BREAKING NEWS ON BLONDE

[tikay]

Yes, I read the article.

I was not warned, but then it was not me that won the money, (I just got my 10% share) or carried much of the money. I went home with about $5k, roughly what I went with. I have no idea if the guys who carried or won the money were warned or not. I told the truth to the Customs guys, showed them the money I was carrying immediately, got given a sermon and a warning, end of story.

I do know this. I'd return to Moscow any chance I get. The Shangri-La Casino was stunning, & I loved every minute of my time there. We were treated like royalty, the owner, & Mr Power, were magnificent hosts. They have a tourney at the end of this month, & if I could find a way of financing it, I would be there. I was actually invited to play in the Tourney, but the adverse publicity has probably killed that stone dead. A shame indeed.

[Ironside]

did you go back this year tony?

[TightEnd]

i wouldn't have thought he would risk it....

[Ironside]

"hello mr kendall welcome back" as you hear the gloves snapping back on

[booder]

damn.........spotted the title , the thread starter and number of pages and assumed Rhow was holding auditions
 

[tikay]

Noi, I never returned, though if invited, I'd be there like a shot. Going to Russia without an invite is very complicated indeed, one needs "Vouchers" from someone who has invited you, & Hotel Bookings need to be agreed before Visas can be issued. You cannot "just" go to Russia, you won't get in.

Getting my Visa was comical. Queue outside the Embassy is method one, don't bother. The queue is 200 yards long, you stand on the pavemnent, & the little window only opens for 3 hours per day.

While queuing, flyers for local Travel Agencies who can organise a Visa within 24 hours are handed out, so off you trot, pay them £100 over the odds (a bribe in effect) & hey presto, you have a Visa.

Method three is best, & I have used this too. Meet a guy called ....... from the Embassy in a local pub, give him your Passport, (dodgy, yes....) return in 4 hours with a £75 "fixers fee" & you have your visa. Bizarre, but it works.

A sad PS to the whole story though.

I got invited back, as did Edy G, Racing Ronnie & Pat Keane, though I'm not sure if Ronnie or Pat would risk returning, as things got a bit hot between them & Russiian Customs officers, & they got conned out of a heap of money.......(Edy & I somehow got through OK eventually without any financial loss, except a reduction of our % in the other two, who's winnings got diluted by the Customs boys).

The intermediary who invited us the first time, & then again, was a Marketing genuis, great guy, early thirties. He got killed in a light plane crash over Northampton a few weeks later. A real tragedy, he was a smashing guy.

So many stories, so little time.......

[BigTomatoes]

 you sure the winnings were '' diluted '' by customs ?? sounds like a likely story to me

[tikay]

you sure the winnings were '' diluted '' by customs ?? sounds like a likely story to me

Well, call it what you will, they were "fined" about $30,000 in total, & they paid up, being a better alternative than the threatened weekend in a cell, court appearance in Moscow at 9am Monday, & looking at 7 to 9 years inside! Having paid the "fine", all the papers were ripped up, & they were free to leave. The Customs Boys had a good night......

[BigTomatoes]

 ill bet they did , bummer

[Moskvich]

There's a few nice places to play poker if you're in Moscow - and it's not really that hard to get a visa, though as tk says you don't want to be messing about trying to do it yourself (especially through the London embassy - I think the consulate in Edinburgh is easier to deal with, or used to be at least). I've used Russiadirect.net to get a visa, and their service has always been very good. If any one was going back to play in a tourny i'd recommend them - they might also be able to help with questions about getting your money out - having a business visa might be better than a tourist visa, for example. If I remember rightly though, customs don't actually check or ask to know how much money you're taking in, so the main thing (as you found out...) is not to try and take more than 10k out.

[tikay]

There's a few nice places to play poker if you're in Moscow - and it's not really that hard to get a visa, though as tk says you don't want to be messing about trying to do it yourself (especially through the London embassy - I think the consulate in Edinburgh is easier to deal with, or used to be at least). I've used Russiadirect.net to get a visa, and their service has always been very good. If any one was going back to play in a tourny i'd recommend them - they might also be able to help with questions about getting your money out - having a business visa might be better than a tourist visa, for example. If I remember rightly though, customs don't actually check or ask to know how much money you're taking in, so the main thing (as you found out...) is not to try and take more than 10k out.

I agree with prettty much all of that.

Moscow is just wonderful, & plenty of nice Casino Cardrooms.

The law, as I understand it, is that you cannot take out more foreign currency than you take in. The problem began for us because we never realised we should have declared our cash when we arrived - we did not. We were also ignorant of what we could take home, but this problem was made worse by not declaring what we took in. So it was much of our own making, caused by ignorance, but the fact that we were "informed on" did not help. (How else can it be explained that 4 of us, queueing seperately at the Airport, were the only 4 to be searched?).

For future reference, "winnings" can be wired home.

I'd love to return.

[Moskvich]

You might be right tikay, but first and foremost the rule is that you can't take out more than $10k in one go, however you do it, even by a bank-to-bank transfer. Not a problem I encountered from my poker days there - thought the pots at 4-8 limit in some places are like nothing you've ever seen..!

[tikay]

You might be right tikay, but first and foremost the rule is that you can't take out more than $10k in one go, however you do it, even by a bank-to-bank transfer. Not a problem I encountered from my poker days there - thought the pots at 4-8 limit in some places are like nothing you've ever seen..!

Our problem was two-fold.

1) We never knew we had to declare how much cash we were bringing in.

2) We were taking home $90,000........

Recipe for trouble, with hindsight.

[Ironside]

did you get a go on any trains while there i hear there is one that will take you all the way to asia

and its also possible to get to south africa only having to change train 4 times

[tikay]

did you get a go on any trains while there i hear there is one that will take you all the way to asia

and its also possible to get to south africa only having to change train 4 times

The Train Station in St Petersburg is named "Moscow Station" because it goes to Moscow, & in Moscow, they use the same logic. Could get confusing......

I spenty two whole days in St Petersburg - sorry - Moscow Train Station, in St Petersburg, just soaking up the atmo. Ditto when I was in Moscow.

I did the same in Helsinki with Jen, & even sat in a train to get the atmo, but Jen got bored after 2 hours. She's a girlie.