Poker Happy About Ban
July 8, 2009
With Russia sending all of their slot machines to the ends of the earth,
the poker industry could not be happier about it. The ban that Russia passed
on casinos is going into effect next week, and the poker industry says that
there has definitely been a boost in poker playing and those places that are
looking to offer poker.
As poker is a game of skill and not chance, it is not included in the
gambling ban that the country has passed. Under Russian law poker is a sport
and as such it is exempt from the laws that the other casinos have to
follow. Many of those Russian operators who would have had to move to one of
the legal gambling zones are now refashioning themselves into poker clubs
instead and therefore will be able to stay in business.
It is assumed that the Russian government is going to have a problem with
the law as it stands now, and they are not going to want to see poker clubs
remaining while they are trying to get gambling moved out of town. Experts
say that it is likely that we will see a change in the law and that poker
will soon be eliminated as well.
However, many say that they would love to see poker stay legal. Not just
from a gambling standpoint, but from an employment angle. If these clubs
remain legal they could keep some of the jobs that will be eliminated by the
restructure of the industry. Some say that there are some 400,000 jobs that
will be eliminated and this way this number won’t be nearly as high.
