The first round of the 11^th season of the European Poker Tour is over. It is the 100^th round in succession. Some incredible records have been set and the dreams of some individual players have turned into reality.

It all began long before the start of the August EPT round.  First players hadn’t strived to Barcelona yet but the entire poker world was already set on its ear: the 100^th stop of the most influential poker series in the world – it was definitely worth visiting.

Everyone understood that history would be made in Spain.

And it happened that way.

With Belarus Sports Poker Championship started actually the whole Belarusian poker. During this time, a whole generation of professional players was born, and nowadays they are playing for their country in the international arena.

In mid-April of 2009 the Belarusian Federation of Sports Poker was created, and just in five days, the 1st Belarus Sports Poker Championship was announced.

It is with this massive tournament, which is still called a national one, that started "live" poker in Belarus.

Dear poker players, we need your help!

PokerDiscover is making its first steps to create a global poker network which will cover the whole territory of the Independent States Commonwealth and other countries. We want to pull all who love live poker games together, we want the casinos and poker clubs to prepare poker-tables with any stakes in short time and we want players to find easily a live and appropriate cache game or even create it themselves.

Gone are the days when it was possible to make millions in online poker. Competition is unbearable even for professionals, profits are decreasing. Obviously, in the future poker in clubs and casinos will prevail.

Online poker has become one big hunt for those who are weaker. How can you have fun in such conditions? All people care about is money.

We in Poker Discover believe that there is a solution – a “live” poker. Watching the development of poker clubs and casinos in the CIS, Europe and around the world, we see how the once “dated” type of the game is regaining popularity. More and more players are choosing a gaming table, live people, communication and real experience.

Gambling in Belarus is thriving, but poker still has an uncertain legal status – it belong neither to sports nor to gambling. Belarus Poker is a trademark, though.

The key point in the development of gambling in Belarus was, curiously enough, the ban on gambling in Russia in the summer of 2009. Many major gaming networks were transferred to Minsk and other cities – to take at least a casino “Shangri-La”.

Another important feature of poker in Belarus – a rigid distinction between tournaments and cash. The latter is only allowed in casinos. Because of this, many refuse to open poker clubs or simply go underground. Because tournaments without cache have a short lifetime. Where is the sense in organizing them if they do not bring tangible income?

In Kazakhstan there are special gambling zones as well as in Russia. On the rest of the territory gambling is prohibited, and poker is not an exception. However, it does not exclude an opportunity to host here some of the biggest poker series.

In the spring of 2007 a law "About gambling industry" came into force and it put an end to the career of the majority of Kazakhstan "gambling" entrepreneurs. All the casinos have been "transferred" to the two resort areas - Schuchinsky district of Akmola province (northern) and Kapshagay in Almaty region (southern). In 2008 the first casino was opened in Kapchagay.

In Russia poker is subject to gambling laws. All casinos are to be placed in special gambling zones. In reality, clandestine activities are thriving in big cities.

Poker had the status of an official sports game in the Russian Federation from March 2007 to July 2009. During this period poker clubs, which were promoted in the media, were in the process of being opened and tournaments and other events were held.