The Hellenic Gaming Association sent a letter to ministers, general secretaries, presidents and commanders of Independent Authorities and the Hellenic Police with the aim of cracking down on illegal betting.

As reported, the total turnover of the 19 Providers that hold a license to provide games of chance over the internet for the Greek Territory for 2023 amounted to 27 billion euros, with the revenues of the Greek public reaching 525 million euros. And yet, these amounts represent approximately 60% of the total gaming market and only concern the activity of licensed online gaming providers.

At the same time, according to the HGA, the Greek online gaming market has become the most overtaxed (compared to corresponding markets abroad) with a tax on gross profits (35%) but also overtaxation on players’ profits, the total taxation now reaches 60% of the companies’ gross profits.

Also, the licensed Providers operate companies in which many thousands of employees work for which all legal employer contributions are paid to the Greek government while the companies themselves pay all the prescribed corporate taxes.

The HGA points out that despite the ongoing effort to legally regulate the market in question, the parallel unlicensed, and therefore illegal, gambling market over the internet is constantly growing.

At 1.7 billion euros, illegal gambling in 2023

According to a recent survey by KapaResearch carried out on behalf of the Gaming Control and Supervision Commission (GCMS), the illegal gambling for the year 2023 alone amounts to 1.7 billion euros and the 10% of players participating in them are aged 17-21 (note that people over the age of 21 are allowed to participate in online gambling through the licensed Providers). It is pointed out that 900,000 people played in an unlicensed environment, with 76.07% playing systematically on illegal providers and 23.93% exclusively.

The creation of new websites for the illegal provision but also for the illegal promotion (advertisement) of games of chance clearly targeting the Greek public, as they have illegal content in the Greek language and many of them have domain names ending in .gr, is a daily occurrence, while advertisements have increased significantly of illegal games of chance which show Greeks, from parts of the Greek territory, advertising illegal games of chance in the Greek language. The same situation is widely found in content sharing platforms (e.g. Youtube, Twich), social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and applications. Further, websites promoting unlicensed Gambling Providers using the corporate-trademarks and brands of legitimate Providers are being identified, misleading visitors who are ultimately redirected to illegal gambling sites, the letter pointed out.

With security gaps and many risks, illegal betting

Also, the HGA states that the push for Greek players to transfer their activity to illegal providers is particularly harmful for them. Illegal sites are not monitored by EEEP and do not provide any safe play mechanism. Illegal international websites numbered in several thousands have the following characteristics:
a) They do not apply a participant age limit of 21 years.
b) They do not provide Responsible Gambling mechanisms.
c) They do not apply due diligence policies, procedures and measures for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) purposes.
d) They do not guarantee the payment of the players’ winnings and have not deposited a guarantee of good operation of one million euros like the legitimate providers.
e) They make particularly aggressive commercial communication without control of their commercial plans by EEEP.
f) They do not provide protection against cyber-attacks and leaks of consumers’ personal data.
g) They do not pay taxes to the Greek State.

All of the above leads players to play in unprotected, unregulated and unsupervised environments, as a result of which their money is at risk and they are exposed to multiple risks (addiction, leakage of their data, participation of minors in the games, etc.) . At the same time, the State cannot provide for Responsible Gaming, the security of transactions, and the fight against money laundering from illegal activities. Finally, the unchecked activity of illegal websites maintains a framework of unfair competition, resulting in the significant flight of funds to these websites.

To upgrade the legislative framework

Thus, the HGA requests a substantial upgrade of the current legislative framework for gambling, which will ensure on the one hand the central role of the EEEP in the effort to combat the phenomenon and on the other, the assistance and coordination of all other competent public and private bodies, namely the prosecuting and prosecuting authorities, tax authorities, payment service providers, internet service providers as well as entities involved in the distribution of illegal content.

The Association estimates that the illegal provision and illegal promotion of games of chance can be limited to a significant extent if the State takes the necessary measures to substantially limit the financial transactions carried out on illegal networks and the promotion and promotion of the illegal content of these networks in the Greek Territory.

View the full letter from the Association of Online Gambling Providers and Suppliers here