Poker in the Netherlands - PokerBond

RECENT VICTORIES HAVE once again led me to believe the Dutch are coming to take over the poker world - or at least make more of an impression. Old hands Marcel Lüske and Rob Hollink claimed titles at the Bellagio Five-Star World Poker Classic, in the $3,000 and $2,000 buy-in events, respectively. Both players overcame a final table of Americans, proving once again that quality usually beats quantity.

The major development on the Dutch poker scene is the formation of PokerBond, a nonprofit agency that's forming a union of Dutch poker players. United we stand, and right now, I think we need to be united in the battle for widespread legal poker; this will be the first goal of PokerBond. As I spoke with one of the initiators of the union, it became clear that the first thing they want to accomplish is to make supply meet demand. There is a large group of poker players who currently are not playing as much as they would like, or can play legally only at a higher level than they would like. This is caused by the fact that currently, the only legal poker games are being offered by Holland Casino. And not everyone is as lucky as I am to have one in my backyard, and most certainly not everyone is able to cough up the bankroll to play in its relatively high-limit games, as compared to the games on the Internet. In the eyes of PokerBond, the professionalization of the Dutch poker scene starts with the game being legally available to more players, with fewer restrictions.

PokerBond has even more plans, though. Short-term projects include a poker congress, with lectures, book sales, and clinics to spread the word. As soon as next year, there should be (tournament) competitions on all levels, with registered outcomes and rankings. For the highest levels, this should result in a "championship" that will determine the best player in the Netherlands, much like Card Player's Player of the Year award. It is really striking how PokerBond wants to be of service to its members in every stage of their development as poker players.

The new union sees the numerous home games that are taking place in the Netherlands as an excellent breeding ground for talented new players, but it wants those players to be able to break through on a higher level. Its idea is to put more emphasis on team competitions. This idea, in which teams battle each other on a regular basis with rankings and special team rules, has already existed for some months on a few online poker sites, and it is now breaking ground on the European live poker scene. PokerBond sees this as an excellent way to coach talents. For all young readers, imagine coming home to mum and dad to tell them you were drafted as the first choice for Team Rotterdam in the Dutch poker league!

Personally, I think this a great initiative, and only good can come of it. There is still a long way to go, but if we stand together, we will have the lobbying power and the media attention we need for making poker a generally accepted phenomenon here in the Netherlands: United we stand, divided we fall!♠

For more information on PokerBond, visit www.pokerbond.nl.