Russia cracked down on gambling this month, closing thousands of casinos and poker clubs. Former President and current Prime Minister, Vladimir V. Putin, endorsed the closings and stated that casinos that popped up about twenty years ago were considered social blight. The worst part of it all is that it has made employment go up in astronomical numbers.
Proponents to this new law say that addictions to both gambling and alcohol have increased as the number of casinos has increased. It has particularly affected the older population and they believe that closing down casinos will stop these addictions.
Apparently, poker had been classified as a sport in 2007, but this was changed and now even poker parlors are being shut down. There are several different areas in Russia where casinos are legal but these areas are very remote and unprepared for casino development. The decision to make it a sport was made by the Federal Fitness and Sports Agency and should have been made by the Justice Ministry.
The new ruling doesn’t detail if private poker games will be considered illegal, or if Russians will no longer be able to play internet poker. The European Poker Tour was scheduled to play in Moscow in August, which may not happen now.
Casino owners are vowing to keep gambling establishments open but underground. Owners say they will close for about a month and open elsewhere. It is likely that slot machine enterprises will reopen as lottery halls, which is allowed. The Vegas inspired, gaudy casinos with lights and statuary will most likely stay closed and may mutate to smaller, more discrete organizations.
Russia has a long history with gambling. The Savoy Hotel in Moscow opened the first legal casino in 1989. This casino catered to foreigners. The Moscow Hotel opened the next one the following year. All in all, Moscow had about 200 casinos before the closings began. Slot machines were extremely popular in Russia and even the local grocery store had them. In 2000, there were about 35,000 slot machines placed in just Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Russia reported bringing in tax revenue of about 1 billion dollars. One wonders what the government plans to do to replace this revenue. Many people are also put out of jobs because of the closings. The economy in Russia is difficult at best and it will be very difficult for these workers to find jobs. The gamblers will probably migrate to Bolivia but it is difficult for a card dealer, who doesn’t make a great deal of money in the first place, to relocate with their families to a different country.
The areas gambling will be permitted are in Primore region in the underdeveloped far east, in Kaliningrad, in Siberia, and the southern Azov Sea region. Not many casinos have been planned to be built in these remote areas. In April, gambling organizations asked for this mandate to wait for 2 years for the approved areas to get ready. It didn’t happen and it looks like nothing will be built or developed for at least 5 to 10 years.
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