The very latest project I’m working on is a joint venture between a pair of professional gamblers and myself. PokerLeagueSpain.com is a pub poker league for the Costa del Sol. Playing poker for points (not cash) has taken UK pubs by storm as an alternative to quiz nights and darts tournaments. The game’s popularity has sky rocketed with the televising of the World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker on satellite TV and the rise in on-line gambling.
Our business aims to bring the same winning formula to Spain, we already have several tournament nights running in local bars from Duquesa to Marbella and we plan to expand as far as La Linea and Fuengirola before the first regional finals event.
Basically pub goers turn up on a tournament night, register with the tournament director or on-line to become a league member (for free currently) and play Texas Hold’em at purpose built poker tables with casino grade cards and chips. At the end of the night, the player with all the chips earns 1,000 point in the league (the player who came second – 750, etc.). If you’ve not player tournament poker before, there will be instruction before the games start.
My role is to develop the website. When it’s complete you’ll be able to view the Overall, Regional and Venue based league tables as well as quickly look up your own, or another players ranking. We’re also including a poker store for members to purchase the same equipment used in tournament nights, for their own home games.
I’m under a little pressure at the moment to get some of this functionality working as tournaments are already being held and score sheets and membership applications are piling up. At the same time it’s a balancing act between getting the functions to work smoothly and the site to look good, but I feel with some time and patience it’ll get there.
Pete Boucher 