It’s Nyet for Gambling in Russia

I heard this week that the Russian authorities shut down four illegal casinos running in Moscow. I’ve never checked the gambling laws in this country and was interested to read – when I did – that strict gambling legislation was actually past not too long ago, in 2009, that essentially forbids any form of gambling across Russia. There are some exceptions, and legal casino operations can be held in four far flung corners of the vast Russian Empire. So, if you’re living in Moscow and you feel like playing casino games, you can either try out an illegal casino under your nose (and face prosecution), or you can take a 7 hour train journey to areas such as the Altai Republic, Asov City near the Black Sea region of Krasnodar, the Primorsky region near the Far East or the Kaliningrad region…

With legal gambling options in such remote areas, it goes without saying that the prohibitions on gambling in bigger city centers such as Moscow wouldn’t affect this activity in the very least. There is a vast underground of casinos running and city gamblers regularly flock to them. However, now and then these establishments are raided by authorities.

The latest raid last week yielded the confiscation of roulette and poker tables, slot games and documents that testified to illegal gambling activities. All in all, 200 police officers were involved in the raids on four casinos.

On the first day after the new laws were set in place, 30 casinos and another 500 establishments that offered slot gaming were shut down in the city of Moscow alone. Nevertheless, many are back in operation, either working outside of the law or through other legal facades. In addition, niche markets have opened up, such as regular flights to gambling destinations around the world, including Las Vegas and Macau.

Another side effect of the new Russian gambling laws is the fact that more local gamblers than ever are seeking their gambling activity at top online casino sites, bringing them a safe and entertaining way of having fun and making themselves some cool cash in the process.