Images, Google, Youtube, showing about gambling in Saudi Arabia.

[YOSHIE]

Hello: Bitcointalk community.

If I'm not mistaken I've read and seen the topic of gambling in Saudi Arabia, which is predominantly Muslim on Bitcointalk and I'm trying to check here: Your Expert Guide to Online Betting in Saudi Arabia,
clearly Saudi Arabian law says so.

But today I tried to search on google, Youtube, strangely contrary to what I read in the link and I actually found an image like the one below.

Picture


However, if you look again at Youtube, they (the Arabs) are actually playing real casino gambling.

So, that makes me curious and wondering about the casino gambling on Youtube and the google image is true or a hoax....!
What is the response about Islamic countries and their laws prohibiting gambling, but the opposite.

Note: Youtube (gambling in saudi arabia) you can search for yourself i have no right to display it here.

[hd49728]

Is Gambling prohibited in Islam?

How many people in Saudi Arabia are not Islam?
How many of them will break rules of their religion by gambling?

[paxmao]

Is Gambling prohibited in Islam?

How many people in Saudi Arabia are not Islam?
How many of them will break rules of their religion by gambling?

Well, the thing about "death by boredom" countries like Saudi Arabia is that is does not really matter if your are Arab, Cristian, Buddhist,... because there are certain rules in the country that apply to all. For example, an unmarried couple of expats from I a company I worked for were told that they could not live together because they were not married. We are talking about people who had been together for more than 10 years. I would not even consider what would have happened if they were gay.

So your personal beliefs do not matter, unless you are an atheist, in which case it matters:

In March 2014, the Saudi interior ministry issued a royal decree branding all atheists as terrorists, which defines terrorism as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based."

I am no fan of Putin, but when Saudi Arabia asked for permission to build mosques in Russia to cater for the Muslim population, he said it was ok as long as churches could be built in Arabia. Obviously, that ended the conversation.

So it is not about gambling being allowed or not for certain groups, it is that the laws are applied to everyone.

[swogerino]

I have been in 2015 there for work and the images of google I don't know if are real or not.The fact is that there existed hidden underground casinos and sex escorts even there where Sharia Law (the Quran being the official constitution of kingdom) and they were mostly for foreigners.The kingdom knew about them and as long as their offering was only to foreigners they didn't care much,however there is one time where they shut one of such places down because of a knife injury happening there.

In conclusion based from what I saw there,it will be very difficult for you to find gambling or casinos there,your only bet is a VPN which bypass local ISP-s restrictions.And if you want to venture into such underground places most likely you will run into trouble there,better to stay away.

[goinmerry]

I know most of us here has the same view that gambling in most part of the Middle East is illegal in terms of their religion and the government itself.

I don't know what kind of gambling strict rules that countries are implementing there but I have of friend mine working overseas in Saudi Arabia who shared a story with us the last time he came home, that they do gamble there.

I'm not just sure if they do gamble because it's allowed there or they are doing it but hiding in the authorities.

[STT]

People gamble everywhere, we need to get away from the idea its not a normal thing.  But within a highly religious governed nation such as that I doubt its offically sanctioned or especially allowed in normal procedure.  I'd be surprised if gambling wasnt occurring anyway but not quite so openly.   Every society has a variety of views not just the mainstream in power.

 Here in the west its normal to gamble and is often part of the fiscal budget as a form of voluntary tax though its not seen that way.  Gambling is quite essential to provide funding as a game and luxury type tax even while being state run in this way it becomes some positive to freedoms the west allows.
https://us.cnn.com/2021/08/14/us/south-carolina-man-wins-lottery-twice-trnd/index.html

[ethereumhunter]

I only think about no matter how strict the country is to apply their rule, there will be hidden activities for people who play gambling, sex, drug, even terrorism. We can say that Saudi Arabia is an Islamic country with a rule that everything contains with an illegal is prohibit and if people are caught doing that thing, those people will get punished.

But those people will have underground places for those rich people or other people to spend their money for fun or breaking the law and their activities are under the government's radar. Or maybe the government know a little thing about that place and lets it operate because those owners give something to the government.

