I was playing poker in a nearby poker room, thinking about all of the places I’d played over my years traveling the world: 763 distinct venues, roughly 550 public poker rooms, 200+ private games, 37 countries and territories, and on five of the six inhabited continents. Essentially, I’d played poker everywhere – except for Africa. I needed to find a poker game in Africa!
There are two African countries known for having an abundance of poker: South Africa and Morocco. South Africa, though enormously appealing for many reasons, is impractical for me to visit. It takes too long to get there from my home near Boston. I’d be traveling there without my wife. This meant that my trip would be limited to the days in between Friday nights, as we always celebrate Sabbath together. A trip to South Africa would take the better part of two days each way – leaving little time to actually tour around and play poker. I scratched it off my list (until perhaps I can convince my wife to join me).
This left Morocco. Morocco was doable. I could get to their poker room at Casino de Marrakech in less than a day.
My Journey to Marrakech
I took public transportation from my home to Boston’s Logan Airport, boarded my flight to Marrakech, Morocco (via Lisbon, Portugal) at 7pm Saturday; arrived the next morning in Lisbon; enjoyed my layover with a delicious pastel de nata and Café Americano for breakfast; and continued on my way, arriving in Marrakech shortly after noon on Sunday. I was playing poker in Marrakech that Sunday night!
My luxury accommodations entitled me to a personal transfer to the resort. I was met and driven by the garrulous driver Mohammed, who gave me a quick tour as we made our way past enormous olive groves, the historic Walls of Marrakech, and the entrance to the Medina District. I was brought to the gates of my resort hotel in fewer than 15 minutes.
My Stay — Es Saadi de Marrakech
I typically stay in budget hotels when I travel – one or maybe two steps up from Motel 6. This was an entirely different experience. First of all, when I arrived at the Es Saadi Resort, I was greeted by no fewer than six people! There was the manager, two of his assistants, and three additional staff people lined up just to greet me.
The gates of the Es Saadi Resort and Casino
I was ushered into the lobby, provided with a delicious fruit-scented sweet tea, a plate of delicious, locally baked pastries, and a beautiful bouquet of roses. I was then given the lay of the land by the English-speaking concierge.
The resort consists of two luxury hotels, villas, a magnificent and enormous outdoor pool, considerable grounds with beautiful gardens, a theater, and a full-service casino with an active poker room. My stay was off to a great start!
I made my way to my second-floor room; which was airy, spacious, extremely quiet, and outfitted with a bowel of fresh fruit, another plate of pastries, and a large bottle of water. It also had a lovely outdoor terrace overlooking the pool (pictured below).
Marrakech is known for being an extremely safe city for tourists, almost entirely free of any violent crime. As in any large city, it pays to be aware of possible pickpocketing, especially at night. The resort I stayed in, with its busy casino, took additional precautions. Cars and pedestrians were checked by guards before they were allowed on the grounds, and then checked again by guards and with a metal detector at the entrance to the casino.
Casino de Marrakech
The Casino de Marrakech (Morocco’s oldest – dating from 1952) has many slots, video gambling games, and roulette. Significantly, unlike nearly all casinos in the world, their chief attraction – the one they feature on their website and Facebook page – is POKER!
The venue is known for hosting major tournaments, including the World Poker Tour National, the World Series of Poker Circuit, the Winamax Sismix, the Marrakech Poker Open, and others. In addition, they feature nightly low-buy-in tournaments and cash games.
Poker at Casino de Marrakech
I played in three of the tournaments, which ranged in buy-in from 300 to 1000 MAD (roughly $33 to $110), with varying re-buys, add-ons, and re-entry provisions. These proved to be very well run and enormously popular, with 50-100 entrants and copious floor and poker room management present and engaged. I observed, but did not play in, the cash games. I avoided them chiefly because the Texas Hold’em tournaments were so appealing, with only a 15% drop for the house and their generous structure.
