Official language: German
Population: 8,316,487
Currency: Euro (EUR)

Current Exchange Rate
1 GBP = 1.0681 EUR
1 USD = 0.6754 EUR

Poker in Austria
Poker is a very popular game in Austria. Low stakes games, with limits of fifty cents, are legal throughout the city, and can be played in pubs and clubs. Because of legal limitations, however, regular poker can only be enjoyed in one of the country's few legal casinos. These are mostly in Vienna, but there are a few in other cities as well. All have poker tables, and a few have dedicated poker rooms. All casinos in Austria are owned by Casino Austria, and an annual Casino Austria Poker Tour that stops at various Austrian casinos draws an international crowd.

Fortunately, one of these Austrian casinos – Poker World in Vienna – is actually Europe's largest dedicated poker hall. Poker World is a high-class, private casino, so membership is required to play. Poker World holds daily tournaments, with buy-ins ranging from €10-100, along with their larger monthly "World Cup" tournament.

Online Poker in Austria
Online poker in Austria is also quite popular. Because the few casinos that offer poker are high-class and expensive, many people choose to play online poker. Internet poker in Austria is fully legal, and the government gives out licenses to online poker rooms, as long as the sites agree to only accept Austrian players. Any players who wish to play at poker rooms in other countries may also do so.

Last year, the Austrian government decided that they would like to get in on the online poker action, so they started a state-run poker site. The site is owned jointly by Casino Austria (they hold a monopoly over all Austrian casinos) and the state-controlled Osterreichische Lotterien. The site includes a poker hall, state lottery, and a basic internet casino.