Topic: Sad reality: some countries gamble more than they can afford (Read 636 times)

Well this thread got so many answers it's become very hard to read them and find a consensus. But I think that some key takeaways is that I still see many people in the community talking about personal responsibility. Personally, this is what I've gotten used to from the bitcoin community as a sentiment.

But times change and as of now more people in bitcointalk seem to think that some government regulations can make sense if implemented with good intentions in mind. So while people must learn on a personal level, governments also need to take some measures to restore balance if gambling becomes too big in a country.

Even in countries that prohibit gambling, there will still be many citizens who gamble, especially in your country where gambling is legal because it means that people will easily gamble without violating the regulations.
Is there anything the state can do? of course, there should be, for example, by also showing advertisements about the impacts that will arise if people gamble outside their limits, for example by borrowing or gambling because they intend to make money, but the awareness of gambling responsibly should emerge from the person, not because there is a prohibition or so on which usually only have a short impact but will last a long time if you come from yourself to gamble responsibly.

Rightly said whatever the country may be it is easy to cure everything if gambling is done responsibly and the individual can control himself. By playing it safe and building your winnings patiently you will be able to maintain control over the game. The urge to gamble can quickly turn into a compulsion that is difficult to control. Gambling addiction can have a profound effect on individuals causing significant problems in various areas of their lives. Every good gambler knows that discipline in gambling is as important as a good strategy so the responsible gambler plays according to the situation.

Do you have numbers to prove this?

Your argument may be true in the sense that there are more people who are involved in gambling from the underdeveloped country but if you compare the money spent on gambling, then it is the developed countries who take over the underdeveloped ones.

In poor countries, there is more population, and hence more people will be gambling but all of them will be using small amounts of money on gambling and you will hardly see thousands of dollars in individual bets from these countries. In contrast to this, the population in developed countries may be less but they usually have bigger gambling portfolios.

The people of less developed countries gamble the most. It's spread like wildfire. From old to young, everyone is involved in gambling activity. It's true that they gamble more than they can afford. Sometimes they would sell their homes and land to make money for their gambling. It's a virus that doesn't have a cure. Even at my place, this is happening. People are in debt, to pay, they are taking loans and having another debt, and the cycle continues. This happens because the less developed countries don't have enough infrastructure. They lack education and moral support. The unemployment rate is also higher. The government is not able to help them economically that much. That's why people are gambling to earn quick money.

I think if I remember correctly, I read something similar about Australia a month or so ago the government was concerned that their people were losing a lot of money on online gambling platforms so they are planning to reduce that amount by restricting online gambling platforms or not allowing them to run ads and stuff just so that they can save their country from losing that much money every year in these platforms as it's causing issues for them.

However, I think those who are involved with gambling within these countries should also be considered responsible for what's happening because it's them who are gambling recklessly and losing that much money. If they gamble responsibly, the situation wouldn't get this worse and it would be under control.

If the tax were only imposed on gamblers who made big wins, it would not be a burden on them because, with that much money, they would be able to pay the tax easily. Meanwhile, the government does not need to ask losing gamblers to pay taxes because they lost at gambling. So if some gamblers can win a lot of money, the taxes they have to pay will also increase and that will contribute to the country's economy. But we don't know what impact gambling will have on the country's economy because the government definitely has other tax sources that can be a source of tax revenue. So it shouldn't be a problem for the country, especially since there are not too many who win large amounts of money gambling.

It will only be advice that gamblers may or may not follow and if gamblers still want to gamble, they can continue gambling. Yes, gambling is fun because you can win big, but people should also remember that gambling can make them lose large amounts of money and can make them go bankrupt.

If there is more job creation for the unemployed, it might be possible to reduce the number of gamblers because there will be awareness for them to start changing their gambling activities to work. By working, they can get income that can be used to meet their daily needs, and that will make them feel that they can now make money from their work. It is indeed difficult to eliminate the attraction of gambling but you have to remember that people have to determine what is good for them, especially if they can get a decent job that can make them money. They might prefer to work, which can clearly provide an income, rather than gambling, which does not guarantee that they will be able to earn an income. But it depends on each person.

The economy backward country people doing the gambling for the upliftment of their life,but their own people and family members thought.Such gambler had wasting their time in the gambling,but the fact is the gamblers rebuild their own status by participating in the gambling game.The Greece is the biggest gambling participator of the gambling sites around the world.The fact is they can easy manage to find the algorithm of the gambling sites.So the people of the Greece had a capacity to get all the big win from the gambling sites.So they top the world countries with the number of the participants to the gambling sites and Greece people also top the daily participant count in the gambling sites.

The government does not regulate gambling limits but only provides legalization permits for gambling, so gambling limits are set individually according to each individual's financial capabilities and they must bear the risk of loss. But after cases of high losses for 2 years, we can assume the government only wants tax income from gambling because they do not provide socialization to prevent large losses due to gambling. Don't rely on external parties or any non-governmental organizations to educate about responsible gambling but rely on your ability to gain new knowledge and learn from other people's experiences to minimize losses in gambling

You said governments are getting a good tax with it? Then I wouldn't say that it was a waste, unless only if they are corrupt because they can pocket most of the money if not all. A casino can spend a lot of money to make their business run and getting established, so we shouldn't expect that they will heavily taught gamblers on how to play responsibly because that can only affect their income.

It's only surprising that people on Greece can gamble that much despite knowing that they are not rich. On other poorer countries, people will also play gambling thinking it will solve their issues financially which is false. So indeed that governments should make gambling more restricted but again, it may not be really possible if they are corrupted.

Well that's true however this is not a small problem and indirectly there must be serious efforts from the government to be able to overcome or at least to just minimize so that its people do not suffer too much in terms of the economy due to the impact of gambling that they do. I honestly don't know and can't suggest what to do because of course only their own government knows about what ways make sense for them to be able to apply in a country for the benefit of its people in terms of reducing the level of addiction in their society.

The biggest impact is that of course the overall economy of the community will definitely get worse and the financial turnover in the country will definitely be disrupted, the country's income will not run normally because people are more concerned with gambling than buying some goods in the market such as clothes or even other basic needs. Of course, if discussed, the impact of gambling is very broad and can have an impact on many things besides their own economy. So the bottom line for the whole problem is on the government's own policy if indeed the government feels that gambling causes many adverse effects on its society and for the community itself I hope they can do some prevention such as for example imposing very strict limits to just reduce the number of defeats.

