Poker found free of gambling
The acknowledgement of poker as a kind of sport came late in March, at Russian Sport board. The ruling was lobbied by Sports Poker Federation (SPF) set up in November 2006. “There are two types of poker”, dp.ru was explained by SPF Vice President of Public Relations Gennadiy Khvorykh. “The first one is cash game when players make real bets. And there is tournament poker as well. It is played with chips not related to money at all, they are items of scoring”. “Poker is a game of mind, equal to chess, draughts, backgammon, etc.”, assures Gennadiy Khvorykh.
Petersburg Sports Poker Federation is under registration process at the moment, as its Vice President Michail Anshelievich told dp.ru. According to him, the acknowledgement of poker as a kind of sport has not changed anything for tournament organizers yet: “Tax authorities still consider it gambling. They must receive the documents from the government”.
The game admirers are longing for it to happen so that they could unite uncoordinated city tournaments under the aegis of the Federation. “We should work out competition guidelines, master of sports and jury regulations”, shares their plans Vice President of Petersburg SPF. Whereas now there are about a thousand professional poker players, they are expecting booming interest to the game soon. It is heated, in addition, by broadcasting of world poker tournaments. SPF is also planning its own TV broadcasts for the future.
At present poker tournaments are arranged by several Petersburg clubs and casinos. The largest ones have up to 100 participants. As a rule, the prize fund is compiled of participation fees: it may be from 500 rubles to $3 thousand.
Dp.ru