Costa Blanca grinder 2025

Hi, and welcome!

Where are your from?

If you want you can play MTT's everyday, mostly Turbo during weekdays, and 2 or 3 days events with slower blind levles in the weekends.
There are also different series on a regular base, like SPF (Spanish Poker Series), CNP (Circuito Nacincional de Poker), with multiday events and higher buy-ins.

Thanks.

I`m from Norway.

Sounds great! Was living abroad in Malta a while ago and I miss it.

Didn`t know Spain and Costa Blanca had so much poker action. I for sure tought it was only these small weekday tournaments

Ok, there are living a lot of Norwegians in the region, and they also play poker, I know many of them.
I guess the most famous one is Tom Bedell (#5 on the Norwegian all time money list), if i'm correct he's living in Benidorm.
He was on my table a few weeks ago in Alicante, he loves to play these low stakes tournaments when he is not travelling.
Very friendly guy btw!

21 January, 2025

Did some poker training today, watched a few video's from RYE and did some GTO Wiz training, mostly short stacked play and ICM considerations.

We also did a wonderful hike in Parque de Montana Virgen del Rosario
The nature is fantastic in the region, with wonderful mountains, wildlife and stunning views!
And these long walks in nature give you also a big mental boost.

Adios!

22 January, 2025

Thanks for the good vibes! 😃

Not much poker today, did some reading, weather is cloudy by 20C, so all together not much going on.

We play a 60€ progressive bounty tonight, you may expect some hands tomorrow.

Adios

23 January, 2025

Yesterday we played the 60€ progressive bounty in Orihuela, starting at 18h00, total entries 117.

We had to re-buy quiet early in the tournament (level 3), first we could pick a bounty with AA on a T55 flop against a shortstack who shoved T8, but a few hands later on a AK8 flop we got it in with AK against 88, no brainer of course.

With the second bullet we did'nt play a lot of hands but we managed to stay alive untill the end of the re-buy period, with 30 seconds on the clock the dealer announced the last hand before the dinner break. We where sitting in the small blind. That's perfect, because we can start the new blind level on the button.
There is a raise from UTG and a call from MP and BTN.
When we look at our cards we see two really nice Aces, we have 18bb, min raising against three players with our stack doens't make a lot of sense so we announce all-in. UTG and MP folding but BTN calls. He shows AK, we hold on a low board, sadly enough we don't cover him, so no second bounty.

We double up and we have just over 42k with blinds starting at 1k 2k after the break we are playing just over 20bb.
In this first level after the break we minraise 88, BTN shoves and we call. He turns over AJo, J on the turn, oh well...
In this Turbo tournaments you need to win flips, what a bummer.

We dwarrel down to 6bb and get it in with A9s from the HJ, we got called by JJ but no help.

30st place, on to the next one.

Today we did a nice morning walk on the lake, temperature is getting better again, we crossing 20C again.

Now we have lunch outside in the january sun!
And in the afternoon we are planning some study work and some reading.

Adios

Bankroll: 38880€
Average Buy in: 208€
Final tables: 2
ITM%: 9%
8/200

24 January, 2025

Yesterday we played in Alicante, 60€ bounty, 147 entries and we did'nt run well, we fired three bullets.

Bullet 1:

On my first table somebody left behind with 1600 chips (starting with 40k) after an early all-in.

Hand 1:
I'm in the HJ and i raise 2x with J8s to be part of the bounty hunt, the guy who is short is in the CO and throws his bounty in the middle what means he is all-in.
BTN calls, BB calls. Flop 852 with 2 hearts. BB checks, i bet pot, BTN folds and BB shoves. Those Spanish guys like to gamble, i always says, no gamble, no future, i call.
He turns over Q6o, yes we where right, turn 6 river K... lol there goes or first bullet.

Bullet 2:
We get another table, of focus now, we gambled one, that's ok, but now we are gonna build a stack.
Hand 2:
Blinds 500/1000 ante 1000k we play 38k
I'm in the BB with Kd7d 6 limpers, i check, let's see a flop.
Flop 4d2d5c
MP bets, BTN raises 3x, i go all-in, they both call
MP shows A3o ofc, BTN Qd7d

Bullet 3:
Three bullits is the maximum for me, but in these kinds of events you need to rebuy, the value is so good. I often get in the money with my 2nd or third bullit.

