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The suicide of a Muscovite recently only strengthens
Putin’s stance that slot machines do not belong in Russia’s major cities,
and Moscow in particular. Because the slot machines parlors are on every
corner in Moscow, and they have little in the way of gambling addiction help
lines, Moscow’s gambling has just gotten out of control. Oleg was an example
of one of the unlucky citizens that the slot machines prey upon.
Oleg’s suffered from a serious gambling addiction, yet somehow he managed to
keep that knowledge from his wife and family. Over the last year, Oleg had
experienced several serious loses at the slot machines, yet he kept going
back—further pushing himself into debt. At the time of his suicide, Oleg is
said to have lost 500 thousand roubles to the slot machines—the only way his
wife could calculate his loses is from the notes he left in the pockets of
his clothes.
Oleg shot himself in the head on January 31, 2007, and was immediately
rushed to an intensive therapy ward. His injuries though were too much and
he passed away two hours later.
Oleg’s death brings home the fact that Moscow’s gambling situation is simply
out-of-control. Without a support system in place to aid those with a
gambling addiction, the slot machines in Russia did a grave disservice to
the citizens. Fortunately, Putin has already initiated plans to eliminate
gambling and slot machines in the cities. In the coming months and years,
Russians will find that gambling is no longer a daily struggle as they will
have to travel far from their homes to play the slot machines.
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