Russia closed down all its casinos as gambling was banned nationwide.

Vladimir Putin, came up with the idea after the Interior Ministry linked several gaming operations in Moscow to Georgian organised crime. Many in the gambling industry think the closure has more to do with Russia's poor ties with Georgia.

The Kremlin plans to restrict gambling to Las Vegas-style gaming zones in four rarely visited regions.

Gaming establishments have known the shutdown date for at least a year, however not many of them thought the government would actually go through with it.

Each year gaming brought in about $7 billion and paid $1 billion in tax, this will probably cause the state a gaping hole in the budget.

Source:  poker777staff

Monday, 06 July 2009

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