MOSCOW GAMBLING BAN OUTSMARTED - Posted by KatA 

As of July 1st Moscow will enforce a citywide ban on gambling. The ban was announced after the Russian government finalized plans to relocate the country’s entire gambling industry to four special zones (the border of Rostov, Krasnodar, Sibirskaya Moneta in Altai, and in Yantarnaya in the Kaliningrad region). Of the city’s 549 gambling establishments and 32 casinos, Deputy Mayor Sergei Baidakov says that “90 percent are planning to continue operating in the capital, becoming restaurants, entertainment centers and concert halls.” But approximately one third of the casinos have come up with another way to stay in business: Poker. Many of Moscow’s casinos are now planning to reorganize as poker clubs. They’ll slide under the ban on gambling, as Poker is considered a sport in Moscow. * In Russia, 7-Card Stud, Omaha and Texas Hold’em are all entered as sports in the All-Russia Registery of Sports. The country’s Federal Sports Agency has defined poker as a sport since 2007.