Gamblers Called to Play on Russian Playground Making Macau Mumble

Russian government makes way for gamblers worldwide to come play on their Far East Territory.

Russia’s Far East Gambling project is finally underway, after the Russian government outlawed gambling across most of the country in 2009. Investments may be as high as $2.2, which will make Russia’s newest gambling zone a mighty clone of Macau.

• $2billion in investments for gambling zone
• Gamblers may be drawn from Las Vegas and Macau
• Primorye to be gambling oasis

Russia hopes to attract visitors from home and around the world especially their neighboring Asian high rollers. As early as 2009, the Russian government had wanted to construct casinos in the Primorye region, but it never saw the light of day, at least until now, when they saw their neighboring countries dicing up.

In nearby Siberia, The Siberian Coin, which is part of the new Altai Palace Hotel Resort will open in April, with 16 gaming tables and 20 machines. This will create employment by the hundreds and boost ‘gambler tourism’ to the region.

And, over in the Philippines, Manila may even overtake Las Vegas and Singapore to become the second-largest casino market in the world by 2020. The governments of Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Australia are also luring foreign investors to construct mega resorts to attract overseas visitors.

So, Russian’s ambition has gone into “turbo-mode”. The gaming project is under the wings of the The First Gambling Company of the East. The operator plans to launch the four-story hotel and Russian poker rooms in May, 2015.

John Wang, the CEO of the company said that “Given the favorable location of Vladivostok, we are sure that [the gaming zone] can become a second Macau”. Gamblers are expected to come in from Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing as well as Russia.

The zone is just fifty kilometers from the regional capital of Vladivostok. Close to Russia, Chinese gamblers, searching for discretion are increasingly traveling to foreign casinos for privacy. In South Korea, for instance, the number of Chinese gamblers has increased by 17 %, 2 years in a row, at VIP tables and 25% at public tables.

Investment agreements to the tune of $1.4 billion have been signed by the Russian regional government. The parties involved are NagaCorp, based in Cambodia-based NagaCorp and Melco International Development, based in Hong Kong -listed Melco International Development, announced deputy head of the state corporation, in charge of the project ,Alexander Chkheidze.

Royal Time Group and The First Gambling Company of the East will also invest a total of $799 million in hotel and casino complexes they plan to build this year. Tourists are expected to fly jets from China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea to play on Russian soil.

The Primorye gambling zone will include 16 hotel-casino complexes on 620 hectares. There will also be a marina with yacht club and a wharf to harbor 65 boats. Private beach, ski area and exhibition are among the many amenities expected to be offered.

Azov City – Russia’s single successful gambling icon

Royal Time Group, a Russian-based group already has a casino in Azov-City, one of four zones designated by Russian gambling laws, for legal gambling operations zone. Olympic host city Sochi and annexed Crimea were put on the list in 2014.

The Azov-City gambling center which borders the Krasnodar and Rostov regions in southern Russia is the single legal gambling zone that is making a profitable business today in Russia. Now though, with the new complexes being built in proximity to get wealthy gamblers from Japan, China and the USA to come over, Macau and Las Vegas operators may want to play Russian Roulette.