Official language: Italian
Population: 59,829,710
Currency: Euro (EUR)

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

Poker in Italy
Poker is more popular in Italy today then ever before, but the game definitely does not hold the same status as it does in many other countries. Of the handful of casinos in operation across Italy, only a few even offer poker. Of those that do, just one has a proper poker room, while the others just have a few poker tables mixed in with other games in the main hall.

Though Italy has few casinos, the ones that offer poker do a fine job at keeping the game alive. The most popular place to play poker in Italy is at Casino di Sanremo. This casino hosts regular poker tournaments and cash games, with buy-ins ranging from €200 to €1000. The tournament circuit in Italy is fairly limited. There are, however, some excellent Italian poker players who compete in other events around Europe and elsewhere.

Online Poker in Italy
Online poker, unsurprisingly is not very widespread in Italy. Like most places, however, it is slowly growing in popularity. The recent legislative changes that have made online poker in Italy legal have really opened the country up to the game, since players who would not go to a fancy casino in order to enjoy poker can now play from their homes.

In fact, during the past year, a number of large, international gambling companies have obtained licenses to operate online poker sites that specifically target Italian players. These websites are in Italian, and use Euros as the primary currency. Poker online is an excellent way to play for money, but is also a good place to learn the game, so as we see more and more Italian internet poker rooms open, the popularity of the game is sure to increase.