Bitcoin Forum

Countries where gambling is illegal

1. United Arab Emirates
2. Brunei
3. Cambodia
4. Poland
5. North Korea
6. Japan
7. Singapore
8. Cyprus
9. Qatar
10. Lebanon

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Reference: https://www.lawyer-monthly.com/2018/02/10-countries-where-gambling-is-completely-illegal/

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Countries where online gambling is legal

1. Africa - Eritrea, Nigeria

2. Asia - Azerbaijan, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Yemen
             Kyrgyz, Republic, Laos, Malaysia, Qatar, Singapore,
             Uzbekistan

3. Europe - Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic,
                    Iceland, Luxembourg, Serbia, Slovakia

4. North America - Cayman Islands, Salvador, Mexico

5. South America - Brazil

6. Oceania - American Samoa, Australia, Guam, New Zealand

Countries require a license from the local regulator

1. Africa - Comoros, Gambia, Guinea, Mauritius, Rwanda,
               Seychelles.

2. Asia - Armenia

3. Europe -    Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania,
                    Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Norway,
                    Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia,
                    Sweden, Switzerland.

4. North America - Aruba, Belize, Canada, Curacao, Dominica
                           Dominican Republic, Greenland.

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Reference: https://slotegrator.pro/analytical_articles/where-online-gambling-is-legal.html

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I can only say now that there are still many countries that consider that gambling can help their government through online gambling based on what I have researched on this topic.

But even so, in countries where there are restrictions on gambling, it continues to operate even though the government prohibits it.

I believe this topic has been discussed before, but I would like to point out one of the cases I find to be more interesting when comes to countries where gambling in banned.

North Korea ideologically is a communist country, but in reality I believe the elites of the party of that country actually engage in vices of the capitalist system they allegedly antagonize so much, gambling is probably included (together with drug abuse).  We have already read or watch videos on the atrocities and horrible punishments that are put onto people there, so It safe to assume the general population cannot gamble.

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The pachinko machines from Japan is another example of companies using loopholes to offer "gambling" services to the people, still I have seen a couple of articles of people (I think they were from Japan) who somehow managed to lose all their money gambling.

Too many illegal things back in previous decades were legalized at some point. Not in our lifetime, I guess we'll see these countries will do it.
Some countries that are pressured by the lack of funds to run the country eventually legalize gambling to collect tax.

The countries listed above have different reasons for illegalizing gambling. Religion is just one.

I think in most Islamic countries gambling is likely illegal. This is because they see gambling as haram. The religion believes that gambling increases the desire to acquire wealth which might lead to diverse immoral behavior. It is also believed in Islam that gambling can make one far from his maker. Time for prayer might be used to gamble. But most of these Islamic States allow tourists to engage in gambling when  they visit.

Some other countries have banned or are restricting gambling because of the increase in the rate of gambling addiction among underaged children or teenagers. That's why the governments of some nations are ensuring that gambling activities are restricted to check the rate of gambling addiction.

This list should be further qualified. This is not black and white. Legal and illegal means more than just allowed or prohibited. In Japan for example, horse betting is allowed or betting on motor races. So there are exceptions. In Singapore for example, there are big casinos where foreign and local gamblers are allowed to play. The country is actually issuing licenses for gambling operators. So gambling is mainly illegal only to those that don't have the license.

and people can go to the license casinos. doesn't make sense for the government to ban gambling while they are providing licenses.
probably the reason why China is not listed since they also have casinos in areas still part of China like Hongkong. its just the grey area where the authority partners with casinos or can extort casino businesses.

There are countries that have different laws between offline casinos and online casinos and this difference is because with online gambling the government is difficult to trace the activities of its citizens and it is difficult to get taxes.
North Korea banning gambling is a form of authoritarian of its government, I don't think its citizens will care about it because they are already hard enough to make ends meet so gambling is not the thing they would think of doing

Basically speaking they are different countries, like hongkong and macau as special administrative region of china with different government system and everything than its mainland, where this area casinos and gambling are legal, but technically speaking they are only one country.

While in the mainland china casinos are considered illegal, so china should be included in the list in illegal category.

To talk about countries that gambling is legalized or not would be more than this in the opening post, there should also be countries that partially ban gambling in a way some gambling types are legal while some are banned. There are some countries online gambling could be banned while offline is not banned. There are countries sport betting is not banned but casinos are not accepted. Some countries just ban some types but legalized some.

I still also think that more countries banned gambling, especially those Muslim countries in Asia, but I am not perfectly certain about this.

if the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Brunei they are countries that have a lot of Muslim population so in my opinion gambling is illegal because the rules are prohibited from their religion, so it must be respected, sometimes gambling players from there can also play using a VPN or play outside the country it doesn't mean users from illegal countries don't like gambling

Actually there are several Asian Muslim countries that also prohibit gambling as well and consider it illegal like Indonesia

I guess the Saudi and Emirates are countries which are led by the Sharia law,Islamic law and that does not permit gambling among many other things like alcohol which is unthinkable in our Western developed society.However these are old restrictions,because normally these are only aimed at offline casinos,sure they can also be geared against online ones,but the fact that there are many crypto casinos and quite some of them does not include the word "bet" on their name makes it not easy for the governments to ban them,and there is VPN for countries who are extremely hostile even against online casinos.

