Is poker a skill game or a gambling activity? This is the question that every poker player knows the answer to, yet it has been the subject of discussion in many political and non-political debates ever since poker grew in popularity all over the world.
Poker: a Sport or a Gambling Activity?
Russian government officials recently made a drastic change in their point of view regarding this age-old issue. With the introduction of a new legal act poker is no longer considered a "sport", but is labeled and thus treated as a "gambling activity".
Russia's Minister of Youth, Sport and Tourism, Vitaly Mutko, announced that poker has been struck of the list of officially approved Russian sports. In practice this means that many of the recently opened poker rooms that fully lived up to the required standards, will be forced to close their doors.
The End of the Russian Poker Boom?
This sudden policy change comes as a shock for the Russian poker community, as poker had seriously picked up in popularity all over the nation. With the recent successes of the Russian poker pros on the global tournament circuit, the poker boom was inevitable.
With these new political developments the opening stop of the European Poker Tour in Moscow is in serious danger. Police officials and district attorneys announced to fully enforce the new law and will do their utmost to ban out any illegal gambling activity, both online and offline.
Online Poker
While government officials, the state police and the judiciary might wish to ban out all forms of online and land-based poker, we have seen that online poker often times continuous to flourish.
Online poker operators like PokerStars and Bwin Poker will do everything in their reach to remain active in the large Russian market, providing the Russian players a place to practice their favorite "sport".
