The European Poker Tour is forced to Move from Moscow

Back in 2007 Poker was included in a list of official Russian sports but due to a recent ruling by the Russian Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism Poker is now no longer on that list.  This means that the European Poker Tour is forced to move from Moscow to the Ukraine capital Kiev for the August season opener instead.

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A ruling by the Russian government at the beginning of July restricted gambling to four specially designated areas, all more than 600 miles from the Russian capital Moscow.  As poker was on the list of official Russian sports it seemed like it would avoid inclusion in these restrictions, and poker card rooms continued to operate in Moscow after the July ruling.  However poker being removed from the list has forced the closure of over 500 gaming businesses in Moscow, leaving more than a 250,000 people unemployed.

The PokerStars European Poker Tour’s 6th series was scheduled to start with the 2009 Russian Open to be held at the Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya, Moscow from the 17th to the 23rd of August, but this ruling by the Russian government has meant that hosting the tour anywhere in Moscow would be impossible.  Instead the PokerStars European Poker Tour has opted to play the opening date of series 6 in Kiev, Ukraine's capital city.  The new European Poker Tour Kiev is scheduled for the same dates and will have a buy-in of €5,000.

Any online poker satellite qualifiers who already won seats to Moscow at PokerStars will have their trips rescheduled to Kiev instead.  PokerStars also has announced that instead of accepting the new package, players who had qualified for the Moscow dates may also use their seat to play at a future European Poker Tour event or take the cash equivalent.

It’s not too late to pull off some successful betting and qualify for the European Poker Tour Kiev.  Qualifiers are still taking place at PokerStars to win a seat at this new opening leg of the tour. Just click the PokerStars banner above and head over to PokerStars for your chance to play in Kiev.

25th July 2009

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Article Last Updated: 25/05/2010 14:41:34

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