Crypto has shown us a great freedom and that is how it should be.

There are also countries where physical gambling is illegal while online gambling is legal or vice versa.  It would be interesting to know which of the country have a regulation like this and knows what is the reason behind the half-baked ban on gambling in that countries.

It is also interesting to know countries that prohibit crypto gambling and countries that allow it.  Also, if a country allows online gambling, why does some provider block access from these countries?  It would be interesting to know the reason behind this arrangement.

@OP I will thank you in advance if you are kind and eager enough to answer my questions.


Gambling is illegal on Muslim country due to Islamic law.  Take for example in Dubai (UAE) it is stated that:


But even though gambling is illegal in UAE, there are exceptions:
source: https://www.tamimi.com/law-update-articles/whats-the-bet-that-gambling-is-prohibited-in-the-uae/

With complete permission, racing, shooting sports and trials of strength including raffles can be allowed.  Funny how these kind of wagering stuff is permitted when gambling is illegal. ;D

Lol, this is funny but it explains a lot as to how loopholes and opportunities can be exploited by those who understand business and the risk in opportunities. So long as it is acceptable else where, there are always those that would like to test it or use such services even in a restricted zone and the ability of you to offer such services, on or off records could mint you some real money.

Thank goodness for some on VPN and Crypto casinos and/or sportsbook.  Although, its not usually accepted to operate a gambling site using VPN. Run into trouble of verification or flux of IP address and you would be troubled.

That means clearly that the list wasn't that literally about Banning but exemptions are still there .

Singapore and Japan is just part of the non complete regulatory to tell.
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But OP at least thanks for the list because Maybe before visiting those countries there is a need to check first the gambling laws exist in each listed above.

Surprised to see there is no Indonesia in the list of countries where gambling is illegal. Is this even a valid source to read? It is also an old article (4 years old) and maybe there have been many update related to the law in some countries related to gambling. Cant you find the most updated list or a better source to tell us about the main topic in your thread?

I'm not sure if the list is updated, as per the title of the first link, it says 2018.

So yeah, probably there could be some countries not included or missed in the list that has been quoted or something. Nevertheless, there are some countries that are very strict are far as gambling, but who knows, maybe there are some who are trying to circumvent it to VPN, but the risk is there.

At least though for the majority of us whose countries allow gambling, we are somewhat very lucky that we can do play without the risk of being caught.

People still gamble in those places where gambling is still considered illegal, the access is just kept really secret. What is meant by illegal is that the government do not recognize gamblers, and if you are caught, you can be prosecuted and be jailed for breaking the law. Gambling is illegal in Qatar, It is a question if gambling level will remain low during their hosting of the world cup especially as they will hosting a lot of people from all over the world, and how their government will react to tourist who are caught gambling.

It better to use the casino ToS as reference for this subject matter since this list is always updating base on the country law. The source for this list is very outdated and the list of country here is very limited in contrary to the list on the casino ToS. And also I just want to add that country restrictions per casino varies depends on the license provider. Some license provider can operate on certain country while the other isn't.

This topic is already been discussed many times but this will be good if you can provide an updated list regularly and sort country based on the egaming license provider coverage.

Don't know what the OP's intention was with this topic, but whatever the purpose, he shouldn't include data from articles published about 4 years ago. In addition, from the data displayed by the OP, there is a flaw where in the "Countries where gambling is illegal" section, the OP includes countries such as Brunei and Singapore, meanwhile in the "Countries where online gambling is legal" section, we also find the names of those 2 countries.

Personally, as a person who lives in Indonesia, I consider that Brunei as an Islamic country prohibits gambling activities there, in addition to Malaysia, they also prohibit gambling activities, but they made a special relocation for gamblers, namely in the Genting Land area.

Not all source links could really be that precise nor that updated which it isnt surprising that there would be lacking of those who are on the list but at least it did really give out some idea on which countries had

banned or allowed gambling even though it might not be that precise.In overall, there would really be countries which would really be that open or neutral or definitely be that prohibited due to some factors,

neither it would really be depending on religion aspect or totally that government decisions towards gambling which they dont really like for its citizens on being engage on it.
We know that there are some parts of the world that do really run off gambling as their major source of revenue or tax.

In, a decade or two earlier, gambling in our country was legal. in fact, the state manages one of the largest lottery gambling.  Proceeds from lottery profits will be allocated to sports activities, to facilitate the development of athletes and infrastructure for these activities. however in the last few decades, any kind of gambling has been strictly prohibited.

the reason is very classic, the law in our country is based on the sources of beliefs from various religions.

this is what makes gambling activities illegal, both land and online. but in fact, as the OP said.
there are many local online casinos operating, despite the fact that the government forbids them. there is no real action on cases related to the ban, local online fiat casinos are popping up more and more with an unclear reputation.

Actually, I totally agree if the government in our place legalizes gambling. whether online or land-based, with strict regulatory requirements and every casino is required to have a license.
whatever the prohibition is in a country that prohibits it, I am sure that the people will not necessarily follow the prohibition. and this has been proven from a survey conducted in we country.

