Ukraine reclassifies Poker as a Sport, exempts Game from Anti-Gambling Laws

It looks like poker in Ukraine could potentially be able to flourish once again right after the country's Ministry of Youth and Sport decided to re-classify the game as a sport, thus exempting it from the country's anti-gambling laws.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Youth and Sport published document 3780. Written in Ukrainian language, the translation says that "II.119 sport poker" is now included on the country's Register of Recognized Sports.

Ministers switch back and forth on Poker
This recent political move came to light eight years after the government took poker off from its list of national sports. Being previously determined that the game is quite distinctive from other forms of gambling such as slots, roulette and blackjack, the Justice Minister decided to reverse its standing in 2010.

Upon the passing of the 2009 "On Prohibition of Gambling Business in Ukraine" act, the game's status was reviewed and ministers agreed to the conclusion that poker conflicted with an integral part of the anti-gambling law.

Even though that was the case, representatives of Ukraine's poker clubs raised their argument to the Supreme Court, saying that poker should be exempt from the new laws. The case was reviewed again in 2013, and the Supreme Court judges ruled in favor of the clubs but it only applies to tournament poker.

This somewhat minor success allowed the clubs to remain operational; however, the troubles with Russia in Crimea a year later meant the ministers had stopped enacting any other gambling laws.

Because of this, poker has been placed in a gray area since 2013.

Sport Status may bring Stability
Despite local clubs being allowed to host poker tournaments, cash games remained totally illegal. Online operators had no choice but to relocate their servers outside of Ukraine to avoid being prosecuted. In 2016, the country's biggest network iPoker exited Ukraine as part of its decision to move away from unregulated and undefined markets.

Now that the government has reclassified poker as a sport, new regulations may be coming. At this point, the term "poker sport" simply means that the game isn't lumped in with the other types of gambling and so it's not subject to the 2009 law.

However, this could mean that it's the first step towards establishing a new legislation.

Even if it's still too early to conclude that poker will be staying indefinitely in Ukraine, its status as a sport will at least exempt it from Ukraine's anti-gambling laws.

Ukraine's Poker Players
The country of Ukraine actually has an active presence in the poker community. The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) has a Ukrainian division, and its members Eugene Katchalov and Yevgeniy Timoshenko are known as two of the country's most productive players.

According to The Hendonmob.com, here are the current top 10 players on Ukraine's all-time money list:

Rank	Player	Earnings
1	Eugene Katchalov	$ 9,235,296
2	Yevgeniy Timoshenko	$ 7,684,951
3	Oleksii Khoroshenin	$ 3,581,956
4	Artem Metalidi	$ 3,402,679
5	Igor Yaroshevskyy	$ 3,133,595
6	Alexander Dovzhenko	$ 2,426,208
7	Oleksi Kovalchuk	$ 2,339,359
8	Sergii Baranov	$ 1,242,334
9	Vadim Shlez	$ 1,188,844
10	Anton Makiievskyi	$ 1,122,027

Source:
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