In late October I traveled to Baden, Austria for the 2012 Poker EM series. This year marked my 9th year in a row traveling to this fantastic spa town near Vienna. To be honest, I've never understood why this event isn't more popular.

Baden is found about 25km south of Vienna. It's close enough to be easily accessible by plane but far enough away that it doesn't feel urban. We've got places like Baden within the Moscow region, however the problem is that once you need to go somewhere in Moscow, you ought to be prepared to spend so much of time for your car. Traffic in Moscow is terrible.That's not the case in Baden. I LIKE that place such a lot that it the Poker EM series is definitely one in all my favorite poker festivals of the year.

The series is held once a year in Casinos Austria. It was an EPT stop for a couple of seasons within the early years of the EPT. In fact, in Season 2, the primary year that the EPT came to Baden, Patrik Antonius won the primary Event for his first major tournament score, worth almost €300,000. We all know how Patrik's career has gone from there.

For me, Baden is a smart place to chill and feature some fun. The hiking within the area is magnificent, and the entire town is built on hot springs. Usually I start my days in Baden with a walk within the forest. I follow that with a swim at some of the big swimming pool complexes, then end with a steam in a sauna or a soak within the hot springs. All of that helps clear my mind for an afternoon on the tables.

I've used a large number of that quiet time to muddle over Open-Face Chinese Poker. What a really perfect game with a perfect future. It's spreading like an endemic between poker players at this time. Everybody who tries it once doesn't wish to play anything (a minimum of from a leisure point of view).

"I'd otherwise be playing Open-Face"

At EPT Sanremo, we played Open-Face on a daily basis on the Royal Hotel swimming pool, and a few days within the hotel lobby. At the one hand, Open-Face is a mind game with a large number of strategy and calculation. At the other hand, it's a thrilling action game that appeals to the interior gambler in most poker players.

In Baden, we couldn't play much Open-Face because we weren't in a position to play it at Casinos Austria. But I've already brought Open-Face back to Moscow and introduced it on the private game that I regularly play in. Everyone there loves the sport just up to I do.Maybe someday I'll determine why that isn't true for Baden. Not that it bothers me an excessive amount of. I LOVE with the ability to visit a poker tournament that has a more relaxed vibe than most.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Alex Kravchenko]