Most of countries which ban gambling is come from Eastern country or where most of the citizens are Muslim, while the rest is ban a particular games or they're a private/strict countries.

Thanks to god I live in where gambling is completely legal, so I don't have any problem if I want to gamble on land based casino. It's just sad to see many people can't gamble to get fun, at least they can using VPN to gamble on zero KYC casino.

One of these is my country, some poor sectors of our country benefited from the operation of land-based and online casinos like POGO because of the revenues and the taxes it generated,


Because there is a  market and demand from gamblers, they will play even underground and bribe corrupt officials so they can continue to operate, it's really a bad experience if you're a gambler and your country is not allowing casinos to operate in your country land-based and online.

This is the point that actually happened, I have read about all the illegal & legal rules of the gambling industry in various countries and some research, the point you said above, it is true that many countries are predominantly Muslim, they are against the online gambling industry, the fact that certain gambling sites continue to operate normally like a country that has legal rules.

I take the example of the country below.

As I see Malaysia, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Brunei, they are Muslim-majority countries, but from the data that online gambling there is legal, this means that gambling sites there still have real loyalty and tax advantages for the state and government.

why is my country mozambique not on this list? in my country gambling has been legal for many years, so much so that everywhere, whether on the streets people are buying lottery tickets, there are also sports betting sites that are from my country and online casinos that operate in my country. country because in my country the government is not harassing gambling, my country's gambling laws are friendly laws. but strangely my country is not on this list, I really can't understand why my country was not included in this list


these countries as they follow religion they prohibit gambling, but i don't understand why asian countries prohibit gambling, being that most asian countries have very intelligent and well educated people, they may well know how to manage bankroll and they don't spend all their money on gambling, it amazes me a lot to know that in japan they prohibit gambling, it's worse in japan it's a crime to bet in casinos, honestly I don't understand how japan being a country with so many smart people who like gambling of video games and anime are banning gambling


I'm also happy because in my country gambling is legal so I don't even need to use VPN, I don't like VPN either

Casinos will still make money even if it's illegal because we all know we cannot stop the urge of people to gamble, they will do everything like bribing, going underground using VPN even creating an online group, it will continue to operate because there are corrupt people and they will make a lot of money than stopping their operation so in a country where gambling is illegal to expect a lot of corruptions because that's the only way they can exist bribing people who will let them run their casino.

My first reaction was about Greenland as part of North America. Over the years I was thinking it was a part of Europe just like Iceland and it is also a part of Denmark a European nation. Now I know.

Now back to the topic, I think OP's list of 10 countries where gambling is illegal means online gambling? Singapore is one of my favorite places to visit and I saw many gambling casinos there. The last time I visited there were just a few months before the start of the COVID pandemic and the casinos are still there. I heard it is strictly regulated especially to its locals but it is legal. The Marina Bay Sands a very popular landmark of Singapore has a casino too.

AFAIK, gambling is allowed there but with some exception like only for limited games and places for which that made some articles say that gambling in Japan is illegal. They're allowing some private entities to manage gambling operations, just like what I've watched in a video[1] years ago and I think this is still applicable today.

[1] Day in the Life of a Japanese Casino Worker Pachinko (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ouVqSaAkLY)

I would have been really Surprised if Nigeria wasnt on the list ..lol, if not for the fact that there are several other countries with better economy that still allow their citizens to gamble, i would have said that my dear country "Nigeria" is the number one hub for gamblers, though online gambling is not that popular in this country yet, but i can say that the streets of Nigeria are filled with gamblers, there different types of games played in the country, the most popular ones are:-
Baba ijebu
Green/Premiere lotto - i honestly do not know the difference
Sport betting
Aja Sare - This is a yoruba term/pronunciation for Dog race
And a lot of other types of games...

And for the records, i am quite surprised that gambling is prohibited in United Arab Emirate (UAE - otherwise known as Dubia.

Five are predominantly Muslim countries others are communist or with a strict moral ruling, the number is very small so we can safely say that majority of countries are open to gambling, and it's universally accepted as a form of entertainment, for government to make money and generate jobs and for its people to make money, its an industry that will keep evolving and continue to make money for the government and create jobs, in the end, it can sustain the world economy because of the continuous flow of money.

I have to disagree with Japan being listed there as one of the countries where gambling is illegal. There are allowed forms of gambling there and of course, those allowed should be regulated and not operating behind the shadows just to save their asses in paying taxes.

It's just the same in other countries that allow gambling but there's a form of gambling that is prohibited. Not totally illegal to do gambling in general.

For example here in PH, there are lots of allowed gambling here while at the same time, there are prohibited ones.

Legal and Illegal is just written rule. Because the fact that even though gambling is illegal, it will still be accessed by anyone, even the government also uses it for various kinds of bets. In this case, I think the data regarding the list of countries is just nonsense, it is not true that it must be clean and follow the policy. Aren't a few governments also involved in various bets that they themselves make illegal rules against gambling operations? So is the policy really effective for the community to adhere to? of course the answer is no. Gambling is about the individual and when it doesn't harm others then I don't think the rules are a barrier.

