A total ban on gambling in Russia has government officials in Moscow stressed out over their concerns that this prohibition on casinos and gambling in Russia is in fact simply being replaced through the spread of internet betting and lottery machines. There has been a loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs resulting from this total ban on gambling in Russia.

According to the law, gambling in Russian has been assigned to four very distant areas points in the nation where as of yet there is no gambling activity. To gain a new gambling license in Russia is far from easy. It actually is a very difficult and convoluted process that for the average casino operator or bookmaker is much too much of a detriment to proceeding ahead. Previous to the present situation there were in the capital of Moscow alone, 525 casinos and slot machine venues that functioned actively and at this time about one out of three of these locations is covering their loss by selling instant lottery tickets, according to Sergei Baidakov, the deputy mayor of Moscow.

Since July, there has been a tripling of those Internet cafes that are allowing access to online gambling, in Moscow alone. Prior to these new regulations, the gambling industry in Russia had been generating $3.6 billion and was the employer of close to 400,000 people. As Deputy Mayor Baidakov puts it, the government is very much concerned about the rise of replacement technologies. He sees these as being a product of faulty legislation.

On the other hand, Baidakov sees the effects of the gambling ban as not being that bad since tax revenues according to him have only dropped by 0.5 percent, while the benefits to the nation’s health are immeasurable.

Since the anti-gambling legislation was passed in July, authorities have been carry out an ongoing search for illegal casinos and slot machine locales. As of late the police have seized 33 slot machines and shut down 35 underground casinos, according to Deputy Moscow police head Viktor Vasilyev. It is assumed by policy makers that the city and federal authorities will soon find a way to close the legal loopholes that have up until now still allow for online gambling and for the unobstructed ongoing sale of lottery tickets. There are some living in the city that have said that they are delighted that the slot machine halls and casinos are no longer there but that they have been replaced by deli shops, fitness clubs and restaurants. According to the shop owners and others who are working in these reorganized areas, things are a lot quieter now.

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