No longer the country but the gamblers themselves. There are just people who are too hopeful of the profit in gambling activities. This kind of mindset- a quick and easy way to get rich, won’t do you any good. Some people are becoming unrealistic; there are a few who made fortune out of this industry but for sure there are more people who became broke from trying to hit the jackpot. Also with people who gets to the point of borrowing money just to try their luck, which will never be advisable. Regret is an evidence that a gambler have used an amount he cannot afford losing.

Maybe this is the reason why several people are gambling in your country. In a country where there is no job, businesses are not thriving as it should, most especially businesses from the middle and lower class of the citizens, people in such countries tend to look for other places to turn to for income or more income to cater for their daily expenses and so on, and like we all know, in such a situation, gambling is the easiest means of making money to turn to, even though it has every thing to do with how lucky an individual is, most people always believe that luck will one day smile on them if they are consistent and don't give up.

I would say that this is just exactly the same thing currently going on in my country as well, with hardest increasing day by day due to inflation, lack of jobs and stagnating businesses, people are now turning to gambling as a way to make ends meet, and it's really unfortunate for this is not what gambling is meant for, but then, the government can not do anything or do much since they are the creators of this problems in the first place, and the casinos in question pay their taxes, so they have no choice but to allow the casinos run their business as long as they are not breaking any law in the country.

It is a sad reality that people from economically disadvantaged countries are gambling too much. But the main reason is that they are using gambling as an alternative source of income because of the economic hardship. My country is also facing the same condition as Greece and people are gambling very high. But the truth is that people are also benefiting from gambling which is why they are still gaming.

A government that is going through financial problems will be seeking diverse means to get revenue. Therefore you would not expect the government to stop issuing licences to casinos because it is a good source of internally generated income. The government will not also want to limit people from gambling because they also need to raise funds from taxes. It is mostly rich nations like Australia that make such laws to limit gambling because they have many other sources of income to fund their budget.

However, the government needs to put viable laws in place that will regulate the operation of the gambling industry to avoid diverse abuse of the sector. These casinos should be mandated to engage in fair and true publicity and there should be diverse mechanisms put in place to checkmate gambling disorder. We all know that this government needs money in the form of license fees and taxes from casinos but there is also a need to protect the interest of gamblers in the country.

Truly judgmental i should say on which it isnt really just that right to have that kind of conclusive approach into those people who dont have that proper educational background because not all the time it would really be meaning that they are really that lazy or automatically means that they would really be loving to gamble. It turns out that the citizens of those countries are really that a fan on doing gambling despite of having that kind of financial status or even just saying the economic status of their country which it isnt really that totally a huge factor that would determine whether a certain individual would really be dealing
with gambling or not. It is really that in someones full decision whether they would really be that deciding on playing or not.

Reality? Yes it is and there's nothing we can do about it. People does have the full rights on what are the things that they would gonna do.They wont really be playing if they dont have the money as simple as that.
Even if they are really that living in a country on which it doesnt have that good looking economy or state but still people are really that having a fan on dealing with gambling
and trying to check out those numbers on which it is really that talking about multi-millions. How come that they wont really be able to generate good revenue from it speaking of taxes?

I don't buy this argument that those who do not have enough education and/or are illiterate, prefer gambling as it makes quick money. Do you mean to say that those who have no skill, will try their luck in gambling?

Well, this may be true for certain groups of people who have a lot of money to gamble, but usually, a person who is not educated means that he won't be able to get a good job and hence he won't have much money to gamble. So I do not think that those people will prefer gambling as it needs a good financial status and that only comes if you belong to an educated family.

I think it is more of the educated class, who comes to gambling because of a lack of opportunity elsewhere or because they think that gambling is a quick rich scheme.

The concept that the government should monitor adults' gambling is absurd. It's like urging them to avoid fast food because it's unhealthy. People take risks despite knowing the consequences. That's exciting, right? Gambling is fun because you could win big.

Your point regarding job creation reducing gambling addiction? Correct, but it's a bandage on a bullet wound. Gamblers gamble for thrill, hope, and rapid riches, not just unemployment. Jobs help, but they won't eliminate gambling's appeal. Human nature and our continuous desire of fast remedies are at the heart of it.

I'd like to think that your write up is incomplete.

You have found that income countries that are poor there is a high prevalence of gambling that exceeded the standard wage or income of the citizens. Perhaps you should have given us one or two ways the government can handle this if you there should be a governmental intervention.

The fault here is not from the government. The government of a country cannot decide how her people should spend their money. Restricting casinos will not have any effect. Rather there should be a regulation of gambling companies if they are not adhering to them already. And if the government is not dealing with a problem of gambling addiction, then they are fine. It means her citizens are gambling responsibly however if there is an increase in gambling addiction, they need to step up their awareness campaign and create avenues to help the suffering folks.

One factor I think why people spend so much on gambling more than they can afford is the lack of education and financial literacy. Countries who are poor has a citizens who don't have enough education given the fact that people prioritize surviving and taking jobs instead of studying. Majority of those people who lack financial literacy want to make money as fast as they want and some of them don't really consider the risk of gambling. Casino is a business and they don't earn money from the gamblers, I don't think that gamblers who doesn't have a proper education understand it, they are more focus in taking risk and don't think a head.

What can the government do in such a situation when the people are more inclined to gamble and lose money? Remember, people are using their own money to gambling and they are not taking money from the government to gamble. It's the people's own choice and i don't think the government can control them. If they put a ban on gambling sites, people will still use VPNs and access the sites to play online.

The best advice here in my point of view is that the government should start the casinos operating within the country under their supervision. Though it won't be moral, but that is the best option to boost the economy and stop the drainage of money to offshore gambling companies. In this way, if people gamble on the local national casinos and lose, the beneficiary will be the government as all the money will go to them. This is the only way to get money from a society that is addicted to gambling.

Efforts are needed from the government to encourage people to reduce their gambling activities little by little, because if someone has become addicted to gambling, of course this will be very bad for their financial condition and they will not be able to meet their needs. It is important for everyone to be able to control themselves in gambling so that they do not spend more of the income they have on gambling, if we continue to gamble more than we can afford then it will be impossible for us to meet the needs we need.

Don't know how it can give an impact to the countries economy since the gambler is just the only one losing their money and they are not using a public funds so there's no lose coming from government regarding on that situation. But if the gambler is tax evader and instead that they pay their taxes he used it for gambling then maybe there's a small factor that it is a loss for the country but not totally they can get affected since they have more source on where they can get those funds. And gambling taxes or individual taxes is just a chunk for them.

