Casino business in Europe attracts players from all across the world, and most of the gambling commissions are set in there for its regulations.

The Principle Quirks of Casino Business in Europe

Europe has no analogue of Las Vegas (with all due respect to Monte Carlo, after all, this city does not significantly reach the level of the world capital of gambling). Nevertheless, in almost all countries of the Old World, gambling is legal and quite popular among citizens.

Sometimes the authorities try to limit the development of gambling, such as a conflict in Hungary was recently recorded, but these attempts are not always crowned with success. As a result, gambling establishments in Western Europe are generally thriving.

What Is the Epicentre of Gambling in Europe?

There are no world gambling centres in Europe, at least such large ones as Las Vegas, Macau, or Hong Kong. But the online industry on the continent is very developed, especially in the tiny dwarf state of Malta. It is considered the centre of online gambling. Many gambling operators have chosen Malta as a springboard for opening their offices in Europe. Why this particular island? Yes, because you can get a license and other necessary documentation without much bureaucratic red tape, the taxation system is quite democratic. And the gaming operators have the liberty to release the newest free slots more often. 

European Gambling Trends

Twenty European countries have casinos on their register. There are sweepstakes in four of them (both for horse races and even for dog races). Thus, modern gambling establishments of a new type with poker terminals in Europe are not at all difficult to find.

Tourists come to Western European states very willingly; many of them are not at all opposed to spending a substantial amount of money on their favourite gambling entertainment and thereby replenish the country's budget. The amount of income from the gambling business has always been and will be impressive; the governments of most European countries have long understood this and even do not want to talk about how to restrict the gambling industry somehow.

In Europe, casinos are present in almost any country; illegal establishments still function even where gambling is prohibited. Most casinos are in the Benelux countries, Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Many years ago, the first gambling houses of the Old World stirred up the gambling population, and it happened historically that even today, Western Europe pampers gamblers with the number and quality of casinos.

The history of gambling has been going on for many years, with its roots deep in the past. According to one of the researchers ' versions, it is impossible to say exactly where such entertainment first appeared, but it was Ancient Rome and Greece. 

Industry into the 2021 Era

A high rate of development of the gambling industry in Eastern Europe is outlined in the late 90s. The collapse of the USSR and the weakening of state control over the gambling market were among the key factors contributing to the growth of demand for casinos in post-communist countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria and other countries of the Eastern Bloc.

Foreign investments solved the problem of the lack of a well-established gambling infrastructure, and they also gave the first impetus to the development of the gambling industry on the Internet.

The current laws, amendments, and changes in the legislation regulating activities in the casino business field for the European countries will be discussed in this article. The following table shows an overview of the online statistics: 

The Situation in Different Countries 

The gambling industry in Europe continues to develop steadily. It is expected to peak this year, both in terms of profitability and gambling quality. As a result, many of the gambling authorities and legislators of the European countries intend to adopt new gambling laws and strengthen regulation in this area. 

• In Latvia, starting from January 1, banks and financial institutions can no longer process payments on behalf of online sites that do not have the seal of approval of the Supervision Inspectorate. for lotteries and gambling (Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of Latvia, IAUI) and thus illegal. In addition, the IAUI also announced the launch of a new self-exclusion program that will allow gamblers to deny themselves access to gambling for up to 12 months. 
• In neighbouring Lithuania, the Diet, the highest legislative body, passed a bill according to which all advertising related to gambling must have warnings about problems that can be caused by gambling. The goal of the government is to protect citizens without getting in the way of a booming industry. The law will come into force on July 1.
• Positive developments regarding gambling taxes can be seen in Poland, where the Warsaw Administrative Court ruled that online gambling would not be subject to value-added tax (VAT). It is a huge plus for the government-owned provider Totalizator Sportowy.
• In Bulgaria, the State Gambling Commission is in trouble: its employees are accused of accepting bribes from Vasil Bozhkov, one of its wealthiest citizens with stakes in gambling and lottery companies. He has been arrested and faces serious charges that could lead to the collapse of his gambling business. Against the backdrop of this scandal, a new bill was presented, according to which a new body, the National Gambling Agency, will take the place of the State Gambling Commission.

Moving Forward

The growth of the gambling market was predicted long ago. According to experts from the independent research company Technavio, revenues of the global gambling market will cross the €90 billion mark by 2021, and growth will be more than 15% from 2017 to 2021. Therefore, expansion to the markets of Eastern Europe became financially justified.

The gambling industry in Eastern Europe continues to develop steadily, but in 2020, due to the pandemic, many operators had to postpone their entry into new markets. Now, when vaccines begin to spread around the world, the situation is gradually improving. As a result, in many countries, the legalization of online gambling can soon be expected, and the states of Eastern Europe are no exception. 

The Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries in Ukraine issued its first online gambling Spaceiks LLC license and its Cosmolot platform. However, the Ukrainian market has only recently become regulated, and this five-year license, which cost the operator $1.1 million, is likely to be just one of many.

Meanwhile, new live casino solutions continue to appear in Latvia. Playtech and its new partner, 888Casino, have agreed to open a new studio in Riga, from which live slots, "Spin a Win," and other exclusive games will be streamed.

Poland intends to break its record for the capitalization of the gambling industry, which now stands at about € 5 billion. Moreover, since the new gambling law allowed online casinos in 2017, this number has steadily grown, replenishing the state treasury and operators' pockets. In some CIS countries, however, things are not going so well. So, in Lithuania in 2020, there was a sharp decline in gambling activity; in addition, the Lithuanian regulatory body has tightened the rules regarding mandatory warnings about the adverse effects of gambling on advertising materials.