News

Monday, 19 April 2010 02:48

The game of poker has been recognised by the Lithuanian government as a sport, elevating its status and opening more doors to players who enjoy the game.

It may seem like a logical step to take, but for the Lithuanian government, recognising poker as a sport is a bold move that has aroused a great deal of interest not just in that country but in other neighbouring Eastern European countries. For this Baltic region of Eastern Europe is an underdeveloped market ripe for the taking should its neighbours follow suit and liberalise the status of the game. Online gambling operators are watching with keen interest for the green light to get them off the starting blocks in offering their services to the people of this region as soon as the countries sort out their licensing and regulation procedures.

Lithuania may be a small country, but it is one that is strategically located adjacent to Poland, Belarus and Latvia in North Eastern Europe's Baltic region. Part of the Soviet Union for around 50 years this now independent country has its sovereignty restored in the early 1990s, and now continues to grow economically stronger.

In March this year, the Lithuanian Department of Physical Education and Sports issued an announcement that they now recognise the official nature of Lithuania's Sports Poker Federation, the LSPF. This ruling now means that independently of casinos, the LSPF are able to organise poker tournaments, which means anyone who wants to play poker now can.

LSPF President, Andrius Tapinas, has said that this announcement is an important step in their work and that they are being congratulated by many of their colleagues abroad. The LSPF's next step is to move forward in the creation of a tournament schedule that will take the newly recognised sport of poker onward to greater heights of consumer recognition and participation.

Tapinas intends to use his celebrity status to host Lithuania's popular business TV show to further raise poker's profile by his upcoming participation in the WSOP and also the Unibet Open tournament. His new organisation has also very recently been granted the status of full member by the IFP (International Federation of Poker), which is based in Lausanne in Switzerland. In 2009, the IFP was formed as an umbrella organisation especially for poker players and is based on similar principles and legal criteria as define other mainstream sports.