We don't see a country collapsed its because their citizen lost in gambling and if someone tell that then this is just a hoax. Gambling taxes is just small part so we don't need to worry about this, that's why there are country ban gambling on their system since they can still run a country without even issue even if there's no gambling tax will go to their treasury.

The gambler was the person who loss or gain money from the gambling,but the fact is the loss will impact the economy of the country.Both the loss and win will impact the country economy.So the country also had the impact by the gambling loss or win of the individual gambler.The government can influence the gambling by making the law to put tax on the gambling withdrew all the time.Some country had legalised the gambling in their country and getting taxes from their gambler.This taxes will not affect the gambler who made the big win in the gambling,this only affect the gambler who made the less win from the game or no win from all the game.

The people who have lost a lot of money and not the country. But there are no official statistics about it. The government clearly has to intervene in reducing the number of gambling addictions or the number of people who gamble by giving an appeal to the public not to gamble too often. But people still want to get money quickly so they think they can get it from gambling so, which makes many people start gambling. The government should be able to think of ways to provide jobs so that people can make money and slowly leave gambling behind. Those who gamble want money because they cannot get a job that can give them money. This also triggers crime to increase because, with a large number of unemployed people, they have to make ends meet even though they have no money. But if public awareness can increase, it can reduce the number of people who gamble and can even reduce the number of gambling addictions. They can also start trying by creating their own business. The important thing is that they can survive and make money from what they do instead of gambling.

You took Greece as an example and you did good to take that country which is the most rich country in the Balkans so it is normal to see those huge lost amounts.Keep in mind though that in all Balkans countries it is the same mentality regarding gambling,people are poor and they look at gambling as a way to make some extra money and to remove their attention from their daily amount of stress which in this zone is huge.

Unfortunately this will never change in this region of the world,people here are gamblers since early age and they don't need to grow up to play,most of them go with their parents in different casinos and they learn all regarding gambling in very young age as I said.

This is not the only situation in Greece. There are many other countries that are losing a lot of money in gambling. But there is no official statistics. There are many countries where gambling is not legal but gambler gambling using VPN software so the government can't restrict them. Moreover, no country's government can stop it even they try to do it. What can be done now is to increase individual awareness and take various steps by government to plan how to teach control in gambling otherwise people can just lose. There is no alternative from the position.

Yes this is true, a country’s Government should not be blamed for a citizen’s mistakes because everyone from the age of 18 is allowed to gamble and so they are adults so they have the right to make decisions and they can differentiate between good and bad so they should be responsible for their own actions. An adult should be aware of the risks involved in gambling and it’s their duty to learn and understand what they are getting themselves into before engaging in it.

All the stats being made on gambling about losing rates doesn’t matter much to me because just as much as people lose money they also win but a lot of people like to talk about the losses incured which IMO is normal just that gamblers need to regulate the rate at which they gamble.

You're right, and that's what gambling is like, which should serve as a reminder that our ultimate goal of winning big means we have to take bigger risks. Sometimes luck comes with small capital but big results, but not all gamblers can get it. Even after years of gambling, he still felt that his winnings were not guaranteed to cover his total expenses while at the casino. So basically you just need to bet realistically and have your own risk management to always know that gambling decisions must always be accompanied by awareness when you experience defeat.

I am not so familiar with the situation in Greece, from vacations I know that it's a beautiful country with many friendly people. But you don't really talk with strangers about gambling, I never noticed that there are many casinos or that people enjoy gambling so much. It's of course a bad thing if a poorer country loses so much money in gambling. I feel like that in some places where there is no real opportunities to make money and fix your life that gambling is the only solution. Even if the odds are in favor of the casino there is still a chance to make a profit. The majority of gamblers is not going to get rich, it's only a very small part of people that will get lucky and that is what attracts everybody else.

These numbers are crazy but you want to know the craziest ones? Nigeria is among the top countries that spend more money on game very day and the reason why we have these increased in higher numbers of gamblers, it's the rate of employment. When a country empowerment numbers is too low, expect to have high numbers of gamblers, even the ones that are already employed still gamble and that is because the minimum wage is low, the salaries are too low for survival.

As of first of November 2023, it was reported that Nigerians spent $975m daily on gambling, these numbers is scary to be honest, this is not monthly but daily. If you should do the math and add the numbers in a month, that means the country spent $29.25B every month in gambling. This is only for license gambling platforms, if we are to include unlicensed platforms, we can get more than this figures, this is very very bad for a country that struggle to pay $30 a month for minimum wage.

For a country that have $479B for her GDP, isn't that concerning? I think the country need to fix her employment numbers, if they can manage to bring down this numbers, these numbers will also reduce as well and if they to educate people on gambling, it will help educate people about effects of gambling.

The government must intervene by blocking and prohibiting people from gambling offline or online. Do you think that will really help? I don't think so, we don't need to pretend we don't know that there is still a lot of sense for gambling addicts to gamble with VPN or all kinds of methods, because what needs to be addressed is the gamblers because they are consciously gambling at their own risk, for example the government in the country I prohibit gambling but people here can still gamble using VPN and other methods.

I think it all depends on the gambling addicts who are there, all countries that are poor and economically below average or lower middle class, most of them gamble just to hope for instant wins and wealth but they never realize that they will never get it. unless they are really lucky, I'm sure it's not only in your country but in other countries it's the same. it's better to find a way to stop them by curing them as addicts rather than expecting the government to step in to deal with it.  

It is because gambling attracts poor people a lot more than rich people. Rich people are greedy too but unlike poor people they know the difference between being greedy and being stupid. Rich people play to have fun unless they are stupid too. (It is not impossible to be rich and stupid at the same time) Poor people on the other hand, they play to get rich and obviously it is pretty much impossible in the long run because of the house edge that protects the casino from the players. That mechanic (house edge) makes money for the casino, it is a big advantage which the casino has over the players. Poor people either don’t know or don’t care but in the end they get even poorer.

It's a general problem in gambling, it doesn't matter which country a gambler is from, anyone can, black or white can gamble with what they can't afford to lose, and sadly not everyone knows the true meaning of gambling, for me the definition have every truth exposed about gambling.

Gambling is taking action with the hope of a desired result, unfortunately someone won't make money if you win, meaning your chances are even slimmer than when it's just you and fate, in casinos case it's about you and another human, who promised to give you money if your prediction turned out right.

