* On the tour, we will conduct a real journalistic investigation to answer the question: As from a country with a total ban on “playing for money” Has Russia turned into an empire where the best praise is “he's a nice player"? Let's figure out how cards, billiards and interest in roulette got into the Moscow state. Let's admire the mansions where the “big game” took place in the XVIII and XIX centuries. We will find out at which addresses the famous English Club, the Officers', Nobility, Merchant and Dance Meeting were located. Let's compare the size of membership fees and the rules of admission to these communities. Let's trace the path of Russian excitement from the “plebeian game” to the “aristocratic pastime.” And most importantly, let's do this using the example of well-known surnames! The heroes of our walk will be empresses, statesmen, writers and their literary heroes, professional cardsharps and brave officers. I'll tell you the secrets of: - Nekrasov's secret formula, thanks to which he kept a literary magazine for card winnings.; - the parcel of bricks that Mama sent to young Turgenev in Germany; - Tolstoy's fervent prayer, which “saved” him from the complete loss of Yasnaya Polyana; - the reasons for Lermontov's decision to shoot in the air in a duel, and not at Martynov; - Derzhavin's intercession for the officer's ward, who lost government money. And we'll also talk about what the most desperate gamblers were betting on? How Prince Golitsyn lost his wife, and Pushkin lost the chapter of Eugene Onegin. Who faced the most severe punishment for “playing for money" under Peter the Great? How did Catherine II pay? Why did everyone strive to join the English club and plot to keep their enemies out of it?