The boom in poker in Moscow has continued at a rapid rate since the Cosmos Poker Tournaments held in October. At last count the following major casinos are spreading poker:
Cosmos
Corona
Shangri-la
Arbat
The Horseshoe
Vinco Grand
There are also 2 or 3 small casinos spreading 5-card stud as a service to regular clientele.
Since John Harrak took over as poker operations manager at Shangri-la Casino in early December last year, the poker room has gone ahead in leaps & bounds, spreading 5-card stud, Texas Pot Limit, Omaha Pot Limit as well as regular tournaments.
Poker rules have been introduced & are strictly enforced, rulings are made fairly & in accordance with accepted international practice, & players can now feel confident that disputes will be resolved equitably. Commission has been reduced & is now the lowest in Moscow, & credit is unavailable which means that players are unable to get in too deep ( which has often been the case in the past in the Moscow poker scene) & are playing within their means.
Two low entry tournaments have been held already with excellent attendances,& the big event scheduled for Jan 18th is a $1000 entry No Limit Hold’em Freezeout structured with 40 minute levels starting at 25-50 & 10,000 chips to start.
The European Poker Awards held by Casino Ray in Helsinki in December,2001, featured a win to Alex Kravchenko of Moscow in the Rookie of the Year category, & Alex Dobzhenko of St Petersberg was a nomination in the Individual Tournament Performance category. Eddy Kapitonov collected Euro 38,186 for his final table finish in Amsterdam in December.
Eddy is a young poker pro living in Moscow . His game has improved dramatically in the 2 years since I first met him. In a recent conversation with Eddy he impressed me with his attitude to poker & life.
“Poker is just like life, & bad beats are a part of poker that ligaz11 players must come to terms with in a realistic way – I realise that now- the 3 D’s …