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Chaos reigns in Russia gaming world
Since Russia declassified poker as a sport all the casinos and poker rooms in the country have been shut down and 400,000 people have been left jobless.
A Russian gaming official has described the situation as “Total chaos”, the declassification of Poker as a sport has lead to all casinos and poker rooms being shut down and 400,000 people left without jobs
A new law which closed all of Russia’s gambling halls went into force on July 1st. According to the new law, gambling is permitted in four specific regions across the country, but thanks to the current economic crisis and a lack of investment, no casinos have been built in these areas.
Casinos were forced to close at the beginning of last month, however, many became poker clubs thanks to a 2007 law which classed poker as a sport and therefore exempt from the new laws. However, last week Russian officials removed the classification and forced all these poker clubs to shut down.
In an interview in 2006 Putin explained why he wanted to restrict gaming:
“I […] just recently sent a draft bill to the State Duma that, in accordance with my proposal, confines all gaming activities and business into four special zones allocated for this type of activity and business. Unfortunately, it is not only young people but also retirees that lose their last penny and pensions through gambling. Experts say that dependence on games and gambling is far stronger than an addiction to alcohol. This is a serious problem and comparable to what would happen if the whole country were to become alcoholics. And, of course, the government should have already paid attention to this sphere of activity and this business a long time ago. I believe that this is a civilized solution. We are going to give a certain period of time to allow all those who participate in this business to react in due time, make the corresponding decisions, and then direct their efforts and the considerable capital they already have to developing these four special zones.” However, because the four zones have not been established, Putin’s initiative has received heavy criticism.
Samuil Blinder, the deputy executive of the Russian Association for Gaming Business Development said that, “It’s hard to understand the logic and decisions of dilettantes. We have a really silly situation in Russia — it is total chaos.”
The PokerStars European Poker Tour was meant to host an event in Moscow in August, however the tour has now relocated the event to Kiev in Ukraine for reasons “beyond our control”.
