Proof of proper online-poker bankroll management might be a boon to Russian grinders once new laws recently signed by President Vladimir Putin go into effect.
The recent changes, passed as amendments to existing gambling statutes, call for gambling addiction to be added to a class of financially destructive behaviors under which people can be ruled “incompetent,” and have their assets seized by the state.
The effects of problem gambling upon families have been cited as the impetus for the new amendments, which were signed last week and will go into effect following publication in official journals. Family members will be able to file the complaints of incompetence against the perceived addictive offenders.
The new law mirrors similar legislation enacted recently in the Ukraine, and continues an ongoing crackdown against Russian gambling. In June of 2009, Russian legislators banned all live casinos, except for those in four designated “zones” in rural regions, far from most of the nation’s population centers.
That change was estimated to have thrown some 400,000 Russians out of work, at least a tenth of them in Moscow alone, where MSNBC reported the crackdown closed 30 major casinos and as many as 500 smaller gambling clubs.
Much of the gambling outlawed in 2009, instead of disappearing, moved offshore, to underground clubs, or online, where Russian player shares have swelled on many forms of gambling sites.
