POKER GUIDE TO : Poker in Budapest, Hungary

I've always enjoyed my trips to Europe, and this trip I had the chance to explore more of Eastern Europe. At first the plan was to drive to Kosovo from Macedonia but I got lazy thinking about the drive, and more importantly there wasn't a poker game in Kosovo, so we took a weekend trip to Budapest.

Budapest is beautiful day or night

Budapest is a beautiful city, once under Austrian rule, it has similar architecture to Vienna. But Budapest is not shy about their buildings. They are huge, some high on a hill, intricate, majestic and impressive. I've always enjoyed exploring these cities both during the day and night as the same places can give you a different feel and scenery depending on the time of day. 

St. Stephen's Basillica

However my main reason of visiting was to play poker, and the only poker room I could find was Duna Poker. It is located at Duna Plaza, a typical shopping mall, accessible by going to the metro station Gyöngyösi utca. I forgot my passport during my first visit but it took only a 15 minute metro ride to get back to the downtown area. Once you've registered though you just need to bring your player id card with you for future visits.

Pretty big setup

The room was at the far end of the shopping mall with about 10-15 tables in their cash game area. They also have tournaments but I did not play in them. It seems like the games run from midday till late and although the stakes are lower, players often sit with very deep stacks. However one thing I noticed was that the rake was 7% and capped at a crazy 100bb. When I found that out I got out of there real fast. Would the cap ever be reached? Maybe, because some of us had 2000-3000bb stacks. However the game was hard to beat because of the rake. 

European city but lower prices

I would not recommend to visit Budapest for the poker. However the city itself is worth spending at least 3-4 days on. Just strolling around at night, or hopping on to a tram, it takes you back in time. Food was pretty good but prices are closer to Western European prices. Goulash was a bit overrated if you ask me, but we really enjoyed the typical local dishes like paprika chicken, duck confit and langos from Langosland. 

Overall we had a wonderful time and would revisit if we have the chance. Would love to visit nearby countries too that seem quite accessible via train or buses. Croatia is on my bucket list, would love to check out Romania and Slovenia at some point.