Explore Poker in Moldova: Venues, Events, and Laws
Moldova offers a focused yet professional gaming environment in 2026. While the market is smaller than its neighbors, the capital city of Chișinău serves as a regional hub for high-quality live cash games and mid-stakes tournaments. The scene is defined by a 2016 legislative foundation that has matured into a stable, regulated live market, though online poker continues to operate in a flexible “grey area.”
Moldova: The 2026 Regulatory Landscape
- The Regulatory Pillar: The Gambling Law of 2016 remains the primary legislation. It centralized the industry, requiring all live poker action to take place within licensed land-based casinos or dedicated poker clubs. The Public Services Agency oversees the licensing and auditing of these venues.
- Online Poker Status: In 2026, online poker remains in a legal grey area. While land-based gambling is strictly regulated, there is no specific licensing framework for online poker. Consequently, Moldovan players can access international sites (like PokerStars and GGPoker ) without legal penalty, though they lack domestic consumer protection.
- Taxation on Winnings: Moldova enforces a flat tax on gambling profits. As of 2026, winnings from gambling are taxed at 18%. For live tournament payouts and cash game withdrawals at licensed casinos, this tax is typically withheld at the source.
PRIMARY HUB
Chișinău
KEY CLUB
Courage Poker Club
STATUS
Regulated Live Market
Moldova’s Elite Venue Network
The infrastructure for poker in Moldova is highly concentrated in the capital, Chișinău, offering a mix of luxury casino rooms and dedicated card clubs:
Courage Poker Club (Chișinău): The most active dedicated poker venue in Moldova. In 2026, it remains the primary destination for local grinders and visiting regional players. It is known for consistent $1/$2 and $2/$5 NLH or PLO cash games and a regular schedule of weekly tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $50 to $300.
Nuovo Casino (Radisson Blu, Chișinău): Located in the prestigious Radisson Blu Leogrand Hotel, Nuovo Casino offers a high-end gaming experience. While it focuses heavily on house-banked games like Russian Poker, it frequently hosts higher-stakes private cash games and VIP poker events for international guests.
Eldorado Poker Club (Chișinău): A reliable secondary venue located in the Râșcani district. Eldorado caters to a more local, recreational crowd, offering lower-stakes tournaments and social cash games in a comfortable setting.
2026 Key Dates & Events
Moldova Cup of Poker (Expected Autumn 2026): A periodic domestic series often hosted at Courage Poker Club, drawing the best homegrown talent, including legendary Moldovan pro Pavel Plesuv.
SCOOP 2026 (May 2026): While an online festival on PokerStars, the Spring Championship of Online Poker is the most significant date for Moldovan digital grinders, who historically perform at an elite level in these international series.
Online Poker in Moldova (Republic of)
Online Poker Legislation in Moldova
Online poker in Moldova operates in a legal grey area. While the country has regulated land-based gambling, including casinos and lotteries, there are no specific laws addressing online poker. This means Moldovan players can access international online poker platforms like PokerStars and partypoker without facing legal restrictions. However, these sites are not licensed locally, and there is no formal regulation or protection for online poker activities in the country.
Best Online Poker Sites in Moldova (Republic of)
Live Poker in Moldova (Republic of)
Live Poker Legislation in Moldova
As we wrote in our intro, gambling originally became legal in Moldova in 1918; then it became illegal again during the rule of the Soviet Union; to become re-legalized after the USSR dissolved in 1990. The current gambling law in place was passed by their Parliament in 2016.
However, all land-based gambling facilities are held by a state monopoly. They’re owned by the Moldovan Public Property Agency (PPA), which also handles licencing and regulation.
Live Poker Venues in Moldova
Casino Fortus in the capital city of Chisinau hosted the Moldova Championship of Poker in 2011. It was a big poker festival, bearing the country’s name, with events on the schedule with buy-ins ranging from $100 up to a $5,000 High Roller.
That venue is now called Nuovo Casino (meaning New Casino). They still have a poker room, however, information about it is scarce on their website. They claim they offer Texas Hold’em poker – however, it’s listed among poker game types which you play against the house, such as Russian Poker and Ultimate Poker. Also, whether it’s a cash game or tournament isn’t stated; while about the stakes, all we know is that “the size of bets is in the range of 5 USD and 500 USD”.
At the Kicker Cardroom, also known as TexasPoker Club – Kicker, you can find a wide selection of cash tables. They have NLHE tables on MDL5/5 ($0.30/$0.30), MDL5/10 ($0.30/$0.60), MDL10/25 ($0.60/$1.50), MDL25/25 ($1.50/$1.50) and MDL25/50 ($1.50/$3) stakes; and PLO tables on MDL5/5 ($0.30/$0.30), MDL5/10 ($0.30/$0.60), MDL10/25 ($0.60/$1.50) and MDL25/25 ($1.50/$1.50) stakes.
You can also find some action at the Courage Poker Club in Chisinau and Sports Poker Tiraspol in the city of Tiraspol.
![Moldova [MDA]](/assets/images/flags/1x1/md.svg "Moldova [MDA]"){kind=small}