If those countries ban gambling but casinos allow people from that country to gamble, people from those countries could just use a VPN to access gambling and avoid government tracking. But with the ease of accessing each website, I'm not sure if a country that prohibits gambling can prohibit its people from accessing gambling or even block gambling sites completely. But I don't know because the internet helps people explore almost any website without restrictions.

I'm rather surprised to know that the are countries that has abolished the double-funds gaming ordeal; and its citizens avoid gambling totally?! ..and that has been enacted?!(Rhetorical) haaa..... You see .......you cannot control people's private affairs as much as you cannot control their emotions too....so whatever the government does, won't get beyond banning the rehabilitations of physical casino houses; does that even has any profits that connects to or, affects their fiscal policies? Maybe, the reasons for the ban (whatsoever) is made obvious from the above questioning?! Maybe not.
Citizens could decide to make use of Vpns to connect and place their bets if they wish....... Kycs ; oh KYCs, right?? Anyone would do much for what he loves, just to manoeuvre and get their way through.

Sandra 💇

Some Muslim countries ban gambling and that should be respected since that's part of their religious belief. Some countries restrict gambling because they focus on the betterment of their citizens. No wonder why some people from the mentioned countries travel abroad just to gamble. There are actually many foreign gamblers who visit our country just to enjoy the freedom of gambling here. Countries that ban and restrict gambling has their own reason but we can't deny the fact that gamblers will always find ways to gamble.

I would not be so hasty in listing which countries have made gambling legal or illegal. Because the truth is, in every single country on earth, gambling takes place. Whether in a grey area or in a illegal black area of the law, it still happens.

Lets take a look at Japan, as an example:

Japan officially declared gambling as immoral and illegal, however despite all that the Japanese gamble. How? They simply do not gamble for "money". But rather "tokens" which can be exchanged for something worth a lot of money. For example gold. And that later gets exchanged for actual money. They do this in front of the authorities and everyone knows that the gambling laws are just a big sham that do not work.

One thing to know is that most Muslim countries, if not all of them have a pre-imposed ban on gambling, as it is stated in their belief system if I remember correctly. As for the others, like Brunei, I believe it is still because of their faith that they do not allow gambling within their country. Although this does not rule out under the table gambling, because, well everywhere on Earth practically, gambling takes place. In Japan they have banned gambling but red light districts still open gambling houses that they cover up as KTV bars or something to get away from the Police's radar.

To increase state income, there are exceptions in certain countries that make gambling illegal including Japan, but in my opinion any form of game with money and property is the same as gambling. The law is only written and at there is a word "however" :D, you're right the law is just a big sham, in my opinion better change it to be legal.
Wikipedia Gambling in Japan (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_Japan)

OP cannot be accurate with his assumption base on what he saw online, almost all the countries listed as where gambling is not legalized have a number of gamblers and casinos the highest, i think he could have use strict regulations than legalization, thesame way goes to the list of countries he mentioned to have legalized gambling were just but few, almost everywhere in the world has a good number of gamblers on the street but have made and positioned strict regulations to caution the activities a d extent to which gambling could outrageously go.

Well it's true, that it's no secret that gambling is actually everywhere in the world, even though it's prohibited.
Although some countries prohibit gambling activities, in fact gambling still occurs massively throughout the world.
I think that gambling ban regulations are ultimately considered just a formality in every country.
We know, in reality the rules will lose and submit if there is a lot of money flowing there.
In every country that prohibits gambling, even though the government and authorities are aware of and aware of the gambling activity.
The prohibition on gambling would barely touch the powerful and wealthy groups of people to bribe.

Maybe what you just did is to literally see the list but didn't bother to check each of the country's status about gambling.

Aside from Islam Countries where we all know that gambling is prohibited by their book, I think other countries you have listed under "gambling is illegal" actually allow gambling but with restrictions of course. They are hunting down illegal gambling operations as part of their respective gambling regulations.


It's already a normal situation in every country to see such shady gambling activities happening inside their premises, the same as other illegal activities.

Don't know the reason why instead of pushing for the legality, these operators like to operate illegally.

VPN!? :)

I am from Serbia, and by this list (and what I know) online or offline gambling is legal in Serbia if you have a license... some license! But what is confusing for me is that I can't play some providers, Pragmatic is unavailable for me in all crypto casinos, I can play them only with a VPN. Some other providers like Yggdrasil, Play'n GO, and Hacksaw are available for me in some casinos, in some, I am restricted, again with VPN I can bypass that.

People who want to gamble will find a way! In countries where gambling is illegal, there are many underground casinos... here in my country casinos are everywhere, mostly legal ones, but from time to time I read in the news how some illegal place was raided and shut down.

It is a matter of offer and demand and as far as I know gambling has a place within the Japanese culture and within the culture of other Asian countries.
Even in a country where the law is hard enforced, there will be people willing to risk time in prison in order to satisfy the demand for bets and gambling.

And it is obvious most of casinos won't be comfortable with VNP, I assume they keep a register of the ip address their users log in from, in case the law enforcement asks for it, they do not want to get in trouble, translating to the restriction of VPN. In my experience there are some crypto services which do not mind VPN, but it was some time ago and they had nothing to do with gambling...

