Lithuania Declares that Poker is a Sport
Written by Renee K | Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
While the United States battles out its own poker and gambling laws on a state and federal level, the East European country of Lithuania has quietly made a progressive decision to declare poker an official sport.
According to the government, the Department of Physical Education and Sport officially recognized the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation. Not only does this mean that poker is not lumped together with gambling when it comes to legislation, but it also means that poker will receive official funding similar to other sports. It’s stuff that US poker players can only dream of!
The new official recognition means that poker games and tournaments can be held outside of casinos, where they have been limited to in the past. The condition is that these games are not held for the intention of making a profit, and are kept within the spirit of sport.
The Lithuania Sports Federation has lost no time scheduling a host of poker events across the country so that poker players can finally enjoy the game closer to home. A full schedule is expected to be announced shortly; however the Vilnius Poker Tournament is set to take place this month and promises to attract an impressive number of players.
The President for the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation, Andrius Tapinas said: “This is an extremely important step in our work. We are receiving congratulations from many of our colleagues abroad and I know that we are breaking thick ice with our progress for similar international initiatives.”
Twelve casinos currently serve 3.3 million Lithuanians in a country where gambling was only legalized nine years ago. The move is expected to generate an increase in the popularity of poker and it is hoped to kick off the ultimate dream of seeing poker recognized as an official sport by the International Olympics Committee.
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
