Currently, casino gambling in the country's territory is mainly focused on tourists. This is primarily because the gambling industry is an important sector of the local economy. However, the Greek government has set different parameters when it comes to the online sports betting industry. This is because of the increased popularity of this web-based gambling industry.
However, despite the prosperity of Greece and the high number of tourists, the country still has very few brick-and-mortar casinos. Greece only has nine standard casinos. Slot halls are numerous. These slot halls are smaller than casinos as they only have slot machines. The high gambling taxes, restrictions, and other government legislation are the reason for the small number of casinos in Greece.
Esports legislation in Greece
The government's attitude towards online sports betting is very strict. This mainly is to try to prevent people from developing gambling addictions. Online sports betting is, however, legal in Greece. The most significant gambling legislation in Greece was enforced in 1996.
With the popularity of esports bookies, the Greek government passed a law that included these esports betting sites Greece. It is still not easy to access the Greek market as an online sports betting operator due to the high taxes.
On the brighter side, the Hellenic Gaming Commission is free to offer licensing to any esports betting operator. This comes with a stipulation. Online sports betting licenses are only granted to legal operators. These operators should have registered offices or permanent residence in Greece or any country in the European Union.
Important legal acts and policies
To date, everything related to local gambling activities is under Law 4002/2011. Under this law, provisions set the rules and conditions for which all gaming and gambling services are allowed to be offered in Greece. The same laws that control traditional sports betting apply to esport betting.
According to Law 4002/2011, the monitoring, supervision, and control of Greek territory are carried out by an independent administrative authority. This authority is called the Hellenic Gaming Commission.
- Land-based casinos are subject to Law 2206/1994. This law states that there is no legal definition of gambling. This shows that casinos are somewhat legal in Greece, as they offer services that fall under the game of chance category.
- Law 3037/2002 criminalizes gambling outside of casinos. Under this law, the Greek government officially banned all types of electronic games. It also goes ahead to ban these electronic games in both public and private places as long as they are in the territory of Greece.