The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

whose stated purpose is to "serve as the global governing body for Match

Poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

"."International Federation of Poker: Governing Body for the Industry?"
Earl Burton, ''Poker News Daily'' (September 25, 2009) IFMP is incorporated as a legal entity pursuant to articles 60 to 79 of the Swiss Civil Code and is headquartered in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, Switzerland.

History

IFMP was founded in Lausanne on April 29, 2009. IFMP is structured as an International Sports Federation and is recognized by the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

Goals

The goals of IFMP are to promote the development of

Match Poker A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

worldwide and to secure its recognition as a

Mind Sport A mind sport, is a game of skill based on intellectual ability. Etymology The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997. The phrase had been used prior to this event such as backgammon being described as ...

based on strategic skill, played without any discrimination of race, sex and creed. IFMP also seeks to assist its national Member Federations in securing legislation that gives players the right to play poker safely and legally, both online and in bricks & mortar establishments.

Match Poker’s recognition as a ‘Mind Sport’

In April 2010, IFMP secured provisional membership of the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) at IMSA's annual congress in Dubai.

Tournaments

As part of the first UK

Mind Sports A mind sport, is a game of skill based on intellectual ability. Etymology The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997. The phrase had been used prior to this event such as backgammon being described as ...

Festival, IFMP hosted its inaugural tournaments in November, 2011, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

’s County Hall: the IFP Duplicate Poker Nations Cup (now Match Poker Nations Cup), a team event contested by IFMP’s Member Federations, and the IFMP World Poker Championship, also called ‘The Table’, in which individual players compete for the title of World Champion. The only organisation to mount international tournaments using

Duplicate Poker Duplicate poker is a variant of the card game poker. Duplicate poker is based on the principles of duplicate bridge, but it also incorporates some of the rules of pot limit and no limit Texas hold'em. While the game is more conducive to an automate ...

, in its own version known as Match Poker, IFMP staged the opening hands of the 2011 IFMP Nations Cup in the capsules of the

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Membership

Membership of IFMP consists of national poker associations and federations from around the world. The IFMP currently has 60 national member federations, including the original seven member nations. The seven founding member nations of IFMP, which today form the nucleus of its executive board, are: * Confederação Brasileira de Texas Hold'em () * Dansk Pokerforbund () * Fédération Française des joueurs de Poker () * Stichting Nederlandse PokerBond () * Russian Sport Poker Federation () * Ukrainian Poker Federation () * UK Poker Federation () Additional national member federations that have joined IFMP since its foundation include: * Asociacion de Poker Texas Hold'em de Argentina (Argentina) * Armenian Poker Federation (Armenia) *

Poker Federation of Australia Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

(Australia) * Austrian PokerSport Association (Austria) * Belarusian Sport Poker Association (Belarus) * Poker Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina (Bosnia & Herzegovina) * Bulgarian Federation of Tournament Poker (Bulgaria) * Canadian Poker Federation (Canada) * Croatian Poker Players Association (Croatia) * Federación Nacional de Poker Deportivo (Chile) * Federations Costarricense de Poker Deportivo (Costa Rica) * Cypriot Poker Federation (Cyprus) * Asociace Pokerových Klubů o.s. (Czech Republic) * Estonian Tournament Poker Federation (Estonia) * Suomen Pokerinpelaajat Ry (Finland) * Georgian Sport Poker Association (Georgia) * Deutscher Poker Sportbund (Germany) * Greek Poker Federation (Greece) * Magyar Póker Szövetség (Hungary) * Pókersamband Íslands (Iceland) * Irish Poker Federation (Ireland) * Japan Poker Association (Japan) * Republic Federation of Amateurs and Poker Players (Kazakhstan) * Sport Poker Federation of Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzstan) * Latvian Sport Poker Federation (Latvia) * Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation (Lithuania) * The Macedonian Poker Federation (Macedonia) * Federación Mexicana de Juegos de Cartas de Habilidad y Deportivas, A.C. (Mexico) * Mongolian Sport Poker United Association (Mongolia) * Pakistan Poker Federation (Pakistan) * Federación Peruana de Poker FPP (Peru) * Związek Pokera Sportowego (Poland) * Federatia Romana de Poker (Romania) * Serbian Poker Federation (Serbia) * Poker zveza Slovenije (Slovenia) * IFPo de España (Spain) * The Swedish Poker Federation (Sweden) * United States Poker Federation (USA) * Asociación Poker de Venezuela (Venezuela)

Internal structure

The supreme authority of IFMP is the Congress, the assembly of all the members of IFMP on a one-country-one-vote system. Congress meets once a year. The Executive Board of IFMP is elected by Congress for a period of three years and is the managing body of IFMP. The Board elects a President from among its members for a term of four years, which can be renewed. IFMP's first president was

Anthony Holden Anthony Holden (born 22 May 1947) is an English writer, broadcaster and critic, particularly known as a biographer of artists including Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, the essayist Leigh Hunt, the opera librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte and the actor Laurenc ...

. IFMP's president and executive board take counsel, at their discretion, from an advisory board of poker players including, among others,

Al Alvarez Alfred Alvarez (5 August 1929 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, essayist and critic who published under the name A. Alvarez and Al Alvarez. Background Alfred Alvarez was born in London, to an Ashkenazic Jewish mother and a ...

Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...

Humberto Brenes Humberto Brenes (; born May 8, 1951) is a Costa Rican professional poker player. Brenes currently resides in Miami Lakes, Florida with his wife (Patricia) and three children (José Humberto, Roberto, Jessica). Brenes began his gambling career ...

Gus Hansen Gustav Hansen (born 13 February 1974) is a Danish professional poker player from Copenhagen, Denmark who has lived in Monaco since 2003. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, one WSOP bracelet and the 2007 Auss ...

Mel Judah Mel Judah (born 8 October 1947 in Kolkata, India) is an Australian professional poker player, also known as "The Silver Fox" (a nickname he shares with fellow poker player Peter Costa). He learned poker at the age of 14 by watching his father ...

James McManus } James "Jim" McManus (born March 22, 1951) is an American teacher, writer and poker player living in Kenilworth, Illinois. He is a professor in the Master of Fine Arts program for writers at the Art Institute of Chicago. Poker and ''Positi ...

and

Tom McEvoy Thomas K. McEvoy (born November 14, 1944, in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a professional poker player, author and member of the Poker Hall of Fame, 2013 inductee. He is best known for winning the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. Early life ...

IFMP Books

IFMP established its own publishing imprint in association with Limehouse Books in November 2011. Its first title, published in August 2012, was ''The Rules of Poker'', edited by

David Flusfeder David L. Flusfeder (born 1960) is an American-born British author, journalist, playwright, and screenwriter. Early life Flusfeder was born in Summit, New Jersey to Joe Flusfeder, a Polish Jew, and a mother from the East End of London. Born in W ...

, chairman of IFP's Rules Committee.

Notes

External links

International Federation of Match Poker

Legislation of online poker in California
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Federation Of Poker Poker and society Poker companies International sports bodies based in Switzerland Sports organizations established in 2009