Problems for Online Casinos in Russia

Gambling is Russia has become illegal in recent years, except for four gambling zones where casino resorts operate that was allocated by the government and scattered throughout the vast country.

Each gambling zone is allowed to operate only one gambling resort and all other forms of traditional or online gambling has been banned in the 2007 legislation.

In recent months the Russian Interior Ministry Police have been cracking down on land based and online gambling establishments in an attempt to reduce illegal gambling in the country.

The latest online casino to suffer at the hands of the police is not mentioned officially by name but is rumored to be Goldfishka Casino, a Microgaming software powered online casino that is reported to be the biggest operating within Russia and the online casino that has the most Russian players out of all available online casinos.

The suspicion that the online casino involved in indeed Goldfishka is due to the police report that the casino offered over 470 different online casino games. The only software that offers that many games is Microgaming and the biggest Microgaming casino offered on the Russian market is Goldfishka.

Ms. Larisa Zhukova, a representative for the Russian Interior Ministry Police estimated that Goldfishka was making a daily profit in excess of 200,000 rubles per day.

Goldfishka owner together with five of its employees were detained by the authorities and if found guilty could face up to five years in prison.