Russia Continues to Explore Possibility of Regulating Poker

Online poker is something that was typically enjoyed for a long time by many people in Russia.

Any casual or serious online poker player who has ever taken to the e-felt on most major online poker networks are likely to have seen many fellow players who hail from the northern country.

However, online poker in Russia has come under fire from the country’s government over the last year and a half.

Since the start of the last year the Russian Government has blacklisted hundreds of gaming websites and networks, including such sites as PokerStars and Titan Poker.

Internet Service Providers in Russia were threatened with revocation of their licences if they failed to comply with government requests to block online poker sites.

However, the crackdown did not appear to be as a result from some sort of ethical stance the government wished to impose on its people.

Rather, it appears that it was largely due to the fact the government saw little of the money that was being generated by Russian online poker players playing the game.

Earlier this year, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister ordered an inquiry into online poker, which formally established that the game is one of skill and not luck.

That has given the Russian government some motivation to look into legalising and regulating online poker, especially given the possible revenues it can make from a regulated industry.

This has already attracted attention from major online gaming companies throughout the world, including PokerStars and Full Tilt owners, Amaya Inc.

According to a current study that was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a regulated online poker industry in Russia could make the government around US$76 million dollars.

In Russia’s current economic climate, that amount of money is significant enough for online poker to be seen as a viable money maker.

Oil prices have fallen dramatically over the past year, which has hurt Russia – a major oil producer – financially and economically.

The country has also been under economic sanctions from the European Union and the US since the conflict in Ukraine at the start of last year.

With these lingering issues continuing to adversely affect Russia’s economy, the government needs to looks at diversifying in order to recover.

This is why Russians are likely to see online poker officially become legalised and regulated in Russia sometime in the near future.