Russia's casinos close as sweeping new law takes effect

Casinos and slot-machine halls shut down across Russia yesterday as a new law took effect that imposes sweeping new restrictions on the gaming industry.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the law, which was signed in 2006 by then-president Vladimir Putin in a bid to contain gambling addiction.

Casinos were expected to refashion themselves into poker clubs under a quirk of Russian law that officially recognises poker as a sport rather than a game of chance.

The law marks the end of era, putting an end to the days when businessmen and gangsters who acquired fantastic wealth in the chaotic 1990s gambled it away in lavish casinos in central Moscow.

A special task force to ensure compliance with the law has been set up in the Russian capital, a spokesperson for the Moscow city government, Maria Sokolova, told RIA-Novosti news agency.

Starting yesterday, casinos may only operate in four remote regions of Russia, each of them at least 1,000 kilometres from Moscow and some much further.