The government is still trying to eradicate the illegal thing in their country, but we know that is not easy as that illegal thing had already happened a long time ago.

[Wexnident]

Okay so I tried looking it up myself as OP said, most videos that I found with matching keywords were around 3-4 years ago. I tried sorting it for the latest, but most I found were local gambling videos and whatnot, and there's one news video about gambling but I couldn't be assed to watch it though it is the only one I actually found that was related to it. It may be just videos of SA citizens using VPN to access external gambling sites, just like what OP linked in "How to gamble in Saudi Arabia", who knows.

[Poker Player]

I have been in 2015 there for work and the images of google I don't know if are real or not.The fact is that there existed hidden underground casinos and sex escorts even there where Sharia Law (the Quran being the official constitution of kingdom) and they were mostly for foreigners.The kingdom knew about them and as long as their offering was only to foreigners they didn't care much,however there is one time where they shut one of such places down because of a knife injury happening there.

This shows, once again, that banning these activities does not end them. It just relegates them to the black market. I suppose there will also be a market for local people but smaller.

As for the images, the fact that they play with cards doesn't mean it's gambling:

"Well Khomeinist, this isn't gambling but a popular game called Baloot in Saudi Arabia and Arabian gulf area.

Even clerks play this game, which is a fun game for many and it's played by Cards as you see."

Source: https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/first-gambling-center-of-saudi-arabia-inaugurated-in-jeddah.552329/

[bitterguy28]

I am no fan of Putin, but when Saudi Arabia asked for permission to build mosques in Russia to cater for the Muslim population, he said it was ok as long as churches could be built in Arabia. Obviously, that ended the conversation.

So it is not about gambling being allowed or not for certain groups, it is that the laws are applied to everyone.

That's one of the best argument Vladimir Putin gives to address this issue , because how strict Saudi in regards to their religion but they want to extend in other countries in which  they are not respecting the religion and not allowing to have their own beliefs in their territory .
that is unfair so best to not let them also.
but about the Gambling in their country? i believe that there are many guerilla gambling operates silently and that is because there are many non islamic people lives on there.

[fiulpro]

Well this is something expected. Even if the laws are against it people will still do things like that. At the end of the day for these countries the laws are a little more pronounced because of the religious aspect therefore these images are even more controversial.
- Banning things doesn't exclude them entirely from the image, they rather hide them well.
- The government will for sure take strict measures to take care of this matter since it can enlist national upset.
- It's not a really bad thing if the government allows people more freedom and they can choose what's good for them, individually.

[gagux123]

Is that's true? I don't really understand about this subject, but isn't gambling in Saudi Arabia is crime or something like that?
Saudi Arabia is a very strict country about this kind of thing. But my question is, how the people can gambling anonymously?

[robelneo]

I've checked one of the images that showed up on the link you posted because the images that the search engine are showing are cache from existing articles and blogs and online platforms, and this is the explanation of one of the blogs that shows one of the images in the search engine

As per news from Saudi media, almost 12.000 people gathered to attend Saudi Arabia’s first card-tournament, and the game is known as ‘Baloot’. There is no gambling involved as the game is more of an international sport and does not involve players exchanging money, as it is done in gambling games.

The 4-day event of the Baloot Championship is offering a total prize of one million Saudi riyals ($270,000) for the top four teams. Sheikh Adel al-Kalbani, a senior Muslim cleric, was the host of the event on its opening day, and many have criticized his attendance in the tournament. The games are being held at the King Abdullah Petromelum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh.

You need to read one of the article to understand why it's showing in the internet

Propaganda Against Saudi Arabia As Viral ‘Card Game’ Conducted By Cleric Is Sport Not Gambling!

it's easy to believe what you see on the internet but you need an explanation from the right source to fully understand what these pictures are all about

[Rajamuda]

Is that's true? I don't really understand about this subject, but isn't gambling in Saudi Arabia is crime or something like that?
Saudi Arabia is a very strict country about this kind of thing. But my question is, how the people can gambling anonymously?

