The Oracle Casino, the first to be built since Russia's new gambling policy shut down all previous casinos last July, opened recently in the remote Rastov area of the country, with about 500 visitors on hand to mark the occasion. 

This new casino, which at the moment houses 200 slot machines and 10 table games, is located around 60 miles from the nearest major city- Rostov-on-Don- and is a perfect example of the government's new plan to move all gambling into four distinct, remote regions of the country, in order to protect its citizens from numerous perceived ills that come from gaming.

Although at the moment the only major casino, the Oracle is currently, according to a recent report in The Moscow Times, not much more than "a large shed-like building in a snowy field," and despite the 500 in attendance at the opening, only about 1-in-5 chose to actually gamble, fueling concerns that both the government's new policy and future planned casino ventures, may turn out to be seriously flawed propositions.

Only serving to compound those policy concerns, was the news of a fatal car accident involving one of the guests- local lawmaker Nikolai Kotlyarov- who died when his driver failed to see a parked car on the highway as the two attempted to make the long, arduous drive home, following the grand opening event.

Royal Time, the operator of the Oracle Casino, reportedly still feels confident that the casino will succeed and have already begun plans to create a four-star hotel nearby.


Story by Mark Anderson