Russian laws shut casinos

TENS of thousands of casinos and slot-machines across Russia shut down yesterday as sweeping new laws confining gambling to four remote regions came into effect.

The restrictions will put an estimated 400,000 people out of work.

Russian TV said more than 40,000 workers were affected in Moscow, at 30 major casinos and 500 smaller-scale gaming halls.

Russian news agencies reported that Moscow police were checking gambling halls across the capital to make sure they were closing.

The law, passed three years ago at then-President Vladimir Putin’s initiative, confines gambling to four special zones in far-flung regions of Russia, most thousands of kilometres away from Moscow.

Officials at some of the businesses said they would reopen as market research companies, or would rent out their valuable, often-centrally located properties.

Others were trying to skirt the law by renaming themselves as poker clubs, arguing that should be considered a “game of chance” or as places for internet gambling, where patrons place bets but computer servers are located offsite.