As I have previously discussed in a number of posts, just about every large poker company is going through a hard time right now.  Regardless of how diversified or creative they are, you would be hard pressed to find a large poker company that isn't going through some hard times right now.  In addition to the less than optimal economy that can be found around the world, companies are struggling with the fact that the poker markets in countries like the United States are being destroyed as a result of legislation by the government.

Fortunately, even though they are having to work extremely hard to keep their heads above water, most of these large companies are working tirelessly to find new ways to generate revenue while these other issues (including the weakened economy and the prohibition of online gambling in places like the United States) hopefully work themselves out.  A great example of a company that is working hard to take advantage of new markets is PokerStars.  As you may have heard, PokerStars has been sponsoring a series of poker tours around the world.  Each of these tours is regionally themed, and PokerStars is taking advantage of the fact that people all over the world enjoy the game of poker.

The latest tournament in this series to be announced by PokerStars is the Russian Poker Tour.  While you may still have an antiquated picture of Russia in your mind, Russia is a place that is experiencing a lot of rapid growth, and their poker market is no exception (in fact, it is one of the fastest growing in the world).

The first two events of this poker tour will be held at the beginning of 2009.  The first one will be held in St. Petersburg, while the second stop of the Russian Poker Tour will be held in the city of Moscow.  The first stop will require a buy-in of five thousand dollars, while the second one will require a buy-in of ten thousand dollars.

Both of these events should be very exciting to watch, especially given the fact that there are two major poker forces who claim Russia as their homeland.  The first of these players is Ivan Demidov, who had multiple top placed performances throughout 2008.  The other Russian player who will give these events a lot of spark is Alex Kravchenko, who is the proud owner of a 2007 WSOP bracelet.