In sight it shows how risky gambling can be but people, stupid and foolish of them, they strongly believe that gambling holds the key to their financial problems, it's possible to win games in gambling but if your dream is to make millions in gambling you are even at a greater risk, because for such goal you will need to risk higher amount of money.

For people who expected too less from gambling, they risk very small amount that they can afford to lose to just have a win, they won't be rich but at least they won't always be at a greater risk, for them a win is a win.

Your comparation isn't make any sense.

Greece is one of unequal wealth distribution, so it means a rich people is very rich while the poor people is really poor. Since the statistic talks about GDP, there's a possibility if only the rich people spent such huge amount of money to gamble, while the poor people aren't gamble too much.

If you want to get a better statistic if Greeks gamble more than they can afford, you need to find how many gamblers in Greece.

I don't think the government of such countries would be able to do anything about this. That because if they were responsible enough their citizens won't have taken gambling so seriously in the first place. Speaking from experience in a country like mine , where the government cares less about the interest of the people. The youths has taken the laws into their hands and gambling to them now is a way to earn an income. You see them on social medias boosting of how they made millions from placing little bets and advicing others to do same so as not to remain in a state of poverty. In such situations even if the government where to restrict gambling, it won't work out well because the citizens will always find a new means to turn the table around.

There are more important things that the government needs to work on that can benefit the people,  the truth is that in developing countries the rate at which people play gambling is always high because people have seen gambling as an easy way of making money and this should not be surprised to people. The government does not even have  any plan to stop gambling companies because they are also benefiting from this gambling companies.  In a country where employment rate is low , their is no doubt that young people will engage themselves to play gambling just to generate money for themselves.

And how do the numbers stack up for number of winners against the assumed lost money, because this data is inconclusive on its on. And I want to believe we might have a couple of big winners in this money lost too which hasn't been acknowledged.

Probably tax them for this service looking at how much money they make, and I honestly don't see them feeling the pinch either.

Unfortunately they will claim to say this is a potential venture to make money as job opportunities might not be available for everyone and governments hands are tied when it comes to regulating adult's.

This is just one case though, there could be other countries that have been losing more if we a look at the GDP and the amount of money they are losing. So it's not only Greece that are attracted to gambling. On the other hand Macau for example is really benefiting from gambling, as they are one of  the Mecca of gambling. Gamblers goes to that country to play and in term it generates a lot of money for them and their government.

Here are some numbers in 2017:



https://www.statista.com/statistics/552821/gambling-losses-per-adult-by-country-worldwide/

And now we understand why Australia's government right now is implementing ways to curb their gambling addiction. This data is 6 years old, so it could be that the numbers are higher now.

What you have said is not only in Greece but all over the whole world. If Greece lost such amount on gambling only then my country gambling rate is more than that of Greece. Unemployment is one the key player of rising rate of gambling. Many countries youths lost their income and earning in gambling and why because they are thinking to double their income from gambling and if the salary of those gamblers are big enough to meet up their family needs then I don't think they would gamble t lost funds the way they are doing now.

If government mistakenly stop gambling in the society then crime will come back to the streets again and it will be at the peak like before. The matter what gambling reduce crime to a minimal way. Though it is not totally but a little bit. Government should not restrict it but instead regulate it.

restrictions will not prevent gamblers from visiting casinos and various ways can be used to gamble and one of them is technological developments, currently many gambling sites are licensed and easily accessible from any country because sometimes a platform allows the use of VPN.
and on the one hand I agree with some users here who say that actually it is each individual responsibility because gambling is a choice and if someone wants to live a healthy life then stay away from gambling and if you want to continue living in poverty keep gambling every day. so no matter how hard you try to restrict casinos, you not be able to stop gamblers from betting because it has become the gamblers choice.

best advice is not to restrict casinos but provide education through advertising or other means to inform them about the ill effects of irresponsible gambling, which seems more reasonable.

If government collect tax from the gambling of people in your country it means they are also suppose to use it in providing social amenities and support to the people. except if it is agreed that some social responsibilities from the gambling casino is going to be obligated also.

The money used in gambling to me is not a waste if government collect tax from it which is as revenue to the government. They only need to use it appropriately for the benefit of the people and that means part of the money used in gambling goes back to the society


This is unpatriotic. Moreover the government should be able to regulate this and ensure that customers are protected, fairness in the games of betting is so much needed.


Somehow these could be in TOS and casino will not be liable to customers losses when they bet. Afterall they are betting to win from the casino so they should be able to take the risk or play and manage their bankroll. If you can't understand the risk in gambling then don't gamble.

Gambling is an activity that is carried out and enjoyed by all levels of society from the lower to upper classes so that gamblers do not know whether they are experiencing bad financial conditions or not, but when they hold certain amount of money they will definitely use it as gambling capital.

Moreover, the increase in budget figures for gambling is not influenced by whether the country is rich or poor country because it all depends on how the people respond to gambling in difficult economic conditions.
Did you forgotten that many levels of society with low economic levels enter into gambling with the aim of having additional income, even though this is the wrong decision but they know how to make money for gambling and all the risks are at their own risk.

I consider the increase in the gambling budget in country to be normal and in fact, every day in each country the number of gamblers increases which really looks very significant.

It's not the fault of the government in that country, people are just generally stupid, so much that they believe they can get luck with riches for not working, they deserve the result they are getting, if anyone is so dependant on gambling as his or her way to stardom or success they deserve any consequences that comes after.

This is why I don't believe in luck, I am someone who intentionally reject gifts, there must be a reason why you are giving it to me, what do you want back? Nothing is free and people don't believe this, if you really on getting lucky you will end up sleeping beside the road.

Believe in yourself, create a value and don't chase money, if you can create a value money will come to you with easy, you can't be useless and expect to make money, this is what people are doing, gambling looks like the perfect way to escape from their worthless choices, little did they know that what awaits them will even drown them further into poverty.

There is nothing anyone can say that will change my mind with the way I see this world, to get rich you need to create a value first, and what comes after is having patience, a man of value can generate millions once his value is acknowledged.

If government do really get that huge chunk when it comes to taxes of gambling industry they it would be unlikely that they would really be tending or planning to ban it on which it doesnt really make sense on doing so or really just that normal that they would really be giving out importance instead considering that taxation part which does really have that huge role when it comes to economic development and government would really be that focusing on  that rather than on thinking about their citizens condition when it comes to gambling addiction.If it turns out to be severe then they might really be putting up some control or restrictions but never ever they would really be that considering on banning or closing it.

