Russian poker tournament next month has been cancelled with Ukrainian capital hosting the event from August 18 to 23 instead.
Monday 27th July 2009
The European Poker Tour (EPT) has announced that it has moved its upcoming Russian Open tournament from Moscow to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev following the passage of legislation last week that banned the sport in all but for special zones.
The new PokerStars.com EPT Russian Open was due to be held from August 17 to 23 at the Radisson SAS featuring World Series Of Poker main event finalists Ivan Demidov and Alex Kravchenko.
However, the event has now been renamed as the EPT Kiev Sports Poker Championship and will take place at the Kiev Sports Palace from August 18 to 23 under the regulation of the Ukrainian Ministry Of Youth, Family And Sport and in partnership with the Ukrainian Poker Federation.
The new event is expected to be the largest poker tournament ever held in the Ukraine and the buy-in has been set at €5,000.
“European Poker Tour Limited sincerely apologises to all players who were intending to attend the Moscow event but, unfortunately, these circumstances were beyond our control,” read a statement issued by the EPT on Sunday.
“Players are encouraged to consider attending the Ukrainian event instead and to participate in the opening of the EPT's sixth season.
“PokerStars.com advises its players who qualified online for the Moscow event that their packages including buy-in and hotel will be converted to EPT Kiev packages. However, they will also be eligible to take a credit for a future event or receive the cash equivalent value as alternatives.”
