In late December 2006, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that effectively banned all gambling within the country of Russia, except in four government-designated zones where government-run casinos continue to operate. The bill outlawed all forms of online poker within the country, including the playing of online poker for real money. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, casinos began to spring up wildly within Russias larger cities, causing many citizens and government officials to raise concerns regarding the social policies of gambling within the country. While the bill does make room for casinos to continue to operate within the designated zones, it completely forbids any Russian citizen from playing online poker for real money.

Deposit Options At Russian Poker Sites

Like most bans on online poker in other parts of the world, this bill has been ineffective at truly curbing the play of online poker for real money within the country of Russia. While the government does have the ability to close online poker providers operating within the Russian jurisdiction, stopping Russian citizens from playing on foreign online poker sites is a seemingly impossible task. Thus, there have been no reports of any Russian citizens being charged with crimes resulting from playing online poker at foreign sites. Thousands of Russian citizens continue to enjoy the exciting game of online poker. However, due to the current ban on online poker within the country, funding their real money online poker accounts can prove to be a real challenge for Russian citizens.

Because of the ban on online gambling in Russia, most Russian banks and credit card companies will refuse to authorize any transactions to online poker providers. When attempting to make a deposit directly from their credit card or bank account, Russian online poker players will usually face an immediate rejection, with a notice stating that current laws will not permit the transaction. Thus, it can be very difficult for these players to find a way to get real money into their online poker accounts.

One of the best available options for Russian poker players to deposit funds into their real money online poker accounts is by using a third-party payment processor. These services, such as those offered by the popular Neteller, give users the ability to make deposits from their credit card or bank accounts without having to make the transaction directly to the online poker site. Instead, users must first link their bank account or credit card to the third-part payment processor account and then make a transfer into an online poker account.

Third-party payment processors will generally work for Russian online poker players because most banks and credit card companies will not deny the transaction. Since the funds can be used for any online transaction to a variety of different online merchants, most banks and financial institutions will approve the transactions without any problems. Therefore, online poker players playing within the Russian jurisdiction will most likely need to use a service such as Neteller to fund their real money online poker accounts.