In speaking about playing gambling then if they can afford it, then why would really be bothering yourself on minding about their gambling activity?
It wont really matter about on countries economic situation or condition on which everyone could really be
freely be able to play despite of the condition.

Gambling is an adult activity and as adult you shouldn't expect to be spoon-fed all in. You have got some responsibility to read things for yourself as I believe that's part of being a responsible gambler as you begin to gamble. Imbibing the culture of reading the ToS of casinos can save us from certain mistakes.
  poor or rich country should matter whether casinos settle there or not. The governmnt won't chased away these casinos and the casinos won't leave if they're getting good returns. It's left for the citizens to realize they are poor and stop gambling with the little money they have and when the casinos comprehend they are not making profits they will will have to exit on their own. If you all keep waiting for the government you'll wait for endlessly.

The casinos are not operating for free the government are benefiting from the taxes they pay using those tax money to run other infrastructural affairs of the country. The government desire that tax money more than you could imagine which is why you can't get the strict restrictions you expecting of the government to gambling companies in their country.

29 billion Euros for 2022 only?that is a huge money just to be Lose in gambling does this mean Gambling
 operators are really earning billions of Euros each year.that can covers our country's expenses for the whole year.

and the saddest part is that looks like people are losing money that can feed their family instead it goes to the operators.

Hoping that the government will act accordingly and seems like Greece are losing to gambling owner .

Based on the article you provided this is the amount the government of Greece received, it is for players only not included in these taxes are industries that revolve around these casinos online and offline, and it could grow in the coming years if the trend does not change.
The government cannot just ignore the figure that helps them sustain their treasury.

The government can only educate its people on the many negative effects of too much gambling and like the casinos they promote casinos whether online or offline as an entertainment portal, it's up to the gambler how he treats gambling, there are who treats gambling the right way and some players who go the extra mile and treat gambling as their ticket to financial freedom.
As long as the people are not stealing and many are getting sick because of gambling government will not cut these casinos which sustain their coffers.

If people of your country lose 10% of total GDP by gambling then it must be said that people of your country are very much attracted to gambling. You have collected this information only from the official sites but there are various unofficial sites in which a large number of people are gambling. If the people of your country could earn the amount of money you mentioned by gambling then it would be good news for the economy of your country but the people of your country have lost this huge amount of money only through gambling. Based on the information that you have collected, if the media of your country reports, then maybe the people of your country and the government of your country will be aware enough about gambling. I am amazed by the statistics that people of a country lose 10% of their GDP by gambling.

Even in my country, which is a Muslim country where the operation of gambling platforms is prohibited, there are millions of people who gamble here with total transactions reaching $6.5 billion USD, that is a pretty crazy number considering that this is a developing country and spiritual behavior here is very high. This is ironic, because there are still many cases of stunting, malnutrition, extreme poverty, and many other things, but many people actually prefer to gamble their money rather than provide the best food for their children.
The government's role does not appear to be very significant in cracking down on these gambling platforms, as their contribution to the country's development is non-existent. The government should be able to regulate these gambling platforms so that they can provide tax income for the country and be used for human resource development and various other things.

The OP could apply the same to poorer districts in rich countries:

UK’s most deprived areas have highest number of gambling outlets – report

People in poor neighborhoods are twice as likely to have gambling problems, study finds

So I don't think it's a problem of countries, it seems to be linked to socioeconomic status. In general wealthy people are aware that gambling is not a good way to earn money and on the other hand poor people tend to put more false hopes on it.

I am really sure the government cannot also solve the people's life problems when stop the casino operation. The government should have provided a solution first before making the conclusion. We know that people is play gambling just to increase their income to meet their needs. if it is stopped and the government has not yet found a solution to overcome unemployment, and increase income, that's the same as cutting their neck indirectly. This problem is faced by many developing countries, so I'm not surprised if it will happen again in many countries in the future.

I cannot speak about the situation in Greece in isolation, as I am a foreigner and am unfamiliar with the situation you described.
In any case, I agree that on a global scenario, governments do little to effectively regulate licensed casinos, it seems to me that they only care about ensuring that tax money is properly paid.

An even more serious issue is money laundering, I see that supervision against this criminal practice is very mild in many countries. However, at crypto casinos we are required to perform KYC for any withdrawal we try to make... quite unfair.
Anyway... I doubt this will change, governments only care about raising money.

Are you talking about the gambling casinos within Greece that are not provably fair ?  I think most people will prefer to play & gamble online at trusted casinos that are provably fair. Yes, the losing ratio is on these casinos is still high but if anyone is playing at a local casino that is not provably fair, then for sure he is wasting his money on that casino.



Well, even if Greece is not a rich country, still its the people choice to try their luck in Gambling. As you mentioned the unemployment rate is high in Greece, so people try to find a living out of gambling. The government, instead of thinking of putting a ban on casinos, why not first create opportunities for their youth so that they can earn? Once the jobs are created, many people will quit gambling automatically whose purpose is to earn money from gambling.

Putting a ban on gambling in such a situation is not a solution. Better try to improve the living facilities and provide jobs to the individuals and then expect them to leave gambling.

For me the country or place where a gambler lives doesn't affect it, it is on how they control their greed it doesn't matter if their rich or poor.
If they couldn't control their greed then it how it would always be they would always gamble more than they could afford.
Investment and gambling they all comes down to how you manage or control your funds, if you couldn't manage it properly then the result is always the same/

I'm in a third-world country where gambling is legal and the casino and lottery platforms are being managed and run by countries, our country cannot just step in even if the number is growing it is one of the biggest agencies where the government extracts funds to sustain their pro-poor program, the government can only ask or teach people to moderate addiction but it's still up to individuals how they manage their gambling activity.

But any government can interfere and stop a platform when there is a big call to stop operation we have a lot of cases where they stop and revoke the license of gambling platforms, one example is the e-sabong or online cockfighting, any government should listen to its people if the rate is very alarming.

Research shows that people with low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to be more at risk for gambling problems.  These folks got less money, so when they gamble away a chunk of their paycheck it hurts a lot more than someone with a higher SES who has more financial resources to fall back on. For someone living check-to-check, blowing their grocery money on the 1-in-a-million Powerball jackpot probably ain't the best idea.  But when you're desperate even a tiny chance at a big payday can seem worth it. 