Lot of countries are still on the gray are yet and not fully adopted it that's why it has few countries on the list. Restrictions aren't that bad especially if you want to discipline your people, besides, there are more cons/disadvantages in gambling to what are the good thing a it may brought to an individual...

In many countries the government regulations doesn't support gambling, but it is possible to see a good number of gambling sites functioning on those countries. This happens as a result of the platform being centred at a gambling friendly country and operates based on license from different countries. I believe my country falls under the list.

With the existence of cryptocurrency accepted gambling sites, the problem is overcome. When I was in UAE I've used Directbet for my gambling needs without using any VPN.

This information is wrong! Gambling is prohibited in the Brasil (except for a few lottery games that are strictly controlled by the government), however... it is very common to see several advertisements from betting sites, especially in the main Brazilian football.
And this is very contradictory.... obviously all the advertisements are from sites hosted outside Brazil.

At the beginning of this year, a proposal came to the Brazilian law house that intends to legalize air games, but I believe that it will still take a long time to be approved.

With the world becoming closer as a result of internet, it is really stupid for the governments to ban gambling. Anyone can purchase a VPN account for as little as $2 per month, and then do as much gambling as they want using any of the online gambling sites. If they want to gamble offline, then it is also not hard. Flight tickets are quite cheap nowadays. If someone in my country (India) wants to visit a casino, then he just need to spend $100 or so for a one-way flight ticket to Cambodia or Vietnam. The only outcome will be the loss of tax revenue for those countries where ambling is banned.

Because it is not really a complete ban. That's why this list needs to be explained further because it might be misleading to some. What does it mean illegal for example? It might not mean that gambling is totally prohibited. In Japan, there is legal gambling even though gambling is generally illegal. Just like in China also. When one says gambling is illegal in China, it is probably referring to mainland China only. Macau is the gambling capital in the world and it is a territory of China.

You cannot stop people from gambling as they will always find the way to gamble and bypass all the restrictions. The government have least control when it comes to the online gambling. Although it may be difficult and risky to access gambling if government has banned it, but still nothing is impossible.



No one wants to listen to the government's arguments as to why they have ban gambling. Also, I think the government will not have clear views about banning gambling and they will come up with excuses like money laundering etc. People think that it is their right to play gamble and no government should stop them.

With the exception of North Korea and Cambodia, all the other countries have a good economic climate, they don't need taxes and revenues coming from casinos, here in our countries gambling has a big presence, it contributed to revenues for our government and generates thousands of jobs and so many industries are depending on gambling, whatever their reasons to ban gambling other countries are benefitting from this industry, other countries have seen its advantages over its disadvantages.

The list provided by the OP is wrong. Cambodia is one of the major gambling centers in South-east Asia (along with Vietnam), which attracts millions of mainly Chinese gamblers every year. There are close to 125 casinos in Cambodia at this point, with more than 60 of them located in the city of Sihanoukville. Some of the most well known casinos in Cambodia include Nagaworld Casino and Hotel (Phnom Penh), Golden Sea Hotel and Casino (Preah Sihanouk) and Queenco Hotel and Casino (Sihanoukville).

As far as I understand the gambling situation there, gambling is really illegal in Cambodia but it only applies to Cambodian citizens. Therefore, casinos can operate there but the only allowed customer are foreigners. That's why as you mentioned, they attract millions of Chinese gamblers.

If anyone is more knowledgeable about the status of gambling there, they can clarify what's the real score of gambling there.

I found it weird that established casinos there prohibited the people in that country to gamble and only welcome foreign gamblers. On the other hand, it's good to see that they are turning that into the country's advantage.

The purpose would be to warn users here in case they are not aware that gambling on their country is now banned and they are planning to visit one. Topics like this are also interesting for other to be aware if what are the countries or how many countries now have banned and legalized gambling. I know there is more than what the op wrote and maybe the complete list can be found on the link that he shared.

We can click on it if we are that curious enough to know all. I didn't knew that Brunei is also an Islamic country. It doesn't sound or look one though but yeah many Islamic counties are like that who prohibit gambling. Not only gambling but they are also strict when it comes to food choices.

I agree, now I understand that this is the reason why online gambling is prohibited in here, I think there are few online gambling is okay in here very limited, there are instances last month that pur govt stopped that gambling site maybe because of they have an issue with the taxes that's why is hard for them to allow many site to open since at some point they can't taxed it since most of our infrastructures fund came from gambling section.

I don't see Germany on the OP's list.

According to the new State Treaty on the New Regulation of Gambling in Germany (State Treaty on Gambling 2021 – GlüStV 2021 (https://www.gluecksspiel-behoerde.de/en/legal-framework/state-treaty-on-gambling)), an online gambling licence can be applied for the following online offers: lottery, online casino games, online poker, horse betting, sports betting and virtual slots. All gambling providers need a valid licence for Germany (a licence from another EU country is not sufficient).

So casinos are not allowed in Japan but they still have the option to gamble online?
This is a good list actually because it helps to know countries where you can gamble ane countries that you are not allowed to. Better to update this thread and add more countries, this is to give information to those who are planning to travel and try to gamble there. I wonder why my country is not on the list where in fact we are free to gamble.

