Despite temporary dislocation Greek police chains illegal gambling, illegal gambling activity flourishes in Greece, i.e. without license. This is evidenced by the indicative data of the All-Russian survey conducted from December 20, 2022 to February 2, 2023. KAPA Research on behalf of Gambling Supervision and Control Committee (GCC).

In particular, last year 800,000 people played illegal gambling, spending 1.4 billion euros, the lion’s share of which fell on land-based games, that is, “slots”, as well as gambling in illegal casinos. According to the study, 12% of those who play illegal games of chance have also spent 588 million euros on legal games in the last twelve months.

The majority (62%) of those who decide to play illegal online games are men, and about 50% of the money comes from re-bets. What “attracts” those who choose illegal gambling is the fact that the winnings are not taxed, the profits are higher, and the players do not need to be identified.

Of those who played illegal gambling in 2022, 12% wagered 588 million also in legal gambling companies.

Among illegal online games, players give the first preference to electronic slots (40.22%), followed by online betting (38.15%) and online casino games (21.63%). According to the survey, online slots are particularly popular among women, followed by online betting and online casino games. Among people aged 35 to 44, online casinos lead in preference (53.3%), while in the age group from 45 to 54, it is online slots. Players are informed about the possibility of participating in illegal gaming activities mainly through friends and acquaintances, as well as through advertising on social networks.

In order to curb illegal gambling, EEEP, according to the leadership of Dimitris Zanatos from an independent body, is focused on increasing the attractiveness of legal gambling, limiting illegal transactions, and illegally displaying and promoting unlicensed gambling. but also in strengthening the mechanisms of prevention and suppression. In this direction, EEEP is counting on the creation of a special group that will deal with the fight against illegal gambling. At the same time, the Authority maintains a “black list” of unlicensed gambling providers. This list contains the domain names and/or Internet protocol addresses of unlicensed gambling websites. The 36th edition of this list includes over 1,100 email addresses from unlicensed providers, a testament to the intensity and scope of illegal gambling. According to gambling market players, high taxation of 55% of providers is one of the main reasons for switching to illegal gambling.