Fonbet Registers .ru Poker Domain

Russian online sports betting operator Fonbet has registered an online poker domain with the hope that Russia will finally lift its ban.

The Russian Bookmaker-Ratings sports betting company announced that in December Fonbet registered two new domains–ruspoker.ru and fontoto.ru. No domain seems active yet.

Russia’s 19 licensees are currently prevented from offering any other kind of online gaming under the rules of game play approved by Russian legislators in 2009–slots, casino table games and poker. These rules limited offline casino gambling to several remote regional districts and limited online gambling to race and sports.

The few Russian licensed casinos are permitted at their venues to offer live tournaments. Several western operators, including the brand PartyPoker of GVC Holdings and The Stars Group online PokerStars flagship, held live poker events at Sochian casinos in the Krasnaya Polyana designated gaming area.

What info Fonbet could have on the future of online poker in Russia is unclear if any, or if the company simply wants to squat the domain as a contingency game. Like many Russian operators, Fonbet has a global offshoot that offers players abroad, but currently does not offer a poker product.