^You are technically breaking the law of Japan but the chances of getting caught are totally 0% because how they can be caught if you are anonymously playing online, land-based casino in Japan is totally rigged off because it is illegal. Have you heard of any domestic online casino brands in Japan? I think there is none. In other cases, Islamic countries are expected gambling online or land-based to be illegal and I did not surprise if those countries belong to the Islamic. However, there are different laws in gambling and it depends where is jurisdiction you are under like they prohibit gambling against the casino house edge but sports betting is allowed.

Casinos are allowed in Japan but there are restrictions.

I can even say that Japan is a gambling friendly country but should only limited only to their allowed gambling type.

There are even animes where the scene is on gambling places. It means the only illegal gambling in Japan are those that is not accepted as legal gambling type.

You're not the only one that contests this list, I think the list is coming from a lawyer's perspective not really from a gambling-related site, they have not done good research they don't even list Bangladesh when all forms of gambling are illegal there, we even had a discussion about Bangladesh banning gambling and there are other countries that are not listed where gambling is illegal and so is the list of countries where gambling is legal.

Gambling is truly something that could help a country's government if done properly and we'll regulated.
It is also no doubt that, gambling despite it's ability to help ones government, it also has it's detriments which includes addictiveness, emotional and mental destability, are few to mention that most times might lead to criminality just to be able to cover up the loses.
Most countries like Nigeria are all good promoters of gambling with some restrictions, especially that of age, as no one below the age of 18 is legally permitted to gamble.

It is also true that some other countries despite the prohibition of gambling, still indulge in it mostly online.

In addition to online gambling, there are a huge number of illegal casinos that are hidden from the gawkers and you can get there only by invitation. In my opinion eradicating gambling is the same as eradicating arms and drug trafficking. And we all know that not a single state has been able to do this so far. So if a person wants to gamble he can, in any case, find somewhere to do it. It all depends on the desire.

Yes, a gambling ban means nothing on the practice. There is always going to be a gambling alternative on every territories of the world, doesn't matter how restrictive the local laws are. Before the internet it was harder to find such alternatives, because clandestine houses were one of the few alternatives, although a group of friends could manage to bet among themselves without any issues too.

But now there aren't excuses. Anyone can have access to the internet and sign up at an online casino to start playing. Countries which insist in forbidding gambling are simply losing income to other countries which could be being received by themselves, if they allowed gambling by the rules.

Personally, I was surprised to see Japan on this list. It seemed to me that this is a rather progressive country and gambling is definitely not the embodiment of evil for people who are able to take responsibility for themselves. Although, as correctly pointed out in the comments, some types of gambling are allowed there, that is, in fact, we are dealing only with local features.
As for some of the other countries on the list, as rude as it sounds, I consider them savage/backward, so I don't really care how the gambling situation is there, as in general I will avoid visiting these countries for other reasons.

Most Islamic countries do not like gambling.  And they try to curb gambling in various ways. Prices for some other countries are missing from your list.  For example, Bangladesh.  Gambling is still an illegal game in this country and there is no physical gambling yet.  And strict legal action is taken against anyone if someone openly promotes online gambling here.  even Cryptocurrencies buy/sell or trade is still illegal on thet country . you can add the name of this country in your list

That is right, some countries are banning all sorts of gambling because their governments have other resources to explore and rely on, while some cannot afford to see an increase in their crime rates because of addicts caused by gambling, not just that, there are families too that are being destroyed and children's future are also affected all because of gambling alone. These scenarios can't be prevented that is why their government are banning them and even if it's banned, it's still cannot be prevented because there are still some ways that a gambler can gamble under the radar.

One factor indeed is the culture within a country. Most of the time, or more often, religious countries prohibit such activities because it is written on their bible are carved on their beliefs. Which we cannot either say good or bad because that is what 'belief' made of. In our country wherein it is a Catholic-dominated country, gambling is evident on the streets but is not legal. However lotteries are legal because they are simply paying taxes to the government. With this, in some instances it is not only religion which is the factor for gambling restriction, but the laws which are being used in a country.

I just searched about what you said and turns out that you are 100% accurate. But this is really weird. They have all these mega casinos all over Cambodia, but the locals are not allowed to enter them since 2009 (unless they are working there). And moreover, two years back the Cambodian government banned all forms of online gambling (don't ask me how effective this ban is). The only form of gambling allowed for Cambodian nationals is through the national lottery. This is really laughable.

In fact, I do not think that such restrictions help to reduce gambling addiction among the population, but it certainly violates human rights. That is why I am not in favor of such measures.

I read in an article that in Cambodia, as in many other countries whose governments prohibit gambling, there are many illegal casinos for the local population.

So I think that the Cambodian government is only acting in their own interest, because by restricting gambling for their citizens they create a corruption niche, and people are still gambling. 

In most of the Muslim countries they have banned the gambling because they think it's not in the rightful interest to place bets and is prohibited according to their religion which is why they have set certain rules to stop people but other countries on the list might have different specific reasons for the ban and treat it  as illegal activity but you can also find list on the casino you want to place bet on.They have specified which regions are banned and which are allowed.

The countries where gambling is banned, do the people stopped gambling? Yes, some of them might have quit gambling who are not so techy while few might not want to go against the govt. issues laws, but most of the gamblers keep on doing gambling online.

