The Future of Poker in Russia

As you may or may not know, poker had a brief stint of being considered a sport in Russia, but as of July 21, 2009 the government reclassified it as a casino game (of chance), and thus it is now illegal.



What a shame. If you have ever had the experience of watching a good Russian poker player play, it is like watching a chess master, and it is all skill. Be that as it may, the July ruling by the Duma has put a slight kink in the plans SunPoker had come up with, but it will not put a complete end to the Russian market. The Russian poker players that want to play will find a way, and Sun wil be there every step of the way.



I suppose governments around the world will smarten up one day and use the proceeds from online poker to fund their other "governmental" projects, and I'm not sure whether I will like it or loathe it. Either way, at the rate of speed at which the government works, I am not sure it will happen in my lifetime, or if it does, I will be too old and senile to know the difference.