Russia's Ban on Gambling Fails, Underground Gambling Thrives

Gambling News - October 9th, 2009 - Written by Glen

In July, Russia began widespread bans on gambling within the nation. Prior to the ban, gambling options had skyrocketed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The gambling industry had become one worth billions of dollars, but has been slung out to only the furthest reaches of the nation. The ban was to help Russia's social problems, all the while neglecting the fact that thousands would be put out of a job.

As it turns out, the expectations have some what followed through. It was estimated that nearly 1,500 former casino employees are now living on state aide and unemployment, which is ironic when looked at from the bottom up - the government effectively took over their salaries, and began to pay them for not working. Russia has been in economic hardship for a long time, and it is questionable whether or not this recent decision will do anything to help the problem.

Users involved in online gambling are becoming more common, lottery tickets are being sold from the former shells of the slot parlors and casinos, and players are actively seeking other ways to play the games which have been banned - including poker, which brings large quantities of money back to Mother Russia through such international events as the World Series of Poker (See - Vitaly Lunkin, Ivan Demidov) and the World Poker Tour. Despite the laws banning said games, gambling has remained stable throughout Mother Russia, proving one thing - banning gambling will only turn law abiding citizens into common criminals.

While the United States continues to struggle with the banning of Online Gambling , it is no coincidence that Russia too sees difficulty, particularly after putting nearly 400,000 casino workers out of a job. While the USA has an abundance of land based gambling locations, the results of Russia's preeminent ban on gambling could be extrapolated and projected to the United State's ban of online gambling. Hopefully these two nations will come to their senses and allow people this basic civil right.

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