Nuno Andrade on Vilamoura's Vibrant Poker Ecosystem

Nuno Andrade’s arms are covered in poker tattoos; even without seeing him seated at a poker table two to the left of Anthony Zinno, you know that this is a man who loves his poker.

“I’m living ten miles from here in Albufeira,” says Andrade, whose poker resumes is made up predominantly of Portuguese cashes. “I’m playing here nearly every day.

“We have smaller tournaments, for around €80, and then also satellites to big tournaments such as the WPTDeepStacks for when they come into town.”

Asked which one he preferred, smaller or bigger tournaments, Andrade’s answer was clear.

“This one obviously!” he said.

“But we also have this cash game called ‘After Hours’ which starts at 8pm and goes through until 7am. There’s a buffet at the casino at 4am.

“Poker here is quite crazy! Most of the players work in bars or clubs, and obviously get money in tips. That means they always have some cash to come and play poker.

“In other destinations players have to wait until the end of the month to come and play poker.

“They work hard, and they all love poker too!”