Access to Online Gambling Restricted for Half the World's Population

Results of the recently conducted research about the state of online gambling around the globe paint an interesting picture. KeytoCasino affiliate company devoted some time and resources to gathering the most recent, relevant information about the current state of online gambling in the world and they've come up with some intriguing numbers.

According to their findings, more than half of the world's population is in some way restricted from gambling online. Sixty countries around the globe have licensed this activity and allow their citizens to play, but the conditions and available operators vary greatly from one country to another.

While some countries only allow domestic companies, other forbid them from operating, while foreign operators continue to thrive, whether in online or land-based casino business. Furthermore, certain laws allow for casinos, but don't allow for local people to play in them and reserve that right for foreigners only.

While the entire study is certainly worth reading, this article will focus on the findings relating to the online casinos and the picture painted by various laws and regulations in different countries.

Online Casinos

According to the research dated March 1st 2015, 39 countries outright ban online casinos. Some of these include Afganistan, Algeria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Israel, Libya, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, United States and Turkey.

Fairly big number of countries allow foreign operators to run online casinos but don't allow local for local companies to do the same. Although there are different reasons for this somewhat strange decision, often the fact that some of these countries are too small or lack resources to actually stop the foreign companies plays the crucial role. Countries belonging to this group include Australia, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Iceland, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Serbia.

Photo: KeytoCasino.com

One group that seems to be growing on a weekly basis are the countries requiring operators to obtain a license before offering services within a country. Currently there are 61 countries that have such a requirement, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Panama, Spain and, of course, the United Kingdom.

The largest group of countries is still the one that doesn't either ban or regulate casinos. There are currently 93 such countries, like Argentina, Belarus, Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, Gibraltar, Ireland, Macau, Malta, Morocco, Paraguay and Venezuela.

Consequences for players

One very interesting aspect of online casino regulation is what (if any) are potential consequences for players playing from the forbidden countries or the non-regulated rooms. There are total of 132 countries which restrict online play in some way, shape or form.

In the biggest majority of cases, 92 countries, there are no consequences for players whatsoever. There are 15 countries where players could face an administrative penalty, while a quite high number of countries, twenty five, have a stipulation of prison penalty.

Countries that could send you to jail for playing online include Buthan, