Texas fold ‘em: Russia bans poker
Posted: Friday, July 24, 2009 3:11 PM
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Moscow, Russia
By Yonatan Pomrenze, NBC News Producer
MOSCOW – Like on any other Thursday, I was looking forward to my weekly Texas Hold ‘Em poker game. A laid-back, low-stakes game with some friends in the back room of a Moscow restaurant is always a nice way to unwind towards the end of the work week.
But this week, our game was cancelled due to new Russian legislation which removed poker’s classification as a sport, effectively banning any poker playing for money.
"We are trying to get some clarification from the police as to how they see friendly games," said the restaurant manager who allows us to play in his restaurant for nothing more than the price of the drinks and food. He explained the reason for canceling this week’s game: "We wanted to clear it first, and we also wanted to stay out of trouble for a while." Fearing authorities, he prefers to remain anonymous.
The Russian government shut down casinos in most of country earlier this month, exiling them to four gaming zones that don’t yet have the infrastructure to support casinos. At first, it looked like poker would survive the shutdown due to its designation as a sport (and not a game of chance). Now, players are wondering how far-reaching the new decree will push authorities to crack down on various kinds of poker games.
It seems clear that the law is intended to break up any poker clubs who get a percentage of the winnings from the games (a "rake") in return for providing the tables, dealers, chip, and the place to play. But friendly-game players are worried as well, especially considering Russia’s lack of a clearly defined legal system and widespread corruption.
"The law still seems to be a little gray," said an expatriate resident of Moscow whom I play with (he also asked that his name not be used). "If you play in a public place but there’s no money on the table, is that considered an illegal poker game? I don’t think it is. But what happens when the cop comes in, sees you playing poker? He could try to shake you down."
Others players are not as worried.
"I don’t think it’s going to stop the friendly games … their target is the underground poker clubs," said Nathan Stowell, a 37-year-old metals trader from the United States who has been living in Moscow for 15 years. "People are still going to play, [but] it will be a lot less safe. It’s going to be more criminal and obviously going to discourage more people from playing."
This discouragement couldn’t come at a worse time for Russian poker aficionados. Poker has exploded in popularity in Russia in the past decade and Moscow was set to host its first European Poker Tour tournament in August – its fate is now unclear.
"We are in mourning," wrote Dmitry Lesnoi, head of the Russian Sport Poker Federation, on the federation’s Web site. "We lost. But we fought until the last card was laid down on the table."
Most players I know say they hope the law won’t apply to friendly games, as giving up poker isn’t an option for some of them.
"It doesn’t mean we’re going to stop playing. We’re just going to have to play in different locations," my expatriate friend said. "The biggest deal is just inconvenience. It means I have to try that much harder to have a place to play."