As for the government, they dont usually step in to help with gambling addiction issues in low income communities.  That's partly cause gambling rakes in a ton of tax dollars that politicians want for their budgets.  Casinos and lotteries promise quick money for cities and states, so they turn a blind eye to the harm.  It's messed up, but governments care more about dollars than people's well-being.  If only there were programs to educate folks on gambling risks or free addiction counseling, but that all costs money, which is exactly what gambling provides.  Its a vicious circle.

I have a hard time believing that countries are gambling away 10% of their GDP. There’s got to be some sort of asterisk on that… Maybe total wagers but certainly not losses. That would be insane. Individuals certainly gamble more than they should in some cases though. I think all of us probably know someone who has had their life negatively effected by the gambling habits of family members.

Fact, this happens often. In my country too, online gambling has become an extraordinary trend. Even though gambling is something that is prohibited, that doesn't stop people from playing online gambling, especially in the "slots" type. Even though it is not a rich country, the fact is that the increase in online gambling is increasingly high and widespread among the public. The negative impact given is extraordinary, even going bankrupt because of the impact of these slots. This actually happens not only in the lower middle class but also in the upper class. The increasing popularity of online gambling which can be accessed easily and the number of platforms that advertise it, the more this trend becomes a trigger in society. And there are many who actually can't afford it, but think that by gambling they can become rich. Which in fact is impossible, unless you are very, very lucky and hit the jackpot. Thus, there are many cases of poverty and several criminal acts due to addicted gamblers who cannot control themselves because of gambling.

By gamble, I mean exposing too much to probability and expecting a fixated return on what's exposed.

By the above definition, it will not be out of context to say that most nations are in the business of gambling with their economy. They commit so much resources to things that have no guarantee as return on such investment and on the other hand, they're expecting much from where they committed those funds to even when they know it had no defined terms.

Well the reason we aren't seeing anything about how many ppl buy beer and how much money is spent is because there is no sig campaign asking people to post in a beer section. Since most sig campaigns are asking  users to post in gambling sections people make many poor topics to get a conversation going.

What you say is correct nonetheless.

And  this what makes this industry becomes so big or something that do increase its overall revenue worldwide on which it doesnt really care on which country and community it would really be existing or simply it is really just that a global thing on where everyone could really be able to make that involvement. Just let those people be spending their money on gambling, doesnt matter on where they do live since they've been still
able to do gambling then its their choice. Its their right since its their money that they've been using. It is really just that there are people who do really love to play gambling despite on having that small income
or revenue  that they could get. They dont care as long they could play then this what matter the most. Just like been mentioned or said above that its none of your business if they would gamble.
Small or big spender it doesnt matter yet odds or chances on winning would really be just the same.

It would really be that just depending on how a certain individual would really be making out their gambling habit to be moderated because there would really be no exemption in speaking about addiction
and gambling financial problems on which you would really be that definitely be falling into that thing if you dont have that kind of moderation.

I think it’s not so much as that but more as a distinction that this always happens with third world countries. For instance this also happens in the Philippines. Not to mistake it for the notion that rich countries are allowed to splurge their money on gambling.

And while you are right about the people finding ways for them to gamble despite band and barring, restrictions are still pretty much effective as it disallows the common joe to just have free access to gambling sites as they would if there was no ban. For sure these countries know about VPN but they would rather deal with people who are like that than do nothingvand subjrct the fountry to massive gambling crises.

Even the rich people all over the world gamble too much, they feel like they will never run out of money, and this is also what casino platforms love about their gamblers as well. The only difference between non-rich gamblers is that if poor people can gamble too much, how about rich people?

If so, the implication of gambling is that if it is not used correctly, it can really end up in something that we will not like for sure in the end, but we can still do it because of the greed that entered our mind for sure.

I don't think that the casino is a perceived state problem,  since the country is earning grst revenue in the form of tax from the casino,  and for that, they don't really care about what the citizens may have been put through,  and the reason for that being that the government will only warn the citizens on the danger of excessive gambling and nothing more than that and that is why they placed an age limit of 18+ years, to make sure that individuals are mature enough to handle the gambling activities to the point of making room for exit if they perceive that there are losing too much along the line.

But in this case, the government is not paying any attention towards that direction and for sure,  gambling is gaining a lot of popularity on the global scale and governments need to do more to avoid its potential danger.

It is obvious that this statistics shows how economy downplay on citizens of nations. From my own view, I think this out play is as a result of having to gamble for living. They hoped on gambling to make profit or earn to survive because I see  no reasons why they turn up on gambling  much more than they can afford or is it an that they are a nation of addicted gamblers?  I believe the government making huge revenue from casinos tjeee and are no ot ready to do anything about it and the casinos too are not ready to do anything too because they benefit from it as well.

It's really isn't about the country whether it's citizens are willing to gamble their money away on these casinos. It's the citizens are at fault if they'll be gambling more than what they can afford to lose and it's not the government's responsibility to rehabilitate these gambling addicts to stop them especially that it's helping the economy of the country as these casinos pay good amount of taxes.
Exactly! How can someone blame the government for their irresponsible decision of gambling their funds away that needs to used for their daily needs.  

I think it’s less about the country and more about the citizens living in it. After all, it’s people that live in and make up a country. The article you shared a link to, if their claim is true, tells me that a large portion of the people of Greece don’t mind gambling. Would you rather have the government place a ban on gambling “to save the citizens from themselves”? You can be sure more vans that are politically motivated would follow.

The casinos aren’t given a free reign to do as they like and that’s why they’re rules to follow if you want the license to operate. And like any other business, they pay tax to the government.
The casinos, although being in business to make profit may have some responsibility in educating people and all that, we’re always responsible for our actions.

The problem with poor country citizens gambling too much is because they think that it is a means of survival and they jeep trying their luck since the government can't provide jobs to take care of them. This is common with youths because they will see maybe their friend won bug once and before you know it, many of them will start rushing into gambling.

Casinos are the ones making big profit from these poor people and the government is cool with it as long as they get their own tax from the casino. However casinos have also helped some poor gamblers to win big and invest with the money, which is also a good thing and moreover, gambling is a matter of choice and not a most. Only gamble with the amount that you can afford to lose and stay healthy.

Unfortunately, this situation is not unique, it’s a global issue. There are reasons why people in poor countries may be more likely to gamble because it offers a quick and easy way to make money which is very appealing to people who are struggling financially. It can be a way to escape from the stress and difficulties of everyday life.
The government has a responsibility to protect its citizens from the harms of gambling addictions like regulating casinos to ensure that it is operating fairly and responsibly. In the current state of our country, it seems unreliable because I don't see if they are taking steps to provide education and support to people who are at risk of developing a gambling problem.

