Sad reality: some countries gamble more than they can afford

[alani123]

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?

[yahoo62278]

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.

[alani123]

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?

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.

[electronicash]

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?

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.

[Bananington]

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?

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.

[Wiwo]

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

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 a 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.

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.

[stomachgrowls]

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.

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.

[Westinhome]

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.

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.

[Johnyz]

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.

[TimeTeller]

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.

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.

[STT]

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.

[BitcoinPanther]

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...
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?

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.

[rhomelmabini]

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.

[AmoreJaz]

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.

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.

[adultcrypto]

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?

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.

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.

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.

[goaldigger]

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 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.

[yahoo62278]

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.

[famososMuertos]

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.

[uchegod-21]

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?

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.

[Slow death]

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