Things do not look well for the future of online casinos in Russia.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has not yet done anything exactly against online casinos and the Internet gambling industry, but the way he is handling the gambling industry in Russia in general does not look great for online casinos.

During the Soviet Union, Russian had no legal access to gambling entertainment, that all changed after the Soviet collapse.  Since that time Russians have been fascinated with games of chance.

Things are about to change gain, Putin has not banned casino gambling from Russian, just most of Russia.  Now casino gambling has been restricted to four special zones spread far around the county.  None of these zones are within one thousand miles away from Russia.

The gambling industry in Russia is sure to suffer from this.  The federal government in Russia stands to lose out on billions of dollars each year that once contributed to their federal budget.  Also, in the face of a global economic crisis, some 400,000 people will no be out of a job.

“They've killed the industry overnight,” said Michael Boettcher, the British founder of Storm International, the casino group operates the Shangri-La in central Moscow.

“It's like closing all the five-star restaurants in London because you're eating too much, and saying that if you do want to have them, you'll have to relocate to North Wales. Who's going to go?  Nobody.”

With a crack down like this on brick and mortar gambling, it cannot be expected that the Russians are going to be especially receptive to online casinos.