Hand 3:
Blinds 800/1600 ante 1600
We look at AKo in het HJ we open 2x, BTN calls.
Flop 8s5s5d check /bet 1/4 /call
Turn Qc check/check
River 3d check, villain bets 1/2 pot, hero fold

Last hand before the dinner break we have again a special one:
Hand 4:
Blinds 800/1600 ante 1600
MP shoves 17k, CO shoves 9k, BTN calls 17k, Hero shoves 35k with KQo and BB who covers us all shoves 100k
MP KQo, CO KQo, BTN folds, Hero KQo, BB KTs, sometimes you think only on Pokerstars, but it also happens in live tournaments 😃
Board Q87 J2 lol, so funny
It's a mess to split this 4 way all-in they even have to call the floor to assist.
We play 65k after the break.

Hand 5:
Blinds 1k/2k ante 2k
We open 2x with 44 in CO, BB calls
Flop 479 rainbow, BB checks, Hero bets 1/3 pot, BB calls
Turn K, BB checks, we bet 1/2 pot, BB shoves, we call
He shows KQ, clean runout, we scoop a bounty and a big pot, let's go!

We play 120k and got moved to another table 79 left
Hand 6:
Blinds 3k/6k ante 6k
We open KsQs in HJ, BB calls
Flop 875 all spades, wonderful, BB makes a small bet, Hero calls
Turn Qc, Villain checks, we bet 1/4, Villain shoves, Hero calls
Het go AT of spades, aaargghhh....

We got 60k left (10bb)
Hand 7:
A few hands later we got AKo we ship it and god called by the SB, he shows AA
Flop AJ5, Turn Q, A TEN PLEASE! River MAGIC T

But four clubs and he got the A of clubs...
Sometimes you wait for good hands and they don't come, other times you get all the good hands, but villains have better.

Enough coolers today, we go home, in the car i listen to a podcast to take my mind off things.

Today we try again, we play the mensual in Benidorm tonight a 200€ bounty with slow levels.

Adios

Bankroll: 38720€
Average Buy in: 205€
Final tables: 2
ITM%: 8%
9/200

just stumbled onto your blog, great read so far, first of all congrats to your success in life and wishing you the best on your poker journey.

a few questions if you don't mind: i'm thinking about relocating/moving myself for some time now, (live in germany right now), and spain was one of the countries i thought about (living on or close to the beach, nice weather, food etc.), but i'm still making a living from poker, and mainly PLO cash game (no a tourney player), so my question would be: The places you mentioned, do they have plo cash games there? If so, what stakes, and how regularly?

also, if you want to elaborate a little more about the living situation (not yours in particular), but more like: if i rented a nice apartment or small house in a nice area, somewhat close to the beach, how much would that be, you have any idea?
and, is it difficult to actually move to spain from a legal standpoint, you need some kind of visa, or is it easy bc of EU?

thx for any tips/advice, and again, GLGL

looks stunning

that is so funny, seen the guy play triton super highrollers, and now you say he plays super small buyin tourneys in benidorm ... most really love the game. +111

Thanks for the GL's!
I think if you're income is coming from poker, Spain is not the best country to move to, due to tax considerations. Tax rates go up to 37% on poker earnings above 60k and even higher for bigger amounts. You may deduct your buy-ins but no other costs. So that makes it quiet hard. Nevertheless there is a legal status for poker players in Spain since a few years.
In my regio there are no PLO cash games, i know from a friend who moved to Barcelona that there are PLO cash games at least up to 5/10.
In the casino's in my region they only play NLHE 2/5 cash games, they are running every day, mostly 1 or 2 tables.

About renting, i bought my house over here, so i can only tell you what i'm reading on local social media, close to the beach you will pay between 700€ and 1000€ a month, a bit further inland (10 to 15km) you pay less, let's say around 650€/month. It also depends how touristic the region is, where i live there are a lot of expats, so the prices are a bit higher, if you really go like 30km inland, you still can buy a house for less than 100k without a any problem. And probably also rent cheaper.

If you are a EU citizen moving is really easy, if you wanne live here, which means staying for more than 180 days a year (if i am correct) you need to become a resident. You need a NIE number and have to arrange some paper work. They are people who made a business of arranging this for other people. But we did it on our own and it went smooth. The people are very friendly and helpful over here.