Cash games were less appealing. Though the house only raked 4% or 5%, depending on the stakes, they capped the rake at the equivalent of roughly $35. With blinds of $5 and $10, those maximums were regularly coming out of the pot – scaring me away. Also, smoking is very much allowed in the cash games, but banned in the tournaments. So, tournaments were the place for me (at least on this trip). With that said, I need to add that cash game players get some perks for their rake. They are routinely served food on the house. Plus, there is a rakeback system that rewards players at a few dollars an hour.
The tournament structure varied from night to night, but all gave players an event that was sure to last at least five to six hours for the winner. I cashed in two of the three I entered. (I technically won one of them, when the final five of us agreed to chop; and we shoved all in to decide who would win the extra buy-in ticket to be used in a future tournament. I won the shove-fest!).
Players in the tourneys I entered seemed eager to make a deal when it got down to a few players, though I was told that there are often events where players insisted on playing it out. The quality of play was fairly standard for low buy-in tournaments – maybe a notch or too softer than the typical tournament I’d find in the States. I’d say 25% or so were quite serious and skilled; the rest appeared more interested in having a good time. I didn’t notice anyone who didn’t know what they were doing.
Tournaments started at 7pm and lasted at least until midnight, and often until 1 or 2 in the morning. Cash games began at 6:30pm and lasted until the last game ended or 8:00am, whichever came first. The floor person covering the overnight shift, Georgianna, said she almost always had to kick the players out at 8:00am, “or else they’d be here all day!”
Players for these daily tournaments and cash games were largely local. The floor estimated about 75-80% were from Marrakech or nearby. But larger tournament events, like the WPT and WSOP, have attracted many players from all over the world. On the three nights I played, I met many players living in Marrakech, but also Italian, German, Japanese, American, and Canadian players.
Though I have poor language skills, speaking only English and a very basic Spanish, I had no trouble communicating throughout my trip. While the lingua franca of Morocco is both French and Arabic, the staff of the poker room, and nearly all people I met in the hospitality industry in Marrakech, spoke at least enough English for me to communicate effectively – if not carry on a full conversation. I can say confidently that language would not be a barrier to any English speaker visiting Marrakech.
A quick word about the food. Amazing! There are restaurants all over the property. I sampled food at four of them: the complimentary breakfast buffet, the bar/restaurant/pub, the fine dining Moroccan restaurant, and the casino’s restaurant. All were glorious, reasonably priced (especially the free buffet!), and beautifully plated. The service was attentive, quick, and unobtrusive. There were a couple of other restaurants on site that I never got to. There’s always next time.
What to Do When Not Playing Poker in Marrakech?
As poker does not begin until 6:30 PM, I had plenty of time to explore the city of Marrakech. It holds extra-special interest for me, as it was the center of Moroccan Jewish life from the late 15th century until the late 1940s, when murderous riots forced nearly the entire population to flee to Israel.
I attended a morning service in the still-active synagogue servicing the 75 or so families who still remain in Marrakech. I visited the Jewish cemetery, with thousands of graves, including many of Jews killed during the riots of the 1940s and early 50s. I walked through the largely deserted Mellah – that was the Jewish ghetto established by the Sultan for the large influx of Spanish Jews in the 16th century. (It has been largely destroyed by the severe earthquake that hit Marrakech last year.) I also took in much of the Medina, with its souks, public squares, and open-air markets.
As I’ve said in many of my previous articles about places I’ve visited around the world to play poker, this is a place well worth visiting as a wonderful tourist destination. The five days I spent exploring just scratched the surface – as there were many museums, mosques, galleries, restaurants and neighborhoods of Marrakech I did not have time to experience. Morocco also has beautiful natural wonders one to three hours or so from this growing metropolitan area that I didn’t see. I’m planning to return with my wife next year. We will visit the Atlas Mountains, the seaside communities, as well as the major metropolitan city of Casablanca. (I may even play some more poker!) I’m looking forward to it. When we’re in Marrakech, we will surely stay at the Es Saadi Resort!
