The interview for Teddy Poker takes place directly in the Onyx Club in northern Cyprus, at the Merit Royal, which Rob Young describes as offering a unique mix of poker, hotel service, the sea, and relaxation. According to him, Cyprus is not Vegas or Macau — it's not a destination built on endless partying. It's more of an island luxury, where players can immerse themselves in poker while enjoying peace, pools, the sea, and services that help them rejuvenate both body and mind.
Why Cyprus?
The idea for the Onyx Club wasn't a random experiment. Rob Young explains that together with his team, they were looking for a location suitable for a VIP poker venue. Thanks to a relationship with the Merit group owner, Mr. Bassim, Cyprus became an option. Initially, he had doubts. Cyprus is an island, players need to fly in, and there isn't significant local traffic like in some major cities. But that's where its strength lay.
Young gradually realized that Cyprus has something many major poker destinations lack. It combines Europe, the Middle East, luxury hotels, and a community of players willing to travel for quality poker. According to him, Merit Poker at Crystal Cove is one of the strongest poker rooms globally, thanks to its perfect geographical position.
Young recalls that compared to Dusk Till Dawn in the UK, where they could hold a large event with a £3 million guarantee perhaps once a year, similar numbers happen regularly in Cyprus. Not because every tournament is necessarily groundbreaking, but because the location, service, and position create a combination hard to replicate.
Poker, Sea, and Serenity Over Partying
The biggest benefit of Onyx, according to Young, isn't just the poker room itself. It's the entire experience surrounding it. Players enter an environment of high-quality services, including a hotel, pools, the sea, and all-inclusive resort comfort. Even in October, you can swim in the sea, which is a huge advantage for players after long poker days.
Young distinguishes Cyprus very clearly from places like Vegas or Macau, where it's often about intensity, hustle, nightlife, and endless movement. Onyx is meant to be different. It's a place where you can play serious poker but also unwind. If a player spends hours in an intense cash game or high roller setting, a peaceful surrounding isn't just a bonus. It's part of the product.
That's why in the interview, it's repeatedly emphasized that Onyx is not a typical “party place.” It’s a relaxation poker destination. For professionals, recreational VIP players, and the high stakes community, this model can be very powerful. Poker isn't played in isolation from its environment. Players consider sleep, service, meals, time away from the table, and whether they can mentally reset between sessions. According to Young, Cyprus naturally offers this.
Onyx as a Cash Game Product, Not a Tournament Factory
One of the most important parts of the interview comes with the question of what's next for Onyx. Young mentions the High Roller Series in August, the arrival of Triton in November, and the potential for more Onyx rooms in Baku, Dubai, or collaborations with VIP casino partners in cities like Madrid, Cannes, Paris, or London. However, he clearly states that Onyx doesn't want to be another tournament factory.
According to Young, the tournament market is already very well covered. Triton, PokerGO, WSOP, and WPT host large events at a high level. Onyx therefore has no reason to enter a saturated segment just to add another festival to the calendar. Tournaments would make sense primarily if they were connected to an appealing destination — Cyprus, Dubai, Baku, or similar locations where the destination itself adds value.
The true core of Onyx, according to him, should be cash games. A VIP cash game product that can operate in various partner casinos, perhaps as a single exclusive room or a special table. Young even compares this model to famous private room concepts like Ivey’s Room or other legendary VIP spaces.
An important aspect of Onyx is also streaming. Young talks about Onyx Live, which has already grown to about 20,000 subscribers, with great attention brought by heads-up sessions with Ossi. Onyx aims to belong to this category — not as a mass stream, but as a luxurious cash game scene with high-quality visuals, space, and player line-ups.
The Best VIP Poker Room in the World?
The interview also reveals a bold statement that Onyx could be among the world's best VIP poker rooms. Not as a marketing claim, but as a comparison from someone who has played in many iconic venues. Young mentions a VIP room in Madrid where footballers often play, Theater of Dreams in Macau, the Aria room, Ivey’s Room, or Table 1 and Bobby’s Room, which hold a special place in poker history.
Onyx aims to be in this category. Not the largest, not the loudest, not the most commercial. Rather, a place where a player arrives and feels that it’s a private, quality, and thoughtfully crafted poker product. Young even admits that they could have originally built the room twice as large, but decided not to force growth. A larger space would allow for more tournaments but could simultaneously dilute the exact exclusivity that defines Onyx.
Organic Growth Instead of Expansion at Any Cost
Young emphasizes several times during the interview that Onyx isn't a business that needs to grow rapidly. It's a luxury boutique project meant to develop organically. If a friend or a casino partner wants an Onyx room, it can happen. If it's a place Young himself enjoys visiting, it makes sense. If not, there’s no reason to push expansion just to have the brand in more locations.
This approach is quite rare. In the poker world, everything is often measured by growth, guarantees, traffic, and expansion. However, Young believes that in the VIP business, rapid growth often reduces quality. If a VIP product expands too quickly, service suffers, the atmosphere becomes diluted, and players lose the feeling that they are part of something special. That’s why Onyx seeks to maintain a flexible, friendly, and selective model.
The entire interview serves as a glimpse into the future of luxury destination poker. Not every place needs to be Vegas. Not every project needs hundreds of tables. Not every poker brand needs to host dozens of tournament series yearly. Onyx shows an alternative path: selecting the right destination, integrating poker with service, allowing the cash game community to grow, and occasionally adding an event with a genuine reason to exist.
Sources – YouTube, Onyxclub, Poker.org
