also be Omaha, Pot Limit. This year’s competition will be held between the 5th and the 13th of November.

The Master Classics of Poker is a competition where high-rollers gamble large sums for very profitable cash prizes. Buy-ins, this year, range from €100 to €6,000. During the 2009 tournament, the competition paid out over €4 million in prize money.

The opening event, on November 5 at 2pm is the Texas Hold’em No-Limit €1,500 Freeze-out. Omaha fans will most likely have their eyes on the Omaha Pot Limit €1,000 Freezeout which will take place on November 11 at 2pm.

Nevertheless, the main event is the LIDO International Dutch Open Texas Hold’em No-Limit €6,000 Freeze-out, which will take place on Friday, November 9 at 3pm. Swede Kristoffer Thorsson is expected to defend his title as champion. Last year, Thorsson prevailed over 342 participants and took home €636,120.

The final competition will be the Texas Hold’em No-Limit Speed €300 Freeze-out, which will take on November 13 at 2pm.

Currently Dutch gambling laws require that this tournament, just like all offline poker in the country must be held within a either Holland Casino, or another casino licensed by the state monopoly. However, the Justice Ministry of the Netherlands has proposed to license online poker since the current situation forces online poker players to turn to foreign operators. Moreover, retired Professor Van der Genugten made a convincing technical argument that poker is in fact a game of skill. As such, it should be legal to play this game anywhere.