Playing Poker in Georgia

Georgia is an intriguing destination… somewhat mysterious, in fact. The country shares its borders with Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia. Once it was the Soviet Republic of Georgia, and people would have struggled to find it on a map. Not now, though, because it’s a hot tourist destination. Georgia’s diverse landscape, which sees the country sitting between the Caucasus mountains, the Black Sea, and deserts, is one of the draws to the country, as is the wine, which is part of Georgia’s national identity, and the capital, Tbilisi.

What you might not know is that Georgia has a relatively warm attitude towards poker. In its days as part of the former Soviet Union, the state would have banned this and other forms of gambling. Today is a different story, however, and this article looks at how and where you can play, Georgia’s laws on poker, and why players may wish to try online poker tournaments.

How and where to play poker in Georgia

Players who head to Tbilisi can easily find a cash game. They’ll find several casinos in the city that offer them. Some of these are open 24 hours a day, allowing players to have that flutter whenever the fancy takes them. No Limit Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hi-Lo are the main types available.

Players don’t have to make a beeline for the capital to play, though. The beachside city Batumi, which is also Georgia’s second largest city, offers poker and is a popular destination with tourists. This is partly due to the fact that not only is it a beachside spot, but gambling laws in some of the countries with which Georgia shares its borders also make this city and other parts of the country highly inviting for anyone looking to gamble.

Anyone who does visit a Georgian casino will get a surprise because some even have online poker machines. These aren’t video games and the players can play for cash. The machines deal the cards face down and display them that way continuously, but feature buttons so that the player can look at their cards privately and stop people from looking over their shoulder.

Tournaments do take place in Georgia, such as the WSOP. That being said, however… cash games are easier to find. The taxation on tournaments, 20% of the prize funds, makes it somewhat pointless for casinos to hold them and the casinos in the country abide strictly by the gambling laws.

Rules and laws

Part of the reason poker is so welcome in Georgia is the amount of tax revenue the game and other gambling activities generate in the country. It’s possible to play online or offline. That doesn’t mean the state is totally laissez-faire towards the activity, however, and certain laws and restrictions are in place. These restrictions are just the right balance to keep operators sufficiently happy to provide poker providers games on the straight and narrow.

Foreign operators and local operators can open a casino if they can afford a licence fee and to operate the casino. Although the majority of casino income comes from tourists who are playing at the casinos, locals are also welcome to play.

One proposal into which the authorities have been looking concerns the income of residents who gamble. The proposal is to limit gambling to people who have more than 5,000 Georgian Lari in their savings accounts and earn at least 500 Lari per month. This policy could be hard to monitor, however.

Taking part in an online poker tournament

The fact poker tournaments are more scarce in Georgia because of the taxation they carry may tempt anyone living there to take part in online poker tournaments instead. This may also be the case for anyone who happens to be on holiday at the time but fancies playing in one. It’s an opportunity, too, to play against people from all over the world. Given the advanced technology online operators integrate into their platforms, such as chat functions, the players may even make friends during the tournaments.

This isn’t the only advantage to playing in a tournament, however. One of the big advantages, despite the taxation on prize funds, is the sheer amount players can win. Take the WSOP, for instance. Players can put up a few thousand and, if they win, leave as a millionaire.

That’s wishful thinking for some, but there are smaller, equally mouth-watering returns on investment when a player plays well in tournaments. It’s possible to buy in with just a few hundred but still walk away with a five-figure sum. Again, money well invested.

Less confident players, or even confident players who still want to limit potential losses, will enjoy the advantage of knowing beforehand how much they could lose. This is the buy-in, and there’s a cap on the amount. Then you play for as long as possible until you have no chips left, at which point you’re out of the tournament, and you can manage your strategy around the chips you have.

Georgia may be slightly mysterious, which also makes it immensely intriguing, but when it comes to poker, there’s no mystery. Locals and visitors can play the game legally under the careful but not overly stern eye of the authorities. A win could make it a holiday to especially remember.