Yes the nature is wonderful over here, there are multiple nature reserves in the area.
I like to walk, so you may expect a lot of nice hikes in this thread!

Yes, he does. If you go through his hendon mob results you find a lot of 30€ and 40€ tournaments. At the moment they not register these tournaments anymore at the Hendon mob, but he still plays them. I see him a few times a month, always up for a chat, he is a really friendly guy.

thanks for all the info, much appreciated.
yes, Barcelona was my first thought, but it turns out they only have regular PLO action in and around tournament series that they run ... in the "off-season" there's barely a game, like in the moment they have one 2-2 game plo, and that's not even full most of the times ... not sufficient if you want this for a regular income of course.

no plo in your region at all? thats a shame ... i really liked the pics.
i read about the region more to the south (marbella, malaga etc.), i know there's a casino in marbella, i'll probably do a shorter trip and check it all out.

that all sounds reasonable and doable +1

again, sounds like you made a good decision regarding your living situation, all the best again, and go win some tournaments to make 2+2 proud ;-))

You're welcome, if you ever passing by in the region, let me know!

I'll do my best! 😉

Will definitely do, Paella on me 👍🏻

January 25, 2025

Yesterday i played in Benidorm, i had a busy day and not much desire to write a long report.
I' m also have a little cold.

200€ buy-in, when i left there where 100 entries and 69 left.
We fired 2 bullits:

In the first bullit we bust with AA on TTK 54, BB called my pre flop 3bet and called my shove on the flop with QTs.

In the second bullit we managed to get it in after a check raise on the flop with 77 on a 874 flop, villain shows 65o for a flopped straight.

We did'nt had the best run last week with a lot of coolers, but that is poker, we try again next week or maybe tomorrow when i'm feeling better.

Bankroll: 38320€
Average Buy in: 225€
Final tables: 2
ITM%: 7%
10/200

def. sucks, but you take it the right way - that's poker, it just happens.

just read a funny story about this Tom guy we talked about, on pokernews.com, he's playing some plo tourney series in Tirana, 5K opener event, and he gets a free ticket for the 10K main event, bc he was the one with the most bullets (like 8 ;-)))))

Great thread,

What's the stack depth where you shove with AA on the flop in the first hand ?

Regardless can't imagine it's optimal at any depth,
Seems to be a pattern in this thread where you just overshove big pairs on flops so would recommend focusing on reviewing this part of your game

January 26, 2025

Thanks!
If i remember correct i had around 45bb to start the hand, and i believe you are right.
I have to think deeper about this kind of spots, i thougth his range was leaning towards (smaller) pocket pairs or AK, AQ, but even then it is better to bet for value.
In this particular hand i go broke most of the time i think, but that doesn't take away that all-in is not the way to go.
I really appreciate the feed back, so please make a comment in the future if you see mistakes, i'm not a professional.

Today we made a big hike around a local lake

Flamingo's you see them everywhere over here

Nice view with the mountains in the background

Just before the end of the walk the path was completely flooded, wet feet was the result! 😃

Adios!

Thanks for taking it the right way, love the thread so only meaning to be constructive ,

Where you can mentioning if there is a flush draw on flop or rainbow is also key for hand discussion I would add!

Best of luck going forward

January 27, 2025

That it is the reason why i'm blogging, no worries. 😉
And i will keep that in mind for next hand histories.

Tonight we play a 50€ Turbo, report on tommrows blog.

Adios!

Cool thread. I've been pestering my wife to leave the UK for Spain for years, we have a place there and we spent maybe 3mths a year there, but as we've got 2 kids/friends/fam it's a harder decision for her. I would move tomorrow, UK is a dump rn.

Must've missed this but are you only playing live mtts? As someone that spends a decent chunk of time in Southern Spain and plays cash games only, I think you're doing yourself a disservice not playing cash games, a small stakes live mtt grind is going to tire pretty fast imo, but each to their own.

GL!

January 29, 2025

Hello, nice to meet you, are you located at the Costa Blanca? If yes let me know when you are here, would be great to make some new friends through this blog!
Yes, i played some cash in the past, but my main game is MTT, maybe i try again in the future.

I did'nt manage to play last monday, we where on a hike and we got home quite late. So i decided to stay home and watch some television instead of rushing to the casino.
Tonight we play for sure, more about that tomorrow.

Adios!

Yep, and he binked it! 😃