Russia is a beautiful country and there is so much to see and do. From the western palaces of Moscow and St. Petersburg to the beauty of Lake Baikal and the majesty of Vladivostok, there is so much to be seen in Russia.

However, one activity that will always come up short is gambling. Though Russians love their poker, it can be difficult to track down some good gambling games in this vast country. Here is why online gambling is absolutely forbidden in Russia, and where you can go to pick up some games instead.

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Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, a major port on the left bank of the Volga River, one of the largest economic, scientific, educational, religious, cultural, and sports centers of Russia.

This city, often called the third capital of Russia, is one of the most popular cities for tourists in Russia. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

night lights of Kazan

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

Astrakhan, the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast, is one of the largest and oldest cities in southern Russia included in the list of historical cities of the country.

This city with a population of about half a million people is located in the upper part of the delta of the Volga River, on 11 islands of the Caspian Lowland, about 80 km from the Caspian Sea. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over the center of Astrakhan

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Ulakhan-Sis is a mountain range with a length of about 200 km and a height of up to 754 meters located among the endless swampy forests in the north-east of Yakutia.

Here you can see a large number of various granite pillars 25-30 meters high. This is a very inaccessible place, people don’t live here. The first tourists started visiting it only a few years ago. Ulakhan-Sis on Google Maps. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

on the very edge of the world

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Syzran is a city with a population of about 173 thousand people located in the west of Samara Oblast, the third largest city in the region after Samara and Tolyatti.

The city is located on the right bank of the Volga River (Saratov Reservoir), at the mouth of the Syzranka River. In its central part, Syzran retained the appearance of a merchant Volga town of the 19th century. In total, there are 143 monuments of history, culture, and architecture on its territory. Photos by: Kirill Zdorov.

fly over Syzran

Tags: Samara oblast · Syzran city

Rybinsk, first mentioned in 1071, is the second largest city in Yaroslavl Oblast located on the banks of the Volga River, about 87 km northwest of Yaroslavl and 313 km north of Moscow.

During the time of the Russian Empire, it was the country’s largest grain trading center. After the construction of the Rybinsk Hydroelectric Power Station in the 1930s, the Rybinsk Reservoir located to the north-west of the city, became the largest artificial reservoir in the world of its time. Photos by: Roman Smirnov.

fly over the center of Rybinsk

Tags: Rybinsk city · Yaroslavl oblast

Sviyazhsk is a historic town with a population of about 240 people located on an island at the confluence of the Sviyaga and the Volga rivers in the Republic of Tatarstan, about 58 km south-west of Kazan.

Founded as a fortress in 1551, it became the base of Russian troops during the siege of Kazan, the capital of the Kazan Khanate, in 1552. Sviyazhsk became the first Orthodox town in the Middle Volga region, the center of the Christianization of the peoples of the Volga region. Sviyazhsk on Google Maps. Photos by: Alexander Butenko.

Sviyazhsk River Station.

a very picturesque town

Tags: Kazan city · Tatarstan Republic

Russia has quite a history when it comes to gambling. The biggest country in the world initially experienced a ban in the 1920s under the Soviet Union. It wasn’t until 1989 that the country opened its first gambling place in Moscow.

During this time, poker became quite popular with slot machines being brought into hotels. The casino business grew to about 50 casinos by 2002 in Moscow. However, in 2009 the situation changed entirely after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin authorized a wide-scale ban on the practice leaving only 4 designated legalized areas.

The minister went further to ban online gambling completely. Gambling sites have been blocked further by internet service providers.

So, gambling in Russia is a very tricky topic, as things have remained the same nowadays. What’s worse is that the gambling scene in Russia might stay like this in the unforeseeable future.

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The Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo is an Orthodox church located in Basmanny District of Moscow (Spartakovskaya Street, 15). It was built by the architect Evgraf Tyurin in 1835-1845. In the area of the cathedral, there was previously the village of Yelokhovo, which became part of Moscow in the 18th century.

The cathedral was constructed in the late Empire style with a dome rotunda in the center, with some features imitating the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The height of the cathedral is 56 meters, area – 1,164 square meters, capacity – 3,000 people. Today, it is one of the most beautiful Orthodox churches in Moscow. The Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo on Google Maps. Photos by: Vladimir Dar.

magnificent church

Tags: Moscow city

Rozhdestvenskaya is a stanitsa (a Cossack village) with a population of about 2,800 people located in Stavropol Krai in Southern Russia, about 35 km northwest of Stavropol. This settlement, founded in 1797, was named after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The main architectural attraction of Rozhdestvenskaya is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1873) – one of the few preserved monuments of wooden architecture in the region, a cultural heritage site of regional importance. Rozhdestvenskaya on Google Maps. Photos by: Fedor Lashkov.

beautiful wooden church

Tags: churches · Stavropol krai