Following a blanket ban imposed on casinos in Moscow and other major Russian cities, players are increasingly turning to online casinos and other means to satisfy their gambling urges.
The well publicized ban went into effect in June this year, and saw the closure of many terrestrial casinos operating in Moscow and other major Russian Cities. Despite global recession fallout, and calls from operators to delay the ban until the economy was in better shape, authorities decided to press on and ensure all casinos were shut down in line with laws put in place in 2006 earlier by Vladimir Putin.
Under the ban, all legal casino gambling became restricted to designated special gambling zones - the Rimore region, Kaliningrad, the Altai region of Siberia, and the Azov Sea. As yet no casinos have been built in these regions and an estimated 350,000 casino workers have lost their jobs from casino closures in the big cities.
Another effect of the closures, has been the not altogether unexpected migration of casino players to other gambling options including online. In a statement released by Russian officials last week, the increasing incidence of online casino gambling was cited as a government concern.
'We are seriously concerned about the rise of surrogate technologies...they are the byproduct of imperfect legislation.' announced the Moscow's deputy mayor, Sergei Baidakov.
Whether any action will be taken to curb the emerging trend was not mentioned.
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