From 1 July, Russian gamblers are restricted to specific zones in the Kaliningrad region by the Baltic Sea, the Primorye region in the Far East, Altai in Siberia and an area in the south spanning the Rostov and Krasnodar regions. It bans gambling on the internet and at airports, supermarkets and other sites.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the law, which was signed in 2006 by then-president Vladimir Putin in a bid to contain gambling addiction. The gambling law is expected to have the biggest impact on Moscow, which had 524 casinos and gaming halls until the law took effect, and the northern city of Saint Petersburg, which had 109.

A similar law in Ukraine last week forced the closure of all the country's gambling venues. The project became the latest in a series of disputes between the president Viktor Yushchenko and the prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as the president unsuccessfully vetoed its passage, claiming it will mean the axing of up to 200,000 jobs.