Just like crypto cannot be banned even if the government tries to ban crypto. Similarly, banning gambling is close to impossible. No matter you impose restrictions on gamblers they will find a way to gambling online without being tracked.

Actually quite a number of countries have legalized gambling but I will mention the most significant one is Monaco.
Monaco is the second smallest country in the world after the Vatican, and Monaco has few natural resources but has beautiful scenery and beaches so the country relies heavily on the tourism sector for their income.
and Monaco took advantage of this advantage, and Monaco built many casinos to increase their country's deficit. Interestingly, only outsiders or foreign nationals are allowed to deposit their money at the casino.

And also most of the countries that prohibit gambling, the majority are Muslim countries because gambling is considered haram or a sin. However, whatever form of prohibition is applied, gambling still exists and is carried out secretly.

Obviously they are trying to ban something which cannot be banned. It is as stupid as the ban on porn which was imposed by the Indian government recently. Illegal casinos present a way for politicians and policemen to receive bribes. However it puts ordinary people at risk. There is no guarantee that the slot machines will be setup properly. Even if something goes wrong, the gambler can't approach the police. Because if he approaches the police then he will be in trouble for taking part in illegal activity.

Neither Italy, nor France, in practically all of the EU, if not in all of it, a license is required.


The same goes for the rest of the EU countries, the casino that wants to operate in Italy, needs a specific license from Italy.

This is what I think is going to apply in not many years to cryptocurrency casinos, as many people access from those regulated countries to them, without the need of vpn or anything, and the houses turn a blind eye. Only when they have a big win and require KYC the problem that we can see repeatedly in the Scam Accusations of the forum arises.

That's the thing when you make something illegal, that "something" will find its way to people through the black market... one way or another. Focusing on banning something never works, or it works for a short time, instead of that countries should focus on education, how to deal with vices, and how to have better control over their habits. It's clear that banned and hidden stuff is making people more curious and tempted to try it, it brings a lot of excitement. And in most cases, we are on our own, we learn from what we see around us. And in that "up and down" gambling world that hits us at a young age is dangerous for a young mind without any experience.

what you say represents what actually happened. however, it is not that easy for the state to legalize it if it only refers to the income that the state will receive from casino taxes. there are other things, which certainly contradict the guidelines in some countries that prohibit it. especially the Middle East, with its symbols and beliefs as the basis for their legal basis. these things, which often make land casinos and online casinos banned there.

on the other hand, easily access online casinos from smartphones. Such things make prohibition in a country not effective. even, in this case. there are many fiat online casinos that have sprung up without a license and do not have a good reputation as a guarantee to their users. In the end, its users are the victims of a casino that has no guarantees or a credible reputation.

As you said, some of them will still play gambling secretly or online gambling because they are used to gambling like that. Even though their government forbids its citizens to gamble, that doesn't stop them. It is indeed very difficult to get them to stop and only provide an understanding that playing gambling can present a very large risk of loss for them that may make them realize and eventually stop gambling. Maybe the government needs to use different methods than before so they can stop gambling.

So it was like the same with btc and cryptos? Because, many countries are also trying to ban it but they can't totally since there are still ways for the people to access and use it again. You are right. Banning porn is more stupid than those two and it's also more surprising because I never heard someone banned that before except only to mobile games since it's more accessible and many young people are affected with it.

Some types of gambling games are also banned before on some countries like e sabong. Those offenders (gamblers) will take risk and will just accept it in case the casino that they are playing scammed them. No need for them to report it.

The problem is that some of the governments still live in the 20th century. Here in India, there was even a proposal to ban Bitcoin, and punish anyone who is found to be holding cryptocurrency to a jail term of 10 years! And this measure was proposed by Subhash Chandra Garg, the then Finance Secretary of India. And then another big name in Indian economy, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (died like a stray dog four months back) supported this measure. Fortunately, the government went back after realizing that these measures can't be imposed on the public. 

Yes, gambling is illegal in the countries listed by the OP but some people still gamble indoors in the country despite it being illegal. It is all about how powerful and wealthy the person is.


I never heard the story of the big you said they died like a stray dog because of the Bitcoin proposal in India.

The major problem we have in this 21st Century is the naivety and evil political procedures practiced by our political leaders. This is what led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

You can't ban something like gambling. That's what I said. Gambling has been practiced for thousands of years, and the government just can't come up with a new rule one day and claim that they are going to ban it. Millions of people would still gamble, but the difference is that the activity will move underground, away from the supervision of the authorities. And this will be mutually detrimental for both the sides. The government will lose valuable tax revenue, while the participants will be vulnerable to cheating and manipulation from the operators of these illegal gambling dens.

There are so many ways to by pass the ban but once the government has been making regulation to ban it and there's no choice for people other than hiding while they wanna play gambling. The regulation just to prevent people playing gambling blatantly but im sure that mostly of people were still able accessing it anytime. As long as it can be by passed easily and then i think it was not a big problem at all. The government has two face. They ban gambling but they didn't wanna lose the tax income from there.

