Official language: Czech
Population: 10,424,926
Currency: Czech Koruna (CZK)

Current Exchange Rate
1 EUR = 25.8469 CZK
1 GBP = 27.6155 CZK
1 USD = 17.4638 CZK

Poker in Czech Republic
Poker is a special game in Czech Republic. In fact, its so special that the Czech Association of Poker Clubs has been lobbying the Finance Ministry to recognize the game as an official sport. This change in categorization would make the game easier to play, since it is currently only allowed to be enjoyed in casinos.

Even though poker can only be played in casinos, it is still quite popular. There are about twenty official poker clubs throughout the country, all located in various casinos. The Golden Prague Poker Room is one of the biggest. It is actually a chain of poker rooms found in a few different Czech casinos. The company is affiliated with PokerStars, and uses the internet poker site to hold qualifiers for poker tournaments.

Online Poker in Czech Republic
Czech online poker is also popular, but at the moment, it must be enjoyed discreetly. The Czech government frowns upon the encroachment of foreign poker rooms, and has decided to legalize internet gambling inside the Czech Republic in order to tax some of the millions of euros that Czechs spend gambling online each year.

The government will start handing out licenses to operate online poker sites sometime in early 2009. Once this happens, Czech poker on the internet is sure to become more widely available, as companies like the Golden Prague Poker Room make their move online.