Poker’s Future as a Sport in Russia
On March 16th 2007 the Russian Sports Minister Vyacheslav Fetisov announced that poker has been classified as a sport in Russia. This is to a large extent the result of intense lobbying activities from Dmitry Lesnoy, President of the Russian Sport Poker Federation.
An important part of these efforts was the pro-gaming conference organized by Lesnoy in November 2006 where the Sport Poker Federation was formally established. Lesnoy’s argument, which seems to have caught on with state officials, is that poker is a game of skill and not of luck. The Federations main goal of having poker recognized as a sport has therefore already been fulfilled, leaving the organization with the more general ambition of supporting the growth in Russian poker. The Federation has also established a set of rules that should be followed when poker is organised.
