I never heard of Namur before finding out about this tournament. Just a small town of 500k people, no one would imagine that it had a thriving poker room, more action than most of the European cities I have been to. Only 1 hour from Brussels and 2 hours from Luxembourg, Namur attracts many players from surrounding areas. It has it's charms as a tourist destination as well although not well known with foreigners, I do see a lot of local visitors from other cities.
The casino is right by the river with a poker room that can fit 20+ tables. I was there during the PokerStars Belgian Challenge series and the turn out was very impressive. There were tons of action on the cash games as well. I don't know if that is the norm, but some guys in Brussels told me that Namur usually has more tables than Brussels, and Brussels didn't disappoint.
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| Circus Casino Resort Namur |
There were €2.50/2.50, €2.50/5 games, and sometimes even up to €25/50. So it was the first time I have seen a €2.50 chip. Making bets was slightly confusing at first, as you can open to €12.50 or some odd number like that. From my observations the rake was on the high side as they took €2.50 as a tip every hand. Not sure if this was only during the series or a regular thing.
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| Did well in the cash games |
Namur is a nice town, with a citadel on top of the hill overseeing the city. We had a great time exploring the city but also taking a short train ride to Dinant, the birthplace of the saxophone. It is a town right by the river with old ruins, a citadel that's almost 1000 years old, and just an overall cool place to visit. We took the time to hike up an old castle with a tragic history. It was cool as we were brought back in time and the views were stunning.
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| Dinant (pronounced as Dee Nong) |
Food in Namur is amazing too. We found really nice bakeries and restaurants, and on weekends they have an open street market that had tasty fruits, veges and other goodies. But when I was there I booked an apartment so most nights we would cook our own food.
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| Must try the mussels |
Namur is not your usual tourist destination, but if you package it in with a visit to Brussels, Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp and if it happens to host a poker tournament, it is definitely worth a visit. The people were very friendly and helpful and it is a place I don't mind settled down in.
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| Namur city centre |