I think it's a hoax or something like that, and maybe some people are trying to provoke it, I don't think it's worth showing before a lot of Muslims see this. There are indeed some who do that anonymously, but judging from the whole… if it's seen by the government, that would certainly be a punishment.

[gagux123]

I think it's a hoax or something like that, and maybe some people are trying to provoke it, I don't think it's worth showing before a lot of Muslims see this. There are indeed some who do that anonymously, but judging from the whole… if it's seen by the government, that would certainly be a punishment.

Yes.. sure! That's a possibility!!
 
Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country and there are many people who follow / attend this religion.
I have a limited knowledge about this theme, but I was really curious to know how these kinds of things happen over there.

[Kittygalore]

Is Gambling prohibited in Islam?

How many people in Saudi Arabia are not Islam?
How many of them will break rules of their religion by gambling?

I think that it's haram for the religion but I think that they must have some reservations to allow gambling in their country. Maybe the interest of the government and the religion is met and satisfied by the supposed gambling to which caused them to be allowed to operate. I think that a lot of people are breaking the laws in their religion, pretty sure about that, it's just that no one wants to admit that because they know the punishment especially Muslims.

[alpamar99]

I'm not going to say about race, ethnicity or about religion because this is not a field I'm in charge of but I've heard about this and it went viral a few years ago.
and as far as I know this is the picture shown known the men are not playing casino gambling. The game played was the Baloot card which was held in Riyadh, in 2018. This tournament, according to Turnbackhoax, was held for 4 days with more than 12,000 players participating with a total prize of one million Saudi riyals for the top four teams. And this is the first time it has been held in an Arab country.
I will not discuss a religion in gambling but as far as I know after reading several sources, it is more precisely what I described above.
apart from Google or YouTube ads, it's a little more realistic because everyone can use this kind of thing, they can just copy-paste the image and replace it with another title, it's very easy to manipulate

[uneng]

Look what a muslim site says about this situation: Former Imam Kaaba Inaugurates Cards Championship Angers Muslims

I'm not sure if that is really a casino, but the story is that a former Imam inaugurated a cards championship with his religious fellows in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, what disturbed the most traditional segments of the Islam in the country. I doubt there is much anyone can do about it, because there is a consensus Saudi Arabia is going more liberal day by day (of course it's a different liberalism from the western world), what is also noticeable in another areas, like for example in cultural sector, as the first cinema house will be opened in that country in two days, and more are to come for the next years.

Scenes like the ones presented in this thread are going to become more common from now on.

[Lanatsa]

So, that makes me curious and wondering about the casino gambling on Youtube and the google image is true or a hoax....!
What is the response about Islamic countries and their laws prohibiting gambling, but the opposite.

There would  be no leaks and images if they weren't doing it  on the  first place.We can also determine if those pictures are edit ones or not.If we do talk about Muslim religion then gambling is purely

a haram things to them which it means its prohibited  https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-horseracing-idUSLNE7A104I20111102 ..If they do actually play gambling then they do know
on what they are doing and since those are mostly big guys or rich person then everything could really be done according to their liking without minding
any Religion rules or whatsoever.

[gagux123]

Look what a muslim site says about this situation: Former Imam Kaaba Inaugurates Cards Championship Angers Muslims

I'm not sure if that is really a casino, but the story is that a former Imam inaugurated a cards championship with his religious fellows in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, what disturbed the most traditional segments of the Islam in the country. I doubt there is much anyone can do about it, because there is a consensus Saudi Arabia is going more liberal day by day (of course it's a different liberalism from the western world), what is also noticeable in another areas, like for example in cultural sector, as the first cinema house will be opened in that country in two days, and more are to come for the next years.

Scenes like the ones presented in this thread are going to become more common from now on.

I'm impressed! Is this site what you showed is really trustworthy??
I would never imagine that an Islamic country could ever "accept" these kinds of things. (Of course not everyone agrees with this).

But I confess that I was impressed, as it seems that with each passing day some countries around the world are changing!!