WPT Amsterdam
Friday, 8 May 2015
What's on away from the poker tables.
There's more to Amsterdam than coffee shops - find out about some of the Dutch capital's hidden treasures with our guide
The bars of Nieuwmarkt
Don't fall into the usual tourist traps with overpriced drinks and…well…too many tourists. Instead, have a drink in more relaxed surroundings.
A wide open square that's perfect for the long spring afternoons, you can while away hours at Nieuwmarkt's selection of quaint and welcoming bars to let your mind drift from that failed hero-call that saw you eliminated from the Main Event.
Poulet de Bresse at Guts & Glory
Probably one for the vegetarians to avoid. This speciality restaurant does other dishes, but they're all poultry-based, with pretty much every part of the bird on the menu.
The main event, however, is poulet de bresse, the champagne of chicken. It'll set you back €75, and you have to order two days ahead, but boy is it worth it. Don't just take our word for it though. And if you're feeling particularly flush, why not wash it down with some actual champagne.
Ajax v Cambuur
One of Europe's most famous football clubs, Ajax have seen better days on the continental stage but they are still the team to beat in the Dutch Eredivisie, winning the title in each of the last four seasons.
They host mid-table Cambuur on the day before WPT Amsterdam's Main Event, giving poker players the chance to see Dutch World Cup players Jasper Cillessen and Joel Veltman in action.
Here are some of the top runners and riders who we expect to make a splash at WPT Amsterdam.
Sam Trickett
The man at the top of the UK's all-time money list has slowed down a little since a phenomenal couple of years earlier this decade, but you have to go back to 2009 to find his last year not to include a cash of more than a quarter of a million, and a strong showing in Amsterdam would keep that remarkable run going.
Trickett has been a fixture at the British Poker Awards, snapping up multiple titles in the recent past, and is certainly a force to be reckoned with in any tournament. He's got unfinished business too, after finishing second in last year's WPT Venice, and will be looking for a maiden victory on the tour.
Bryn Kenney
Organisers of WPT Amsterdam have listened to the players ahead of the debut festival, and moved the €6,000 High Roller event to May 9th. This will please many, not least Bryn Kenney, who won one of the tour's most recent high rollers in Nottingham last November for a cool £100,000.
American pro Kenney has been a regular on the European circuit for some time now, but this year he has been more successful in other corners of the world. Final tables in Australia and the Bahamas mean his 2015 live earnings exceed $1m already, and victory in Amsterdam would sit nicely alongside the World Series of Poker bracelet he won last summer.
Marcel Luske
No tournament on Dutch soil would be complete with one of the most popular figures in the country's poker history. Marcel Luske sits atop the Netherlands' all-time money list, and his presence is sure to liven up any tournament experience.
After a relatively quiet 2014 by his own high standards, the Flying Dutchman returned home in style for October's WPTN Valkenburg, finishing third in the Main Event. He'll be looking to make it two final tables out of two and who knows, if he achieves it he might treat his table mates to a celebratory song or two.