Casinos sent to Siberia

Casinos and slot-machine halls across Russia have closed as a new law took effect that imposes sweeping restrictions on the gaming industry.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the law, signed in 2006 by then-President Vladimir Putin to contain gambling addiction.

Other casinos are expected to refashion themselves into poker clubs under a quirk of Russian law that officially recognises poker as a sport rather than a game of chance.

Casinos may only operate in four remote regions of Russia: the western Kaliningrad exclave; along the Azov Sea in the south; in the Altai region of Siberia; and in the far eastern Primorye region