It just shows that gambling knows no boundaries. I mean everyone can get addicted regardless of what places you live, rich or poor, individuals are going to be hook on it. I don't have the numbers but it's probably the same as those 3rd world nations in the globe.

I think government is doing everything they can to stop the proliferation of gambling, but It's going to be very hard. Unless they really see the negative consequences of it in their society. Like it's decaying everyone like drugs and everyone is turning into drug addicts.

Besides, there could be protector of gambling in those poor countries like police or even politicians as they are making a lot of money.

It's because of poverty and people think that one way to solve poverty is through gambling. This isn't something new and this situation is everywhere. The people that are in the poverty line don't think a lot of any solution from the government so they find ways to solve it on their own and one of it is through gambling.

Life is full of struggles for sure and that's why they do it through gambling that they're making such choice that they think is risky and could also put them into a harder situation. But what they can do if their choices are limited and they need a helping hand to keep with them but no help is found.

Government programs and cash for work won't do anything with this. If it's already embedded in the minds of the citizens, they will gamble with or without the help of the government. It's going into addiction and from there, the problem will be harder for them to solve.

Who are the gamblers on these countries, like Greece? Are the starving and unemployed population gambling instead of spending their money with their basics needs? Or are the wealthy citizens, tourists and foreign investors the gamblers? Gambling is for those who have superfluous funds to do so. If poor citizens are gambling, it's a big mistake which must be addressed through public educational campaigns focused on this public, but if it's the second category of people mentioned above who are gambling, there is nothing to complain about it, and it's even good they are gambling, because this way money is being shared with the society (through taxes paid to the government).

Following that logic, if they weren't gambling in Greece, they would be gambling somewhere else, consequently allotting those taxes to another countries, and then Greece would be losing revenue.

What you said is true and right, sir; a country is irrelevant if you win or lose a gamble. And I also agree with what you mentioned: even if a country bans gambling among the people in their jurisdiction, other gambling addicts will still find a way to still play gambling, even if it is illegal in their country.

In fact, the country or government even caused their law-abiding citizens to violate the law they gave them to make it illegal. Also, the country of Greece is the one that loves goods and rents; you can't not act and find a way to earn money there, or else you will starve for sure.

Definitely, a government can step in if there is this kind of problem.
But again, this will also depend on the people they will keep on gambling away from their radar or not. The government could definitely just say that they are restricting the usage of gambling, but there's always a way for gamblers to find a hole and take advantage of it.
Australia already took some steps by banning gambling advertisements which I think could help lessen the gamblers in their country. But again, like I said earlier this will depend on the people if the urgency won't affect them anymore.
The government can help lessen the exposure to gambling because they can control local channels but I doubt they can do that with the ads on the internet, that will be a hard task for them and it means fiddling with online connection.

People focus a lot on knowing things like: how many gambling addicts there are, how many people play, how much money they take to play and when they see the numbers they immediately complain because they are seeing a very high number. but if you also research things like: how many people are addicted to alcohol, how many people consume beer, how much money is being spent to buy beer, you will also see that the number is very high, but no one complains about it! My point is that if someone is advertising a casino, and they keep researching the numbers of things like how much money is being spent in the casinos and when they discover that the numbers are very high, they complain

So what's the point of someone also playing and advertising a casino? people are of legal age, they know that there are things they should do and others they shouldn't do, so it's not the job of people like us to worry about how many people are addicted to gambling, how much money they spend on gambling. bad luck. The task of someone who is promoting a company is to speak well of the things that company is offering as long as everything is legal. It's up to people to do research and then make decisions on their own. I particularly see a lot of people playing in my country, the game is legal here and the government wastes no time in advertising for people to stop playing, because the law allows games and the law also determines that people over 18 years of age age are adults

are responsible for themselves, because let's see things this way: if in a country they say that in total 200 million dollars were gambled, for example, that means that the government received money from taxes, that means that the casino created jobs, that means that the casino also promoted tourism in the case of physical casinos, this also means that some people left with profits, even if it was a small number of people who made a profit, it was still a lot. because the profit from these people could make them people who do business, create jobs and pay taxes. In other words, the casino is also doing a lot of good things and you should also start talking about these good things that casinos do

If the casinos were becoming a problem to the country,  the government of that country would have banned it without hesitation.  They are reluctant to ban them because they are making money from the huge tax these casinos pay. The government did not impose gambling on anyone, so the decision to gamble is a personal choice. The least the government of the affected countries and maybe Non-governmental Organisations and private individuals can do is to sensitize their citizens on the need to gamble responsibly and help them too overcome addiction.

Come on...! have you looked at the console gaming industry, they are above cinema and music, there is a lot of money flowing out there, and many hours of unproductive games.

In the case of casinos there is something that places you at the age of majority, +18 or + 21 years, it depends on the country, then, the issue lies in not how you bet or "give away" your money, it is that this expense is consistent with your economic activities, that aspect is strengthened in the education that is given to us over the years, including the social and Morality of your environment influences, again if you are of legal age it is no one else's fault. The government asks for its taxes and the casino pays them..

In any case, the big chunk of all that is shared between the government and the casinos, but it has its compensation in some way in part of those who do not bet in some way.

Another question I have is how much of this money that Greeks lost each year from 1 or 2 individuals? Maybe a small group of very rich people had a bad couple years?

Governments aren't going to do alot to stop gambling normally because of the amount of revenue it brings to the country. Should they? Probably to some extent yes, but usually not the case.

It rare to see a country that totally banned gambling even if there’s a chance for them to make profit out of it.
Knowing the economy of Greece, I’m sure they can’t afford yet to ban gambling. The addiction of many to gambling is increasing and most of them came from a poor family, this is the sad reality and we can’t do anything about this aside from being a responsible gambling in your own. We have to be more cautious, and gamble only what we can afford to lose, also don’t depend too much in gambling because there is no guaranteed profit here.

I was also wondering why it has to be about country and not individual.  Even though gambling behaviour depends entirely on the individual, environment can play a part. By environment, country qualifies to be. To be specific, countries like Kosovo seems and US seems more inclined to gambling than many Asian countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE.  So, I think the post have some points. Countries that seems to be friendly with gambling with lots of casinos all over the streets will surely have more gambling addicts than those where gambling is almost done in secret.

