"At this moment every Belgian casino is allowed to organize one poker tournament a year," says Wim Verdonck, managing director of Casino Oostende. "We are not allowed to operate a poker room on a daily basis as yet. This should be approved this year. We will request permission to operate Texas Hold'em, Omaha and 7 Card Stud. We expect approval from the gaming commission before the summer."

There are at least three very well-known Dutch poker players. Rob Hollink was born in Enschede and is a huge force in tournaments. Hollink has cashed twelve times at the WSOP and twice at the WPT, including fifth in the Season 3 WPT Championship at Bellagio. This all pales next to his win in the European Poker Tour's Grand Finale in Season 1. He took first in a very tough field, earning $845,190.

Gambling has deep roots in Germany. The roulette wheel itself was developed by Francois and Louis Blanc and introduced in Germany. When the laws turned against gambling in the late 1800s, Louis Blanc took the wheel to Monaco, which led to the creation of Monte Carlo.

Italy has spawned several notable poker professionals. Jeff "Iceman" Lisandro was actually born in Australia but lives in Salerno, Italy. He won a Lake Tahoe WSOP circuit event in 2005, and cashed 17th in the WSOP main event that year for $659,730. As for poker players who are actually Italian: Luca Pagano is part of Team PokerStars and has cashed five times at European Poker Tour events, including third at the Barcelona Open in Season 1.

Possibly the most famous Finnish poker player of all is Patrik Antonius. Lately, he's been on tour Stateside, hitting several major events since the World Series. And what a World Series it was: five cashes, including ninth in the $25,000 HORSE event. Antonius also finished runner-up in 2005's Doyle Brunson event at Bellagio. This native son does Finland proud, and it's also remarkable considering Finland has only one casino with poker.

"We offer cash games and tournaments," says Jukka Rasanen, table games and poker manager at Grand Casino Helsinki.

The history of poker in Poland is fairly recent. It all began after the fall of the USSR. In late 1989, the economy was transformed to a free market, references to Communism were struck from the constitution, and the country was reborn as the Republic of Poland. By the early '90s, democracy had taken root. Thanks to this movement, casinos began appearing across the country, mostly basing themselves in hotels.

There once was a U.S. based sweepstakes, designed to raise money for Irish hospitals, that was incredibly popular. Illegal, but popular. Tickets were smuggled into the country. How popular was it? About 13 percent of the population bought at least one ticket. The Irish are integral to the introduction of worldclass poker to the United States. Benny Binion, an Irish-American, created the Horseshoe in Vegas in 1951 and helped found the World Series of Poker in 1970.

Live poker has reached the furthest corners of Europe - including a place that seems unlikely to be a gambling haven at first - Hungary.

They may be neutral, but they'll still take your money. That's poker in Switzerland, which surprisingly has only had casino gambling with unlimited stakes since 2000 - the first such law since 1921. (Card games were prohibited as far back as the year 1379.) The law defines two types of gambling: games of skill, which rightly includes poker, and games like roulette and slots, which are games of chance. A third type, which encompasses lottery and betting, is handled separately.

Poker in Sweden has exploded in recent years. Judging by the enthusiastic response below from several managers involved with Casino Cosmopol, it's one of the best places to play when visiting Europe.

Gambling has an interesting history in Sweden. Back in the year 1020, so the legend goes, Sweden's King Olaf and Norway's King Olaf (no relation) rolled dice to decide ownership of a district. The Swedish Olaf rolled two 6s. The other king rolled a 6 on one die, but Norway Olaf's other die broke, showing a 7.