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Kazakhstan has introduced a slew of new measures to deal with its illegal blackjack problem. Major General Erlan Turgumbaev, the chief of the internal affairs department, has directed the setting up of seven special teams comprising special police personnel, and precinct inspectors to identify illegal blackjack outlets.
The use of card counting strategies is common at blackjack tables in such illegal gambling establishments, which rig slots and video poker machines to ensure that very few people will win the jackpots.
Illegal blackjack games in Kazakhstan take place in houses, shopping malls, oversized trucks and bus depot basements. Since the law does not permit their existence, they disguise themselves as legitimate businesses and permit blackjack customers upon invitation only. Casino games such as slot machines, roulette tables and blackjack games are illegal in Kazakhstan.
Colonel Bakhyt Balgimbayev, the deputy chief directorate for combating organized crime, said that the teams conduct raids 24 hours of the day, in spite of which illegal blackjack flourishes. The new measures, according to him, have been introduced to uproot illegal blackjack in the country. Six illegal gambling houses with roulette and blackjack tables have already been shut down and a large amount of cash has been confiscated.
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