About 4,500 people dropped in on the EELEX International gaming industry exhibition last year. This month, the annual event attracted more than 10,200 — all eager to come to grips with an industry that will be banished to four far-flung regions of Russia from midnight.

Poker tables and slot machines offering blinking lights but no cash winnings were among the big draws for gambling executives looking for legal means to stay in business once a 2006 law banning casinos and slot machine halls goes into force.

Deputy Mayor Sergei Baidakov said Monday that the words "casino" and "gaming hall" must be removed from Moscow streets and all slot machines must be turned off by 11 p.m. Tuesday, an hour before the midnight deadline.

After that, gambling in Moscow will be restricted to lotteries, bookmakers and poker in specially licensed sports clubs. Roulette wheels and blackjack tables will be confined to four special zones: the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad; the area around the Sea of Azov in the southern Krasnodar region; Siberia's Altai region; and the Primorye region on the Pacific coast.

But the zones require an estimated $40 billion in investment to be turned into the Las Vegases of Russia, and up to 400,000 people could be out of work from Wednesday, said Samoil Binder, deputy executive director of the Russian Association for Gaming Business Development.

"The government doesn't take any responsibility. We have to do everything ourselves," said Binder, comparing the construction of the gaming zones with preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

"More than $40 billion in investment is needed to develop the gaming zones. It will take 35 years to earn back the expenses that have already been paid," he said.

But government officials, usually worried about a possible spike in unemployment, insist that the worst of the economic crisis has passed and have rebuffed attempts to extend the deadline.

Thousands of anxious gambling industry executives swamped the 18th annual EELEX exhibition earlier this month at the Crocus Expo Center, snatching up brochures from stands and paying scant attention to lithe models wearing little more than golden paint to promote soon-to-be illegal gambling equipment.

This year, the exhibition showcased the new look of the gambling industry after July 1, exhibition director Anton Loginov said in a welcoming speech.

"Yeah, happily going down," a businessman called out from the crowd.

Interest was high at stands selling poker tables. "Our company used to sell poker tables for casinos. Now we have to adapt to selling tables for sport poker," said Natalya Serova, manager of the Smile company.

Asked whether entrepreneurs were expressing interest in converting their establishments into sport poker clubs, Serova said "50-50." She declined to provide sales figures, but described demand for sport poker tables as "sufficient."

The Moscow city administration has warned that it won't allow "surrogate facilities" to operate under the guise of sport clubs.

Another option being hawked to gambling executives was the slot machine that works like the real thing but without cash prizes. "A gambler pays for the imitation of the game. It's just for amusement," explained Alexander Strokov, manager of the Semulator company that builds the equipment.

"You can't lose playing it, but you can't win either," he said. "You just pay for the time you spend playing."

He could not provide sales figures, saying only that sales have grown recently and many of the machines were being sold to small establishments in Moscow's suburbs. The company also offers to convert real slot machines.

Dozens of curious people clustered around the stand, eager for details, but many left disappointed. "You can't win with this thing, just pay for it," mumbled one.

"But it's legal," a company representative retorted.

The use of the word "zone" for the designated gambling regions has prompted dark humor in some corners, because the Russian word "zona" is also slang for "prison."

"Whoever wanted to go to a zone in Russia?" Alexei Goroshko, a lawyer for the Gaming Business Association, told an industry conference on the sidelines of the gambling exhibition.

He warned that the looming changes would lead to more corruption as law enforcement officials took advantage of establishments struggling to adapt to the new rules. Under the Criminal Code, the operator of an illegal gambling establishment will face a fine or up to six months in prison if convicted of running an illegal enterprise.

Many gambling officials accuse the government of going overboard with the new law.

"We suggested several bills to the legislators to set controls on the industry, but they turned them down, saying that we were just afraid of competition," said Binder, of the Russian Association for Gaming Business Development. "Finally, they decided to just impose a ban."

In March 2008, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs sent a letter to the Finance Ministry asking to amend the 2006 law and allow casinos and slot machines in hotels and tourist establishments, but it was ignored.

By the time legislators decided to put their foot down on gambling, there were more than 2,700 gambling establishments in Moscow. Gambling facilities could be found at stores, the metro and near schools and churches.

President Dmitry Medvedev told Federal Tax Service chief Mikhail Mokretsov last month that he would tolerate no delays in moving all gambling to the zones. "There will be no revisions, no pushing back — despite the lobbying efforts of various businesses," Medvedev said on May 5.

But Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Shatalov warned on June 17 that the project "hasn't succeeded yet" because the zones were not ready to welcome casinos.

He said regions where gambling will be banned will lose 5 billion to 6 billion rubles ($160 million to $200 million) a year in revenues from their budgets.

The government's message, however, has sometimes been off-target for gaming executives. Economic Development Ministry official Yelena Aldakushkina showed up at the recent exhibition with a message about the problems that the United States was facing with Internet gambling because of its membership in the World Trade Organization.

"Why do we need to listen to that foreign experience? We all are waiting for July 1," one businessman shouted, interrupting Aldakushkina.

Several businessmen stood up and left the conference room.

When Altai Deputy Governor Mikhail Shchetinin took the floor to speak about the development of the so-called Siberian Coin zone in his region, many more businessmen left the room.

Shchetinin complained that investors didn't want to adapt to the new reality.

The Altai region has reached an agreement with only one major casino operator, Casino Austria, which has casinos in 18 countries, according to Siberian Coin's web site. Casino Austria, however, has abandoned a plan to invest in Azov City.

Shchetinin blamed the gambling industry for the unpreparedness of his region and the other zones.

"Until the gambling business starts cooperating with us, I won't be able to say when the construction works will be completed," Shchetinin said.

While Siberian Coin looks unlikely to open for business Wednesday, the Altai administration has defined its borders, unlike in the Far East, where the Primorye region is only now considering where its gaming zone will be located.

"It is clear that the zones won't be set up by July 1. The question is whether they will be set up at all," Binder said.

Storm International, a gambling company controlled by British expatriate Michael Boettcher, plans to move out of Russia altogether.

"They are just not lucrative for the business," company spokesman Lavrenty Gubin said Monday, referring to the four Russian zones. "Nothing is done there. Besides, no wealthy people will go gambling to a place like Azov."

Storm International, which owns five big Moscow casinos, including the Shangri-La, and 25 slot-machine halls, has dismissed 5,000 people since Jan. 1, he said.

Moscow police have already closed about 50 gaming halls this month as part of a citywide crackdown. The police said that the checks for violations would continue — even past Wednesday if needed — in an indication that the police don't expect all gambling establishments to close as required.

Moscow authorities have set aside 23,000 square meters to house gaming equipment from halls whose owners don't want to remove it themselves, Interfax reported.

"Our company has expensive equipment that we are relocating abroad now," said Gubin, of Storm International. "But there are more than 300,000 slot machines from closing halls that may flood the shadow market."

Most well-off businessmen moved abroad soon after the 2006 law was passed, Binder said. Others who had purchased the premises where their gambling facilities are located are likely to lease them out for other businesses, he said.

"They will wait for the time when the gambling business can revive in better conditions," he said.

Baidakov, the deputy mayor, indicated that this was not going to happen any time soon.

He said about 40 establishments still had gambling licenses as of Monday and Moscow authorities have opened a hotline at 633-6262 where people could phone in tips about illegal gambling after Wednesday.

"We are counting on the help of residents and the mass media," he said.