Kremlin Grand Palace(credit:
acordova)
When the Kremlin outlawed casino parlours across Russia in a bid to restore the country’s moral integrity and cease the frivolous gambling of youngsters and pensioners, card rooms were thought to be immune from closure.
On July 1st, Putin ordered the closure of casinos across the majority of Russia, confining them to four, less metropolitan regions, including Siberia and Kaliningrad. Since Russian authorities deemed poker to be a skilful sport in 2007, it was assumed the game would remain unaffected by new anti-gambling laws.
However, the Kremlin officials have recently announced that a decision to classify the game as a sport in 2007 was an ‘error’, and 70 ‘sports poker’ associations are set to have their licenses revoked. Russian land based tournaments, including the EPT Moscow, look set to be cancelled.
Putin’s war on the poker and gambling industry has put an estimated 400,000 people out of employment. Critics have cited the Kremlin’s underlying motive to be political. Russia is at loggerheads with Georgia, and with Georgian businesses having a major influence in the gambling industry, the ban will hit them hard.
Whether the bans will have an impact on emerging Russian talent remains to be seen. Over the past few years, players from Russia and the former Soviet block have had great tournament success. Ivan Demidov was a WSOP Main Event final tableist, and secured a professional contract with PokerStars, where as Vitaly Lunkin enjoyed victory in the $40K Hold’em event at this year’s World Series.