When the gambling authorities ban access to popular betting and poker sites, players find ways around the bans: DNSChanging VPN addresses, using Proxies and anonymous browsers can help you "enter" banned sites, but that doesn't mean you can gamble legally in those rooms. Here's a list of legal poker rooms and where else you can play.
Available poker rooms in Lithuania
Poker in Lithuania - when did it become popular?
Poker is a Western card game that has only recently become popular in Lithuania. The main reason for this is that in the old days, nobody played poker in Lithuania, and the most popular card games used to come from the USSR.
Poker was brought to modern Lithuania by expatriates and people who had spent a lot of time abroad, and online poker rooms quickly became popular as the internet became available. One of the best poker players in the world, A. Guoga's influence on the popularity of the game in Lithuania should not be overlooked - from 2004 until 2012, A. Guoga (Tony G) won prizes in international tournaments, and he was also one of the founders of the LSPF, which officially became the Lithuanian Sports Federation in 2010.
Legal Poker Rooms - BETSAFE
Legal poker rooms in Lithuania - Betsafe. Betsafe poker rooms are the only legal poker rooms in Lithuania, and are the only ones that offer a place for both beginners and experienced poker players. The high buy-in tables do not attract a large number of players, as most of them play at the lower buy-in tables, which are busy at any time of the day. The main advantage of betsafe poker over other licensed poker rooms is the availability of "Open-face" Chinese poker, also known as "OFC" games.
Betsafe Poker started in Lithuania in 2006 on the MPN network (Microgaming Poker Network), but as of May 2020, Betsafe Poker has joined one of the world's largest poker networks, iPoker. Betsafe Poker is owned by the Swedish online gaming giant Betsson Group. The main plus points of this poker room are its well-earned reliability, wide range of games, high level of customer service and some of the highest rakebacks on the market.
Betsafe Poker - the perfect choice for new players
New Betsafe poker players can get one of the biggest bonuses offered in poker rooms, up to β¬2,000. All you have to do is register with Betsafe on the website and when making your first payment, enter the bonus code - STARTER
- Step 1 - Registration (complete a short registration form with the requested information);
- Step 2 - Upload documents (upload the documents you need, usually a photo ID, i.e. a passport or ID card, is sufficient);
- Step 3 - Deposit and discount code (make a deposit for the desired amount, mark the discount code STARTER and download the Betsafe Poker app or open the Betsafe Poker browser to start playing).
You can download the Betsafe Poker app on any device - computer, tablet or phone. After making an initial deposit and entering the bonus code, Betsafe will add an additional 100% to your deposit up to β¬2,000! Add β¬10 to your account for every β¬40 you pay in poker fees.
What's more, when you use the Betsafe Poker First Deposit code STARTER, you will be automatically entered into the next β¬2,500 GTD Hey Baller's tournament.
Top 3 Lithuanians who have won the most playing poker - who are they?
- Antanas Guoga (Tony G). Tony G, who officially retired from poker 6 years ago, is still unrivalled in the world, having amassed β¬6.36 million during his sports poker career. He has also won more than USD 6.6 million in Poker Poker Poker. As enormous as this sum may seem, in the overall context of the highest winning players worldwide, Tony G ranks 177th.
- Matas Cimbolas. This player's winnings total β¬3.36 million. Matas Cimbolas finished runner-up in the WPT Los Angeles tournament in March 2019 alone for a prize of $647,000, and won another $650,000 after finishing 3rd in the PartyPoker Millions tournament in Brazil in April. He is currently ranked 49th on the Global Poker Index.
- Dominykas Karmazinas. This player's total winnings amount to β¬2.38 million. USD. Dominykas is still playing poker, so this amount is sure to rise.
The biggest poker tournaments in Lithuania
Undoubtedly the biggest live poker tournament in Lithuania, the Fisherman's Challenge. Launched in Lithuania in 2013 as the Triobet Fisherman's Challenge, the tournament has not slowed down, but has only grown in size with each passing year. In 2017, Betsafe started organising Betsafe Fisherman's Challenge tournaments, and it is from this period that the tournament has gained a lot of popularity. "Each year, the Betsafe online poker rooms host qualifiers for the tournament and the top performers receive tickets to the live sessions.
The Fisherman's Challenge has grown year on year and in 2020, the number of players reached 934 players and the prize pool reached β¬186,800. The 2020 Fisherman's Challenge champion was Martynas RaΔinskas, who not only won the title, but also β¬26,392 for his first place finish.
Available poker rooms in Lithuania
Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation - offer for all poker players
The LSPF invites all poker enthusiasts to become members of its structures, giving them the opportunity to participate in tournaments and other events organised by the LSPF. In order to become a member of the LSPF structures, natural persons must fill in a membership form and pay a membership fee.
Membership fees 
Payments are made after the member logs in to his/her account on the lspf.lt website, via the Paysera payment system.
- One-off entry fee: 25 EUR
- Disposable oneΒ tournament fee: 25 EUR (no entry fee)
Two payment periods are available: 6 months - β¬40 or 12 months - β¬70; + joining fee (β¬25) for new members). No joining fee is required for single tournament payments.
*PSPF National Club membership is open to individuals 18 years of age.
In case of questions
You can register here, and for all LSPF National Club issues, please contact the LSPF administration [email protected]
Poker news streams every week
From 19 October, every Monday at 21:00, Andrius Bielskis, known to the poker community as "benislovas", will be reviewing the latest poker news in Lithuania and around the world.
Upcoming and ongoing poker events, live tournament results, Lithuanian online achievements, news from abroad, a variety of poker programmes, LSPF championships, poker room trends, match previews, interviews with poker faces and much more on Monday's shows.
STREAMS ARE HAPPENING:
It's worth noting that the news is covered live, so you can ask questions and start discussions on a wide range of poker topics and more. Tune in and enjoy the latest poker news every Monday at 21:00.
Streams can be found at "PM Poker" on facebook or Talking (learning/discussing/sharing) group, and for older entries, see our in the news section.
Online vs offline poker - which option to choose?
Of course, the rules of poker remain the same for both online and offline play, but there are some key differences, which we'll discuss in more detail.
- Live poker can be easier to get away with - players who have a harder time controlling their emotions and don't have a good poker face will have a much harder time playing live. Good poker players will be able to "read" you at a glance, whereas online you can avoid this obstacle.
- More weak poker players are playing online - playing poker online means you don't have to look your opponents in the eye. Also, poker players behave differently live than online. Online players will play more hands and make more reckless moves because they know they won't be criticised or look foolish, unlike they would in a live game.
- Big difference in strategies. While the concept of the game itself remains the same for both, the strategies are fundamentally different for online and offline play. In online play, you do not see your opponents and your decisions are made only by looking at the situation on the table and the history of your competitors' current games. Whereas in a live game, the psychological factor will play a major role, helping you to "read" your opponent and better understand the situation. To summarise, online poker requires more analytical thinking, whereas in live poker, instincts and the ability to read emotions are important.
In summary, online poker is more convenient. You don't have to leave home to play this way, so you can play when you get home from work and so on, just having a free hour to relax. Online tournaments can also win you invitations to live poker events, so there's a reason why the number of online poker players is growing at a high rate every year.
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