Yes, and banning gambling activities won't solve anything nor decrease the crime caused by gambling, hence, it will just get the situation worse because gamblers are now treated as criminals because of the law that has been passed, and the government/authorities can't simply refrain an avid gambler to gamble because they will just find any means to continue their activities. Government won't surely exhaust their resources just to track down the gamblers and it would be a waste of resources if they will, so it's still much better to take advantage from gambling rather than banning it.

This is a infomative and useful update for all gamblers who need to know which countries where gambling is friendly and which are not, as it could act as a future guide when planning on a vacation to choosing the best place for advanced gambling. But one thing I still don't understaId is how can a single country be on both list where gambling is illegal and still on the same country where gambling is legal??? @ Cyprus... Because can anybody or O.P elaborate more on this.. Or does Cyprus has a part where gambling is legal and some parts where gambling is illegal?

The government does not consistently enforce its regulations because some people from the highest positions are involved in backing gambling activities, but I did not mention specific countries but it is news of the fact that happened even though it is an open secret that is well known to the public, but on the other hand like you said that they wanted to the tax revenue increases from black zone activities, so the government has two faces to get everything but they will use the army to fortify if the people are fed up with them.

Not that totally rampant on exposing themselves that they are the ones who do backed off those illegal places specially the citizens do know that the government had imposed such ban or prohibition with gambling.
We cant always point out our fingers on the government but well i cant really blame off considering on how corruption and bribery is really that very common in todays governance which we could really assume out
that these illegal places are really that protected into those who had seated above or into those positions. Each country does have its rules and regulations whenever on things that they do saw that
it could really affect on economical aspect.

If you will take a look at the details on Cyprus in that article, they do actually allow gambling and I can even say that they are a gambling-friendly country. However, like in any other country, there are prohibited forms of gambling and aren't allowed to operate as far as their current gambling regulations are concerned.

To summarize these, all physical casinos are allowed there as long as they are regulated and as far as online gambling is concerned, the only allowed online gambling is sports-betting therefore, obviously, no online casino sites are allowed to operate in their jurisdiction.

Maybe subject to change though in the future.

You have mentioned good number of countries that accept gambling as a legal thing to do. There are some countries who are not really in support of gambling but they are not still ban because there is no clear enforcement that abolish gambling platforms. So of the countries you have mentioned that do not support gambling are those countries that take gambling as a big crime and any citizens that is caught making bets whether online or physical will be apprehended. I hope many of these countries will one day make gambling legal.

The laws made by the government, apply only in its territory.
It is usually intended for offline casinos since it is easy to determine it.
While for online casinos, sometimes the laws can be not applicable because the online casino base may not be in its territory.
For example North Korea, the North Korean government cannot apply its laws to the online casino which is based in South Korea.

However, North Korea might punish its citizens who will try to access or attempt to play online casinos that are based outside their country.

We know what's their culture and they really want to stay away from the rest of the world.

They even prohibited their citizen not to listen to Western songs that's why just imagined what will be the fate of those people who will be caught playing gambling online that aren't on the country's own gambling terms.

that looks human tragedy if the government is very severely limiting them to live like normal. I was thinking if I were them, I will build the bunker behind my home and then build the modem network with privacy TOR or VPN to avoid the rules. but I worry if the government can still watching in what citizens did by spying activity in every home. can anyone confirm every house have a surveillance camera?

It would be lots of countries to be updated by OP. He needs only pointing out the some countries that ban or unban gambling. The countries are still in the grey area must not be listed on the list. that would be a lot of works for him. It's so many countries that they don't ban either ban gambling. Some of countries were also not fully implementing what already regulated since the law needs a proof like gamblers must be caught by the police. This is why regulation is not working hi this field while gambling actually depends on the personality.
This is not something that must be interfere by the regulators. People can still silently playing gambling as there are so many online sites already operated

well that is the risk each citizen must face as they are violating their Laws by playing/gambling outside their countries territory , and also we know how strict North Korea in implementing their rules to violators , some can cause life.

maybe it is better to respect and follow each laws for their own betterness.

Isolation is what NK wanted to , and that is why their people is truly out of this world now  ;D

LOL.. these are all theoretical possibilities. North Korea is a country that hands down death sentence to people who are found to be in the possession of Hollywood DVDs. Do you really think that breaking the rules and connecting through TOR/VPN is a very safe idea? I don't even know whether you will have the equipment and infrastructure available to do all that. But then risking your life, so that you can take part in online gambling looks like a very stupid idea for me. Still can be considered in case you are living in some of the other countries such as Cambodia or India.

Gambling is allowed in North Korea so far only horse riding and even then only on offline bets and in local competitions North Korea Is So Desperate for Hard Currency That It's Legalized Racetrack Gambling (https://time.com/4985283/north-korea-racetrack-gambling-horse-racing/)
But I believe mostly people in North Korea no longer think about gambling because life there is already quite difficult not because they are constantly monitored by the government but because earning an income there is very difficult compared to their neighboor South Korean much more prosperous.


The human tragedy they have experienced is limited access to the Internet, many residents who do not have electricity, so it is very possible that personal computers/laptops or cellular phones are rare items, maybe even the residents there will consider it a luxury item, so doing what you want to do is very unlikely to happen, maybe if you are an official who has a lot of access to resources