Portomaso Casino — Attraction in Saint Julian's

I went here to play poker. The tournament is not bad but they have way way way to many breaks and the breaks are way too long. They play 4 rounds of 20 mins then have a 20 min break then the next 4 rounds and a 20 min break again. Sometimes the break is 25 mins. They also pause the clock on the break to colour up the chips. So sometimes the break can be over 30 mins. It's not good if you are like most people and have to work in the morning. This tournament would be sooo much better if they made the levels 15 mins for all tournaments and cut the breaks down dramatically . You certainly don't need a 20 to 30 minutes break for every 1 hour and 20 minutes of play. I believe they do this to try to get the poker players to play the casino games that are obviously more lucrative for the casino. The long breaks are the only problem I have here but they are so long and frequent it's very off putting. The tournament is supposed to start at 8pm but its usually a late start. Then rebuy period is is 8 rounds of 20 mins with 2 very long breaks. So it can be 11.30 or 12am before players start to get eliminated. You can expect the tournament to run until 3 or 4am. We are not playing the WSOP here. Make it quicker and cut the long breaks out. No one will complain and I might make it to work in the morning. I would like to see an earlier start. 7.30pm With the rebuy period for 6 x 15 minute levels and then a quick 10 min break. Try to get the tournament finished by 1am. I'm sure the players will play the cash games or casino games if they get...

Love malta, love poker but this place is the pits. Tried one of the main festivals and I was far from impressed, 2 tournaments cramed into the main room, a second room was nearly empty with a satellite? No drinks or food service, just a cubby hole outside. Tried playing in their regular weekly games, which the wife wo one, but it's so badly run, waiting to see if someone goes out before moving players, for 5 minutes 🤔. You can scrap the drit off the chips. Mind u some of the regulars love it, they seem to be able to do and say what they want and get to pick which seat the have at the final table. !!!!! No need to put them in the seat draw for them and no matter how vocal and offensive they get the card room personal still chat with them and some of the staff seat there laughing. The whole place is poorly managed and maintained and fails to make outsiders feel welcome which is a trait of some Maltese. Which is rather odd considering the support that malta How's enjoyed over...

unfortunatly after a week at portomaso i find myself writting this review, Portomaso is not very kind to outsiders, specially in poker, the poker games are mostly run by italians, who speak italian at the table and seem to be colluding, i got a big tournamente decision to do at some point, and after 1min 20sec (told by the dealer to the floor), floor gave me 20 seconds to make my decision. In another situation, one of the regulars retracted a bet after they didnt notice there was still one player to act before them, when i told the table the bet made could not be retracted, regulars started telling me thats how they play there and they allow it, these werent the only situations, but are enough to explain what is going on there.

It was not all bad, some staff is kind and there are some nice regulars, but with so much potential for a great casino it pales in comparison to...