Peer influence is one factor that contribute so much to the growth of the gambling industry.  I know a lot of guys that started gambling because their friends are also doing it. If peer groups can influence people this much as regards to gambling, imagine what friendly government policies can do.

that is very correct. and do remember that gambling has been always part of humanity ever since. so i guess, what the government can do is diligently collect tax from these gambling businesses and those collected taxes should be given back to its people by creating livelihood projects, improve transportation among others. or the government can offer jobs to its people, because some of these gamblers have no job to go to, hence, they are opting to gamble the very little money they have hoping to hit their luck.

The government couldn't ban it either because they're surely making billions on it too. It's like a cigarette that even if you'd raise their prices people will still get addicted to it and still buy and government for sure won't be able to control the mind of its people unless they make a tyrant government and just simply ban gambling.

It is beyond the control of every casino and government on how much gambler will spend on their platform.  Casino have dedicated page for explaining about gambling responsibly and self-exclusion.  Aside from that I believe government also advertise about gambling responsibly and they even make plans and programs to spread information about the bad effect of gambling addiction.  Some countries even forbid the use of credit cards in gambling.

Even physically a big boat can setup in international waters and have people come gamble whether any particular country likes or not.  People can spend their money how they like and modern day its very easy to visit any business you choose to do so.   
  I get the general take it is unfortunate to spend on gambling the money leaves that economy I guess but Greece is part of the Euro so its not exactly insular in that way.   Governments often setup their own gambling for this reason, licensing or possibly flat taxation of the gambling business is seen as a valuable regular budget income.

We can't do much for these people who gamble their money instead of buying their basic necessitiess.
Just look at the African region like Nigeria, a lot of people are below poverty level and yet, gambling is rampant in their country.
That is indeed the sad fact of life. But if you happen to reside in one of those countries, try to change your path and make a living for yourself.
As one person, what you can do is not follow their footsteps but instead alleviate your economic status by educating yourself and find a decent job.

Regardless of the status of the country if you can’t afford to gamble then why gamble?
Seriously, there’s a lot of gamblers that are hoping to make a good profit out of gambling and they are doing this using the money they borrowed most of the time. This is the sad reality of many gamblers, they are taking such risk though some succeed but still many become broke because of this poor practice.

The reason for the poor country had more gambler,because they try to get away from the poverty by using the gambling.The poor country people will use the many things to get away from he poverty.Even they try to do the trading to get away from the poverty.But it also based on the time of the gambler who get into gambling with their saving money.If the gambler really had their luck in the gambling,the gambling itself help the gambler to win the big money in one day.The gambler also need to fix the deposit money in the gambling per week,because this will help the gambler to get away from the gambling addiction.

We do know that people would normally be thinking that rich countries and its citizens does have the capacity on doing such gambling on which whether they do lost up money then they would be just basically be able to
afford on what they had lost on which means that it would be normal that we would really be having that kind of approach because if a poor place and having that poor citizens would be still involved in gambling
then they are really just basically wasting their money. Somewhat i do agree on what you have said  that it all still boils down into someones decision because whether you do living in a country neither rich or poor,
it would be still always depending or about with your finances. If you are really that trying out to make yourself or having that mindset on doing gambling just to make
yourself rich then thats where things turns out to be shit later on.

Well at some point,  alani123 you may have thrown this too far as far as gambling addictions/losses and its resultant effect on individuals,  and also making a separation between rich countries and poor countries' involvement in gambling,  but just you to know that,  the resultant effect of gambling addictions or loses is a general phenomenon and even the level of gambling involvement is also generalized and should not be regionally segregated from one country to the next.

But the bottom line is that,  whether you are from a 1st world country or a third world country you shouldn't take gambling as a means to earn a living and you should avoid any possible addictions because gambling can ruin your life,  so be it st to take it for what it is and that is for fun and nothing more than that.

The problem is that people in most of these countries see gambling as a way to make money to help themselves in their difficult situation. What the government can do is to improve the state of the economy for these people so that their financial status can improve so they stop gambling to make money, and then the government can try to restrict gambling, not a total ban, so it does not spread and ravage the entire population old and young. In these countries, the government can also start campaigns and sensitization exercises so these people know that gambling should not be to make money but should be for fun.

the government of Greece can do something to prevent the population from getting hooked on those casinos but if the risk outweighs the benefit, they will just limit the promotion of the casinos just like what Australia was doing.

this isn't just happening in Greece. in my country, the government steps in and shuts down the casinos operating illegally. these casinos provide money to the government, it can't just stop their business. but the government creates another law for it and will also ask for more money from the casino otherwise they will do something to their operation. seems regular stuff they do to squeeze more money from casinos especially if they know the casino is making more money from its people.

I'm making the distinction because for a poor country to have many people addicted to gambling and losing more on gambling than they can afford, it's going to have an wider effect than in a country where the state is already fully developed and in a good economic situation.

Moreover, it's an interesting phenomenon to observe how in poor countries people tend to gamble more than in other countries, at least proportionally speaking. Seems like people in dire situations can be more prone to vices somehow.

Why does it have to be about poor countries? If a country is rich its ok for its citizens to lose a bunch of money?

You as a person decide whether to gamble or not to gamble. The country IMO has nothing to do with it. Even if the country restricted or limited gambling, there are still ways people would gamble so you really cannot blame it all on the government.

At some point people have to be responsible for their own actions man. Can't just always think someone else is at fault.

I was looking at gambling statistics for my country the other day. People in Greece lost 22.5 billion EUR only in 2021, and 29 billion in 2022 and that was only on licensed establishments.

That's around 10% of Greece's GDP wasted away towards offshore companies... This is a very hard issue to deal with and to think that it happens at such a scale even with the licensed casinos is unthinkable. Essentially governments sell a casino license once and then these casinos are given free reign on how to advertise, how to be promoted, what claims to make... No limits to how much they can earn.

But governments sure as hell are there to profit whenever a gambler wins anything, heavily taxing big winnings... What makes me even angrier is that these licensed casinos do very little to offer gamblers resources to play responsibly, and do nothing to educate gamblers about house edge. Also, none of their games run on provably fair algorithms. And yet the government does very little to regulate them after having sold them a license...

And Greece isn't a rich country by any means. Many families are facing hardship, unemployment is high, youth emigration is rising etc... Things don't look particularly good for the economy in general.

What do you think about this issue where people gamble too much in countries where the vast majority of the population isn't well off? Should governments step in and restrict casinos more perhaps?