Gambling in Russia
A big major change in the Russian gambling legislation occurred in 2009, when the government relocated all gambling to 4 new gambling zones in Kaliningrad Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Altai Krai, and Primorsky Krai. Since then, gambling has been banned elsewhere in the country.
Online Gambling in Russia
Considering the fact that land-based gambling has been heavily restricted in Russia, it’s no surprise that online gambling has been similarly treated. Except for one key point: it’s been actively banned, as of april 2017.
The 2006 laws on online gambling prohibit the playing of games of chance, although poker remains in a grey area due to issues surrounding whether it is a skill game. Russian gamblers have been able to access foreign based websites however, although this has come into doubt recently, as ISPs have been asked to block gambling related websites. Some of the websites support Russian language. There is a federal lottery, however, which is not banned, and allows gamblers to wager on the lottery via two state run lotteries: Gosloto and Sportloto.
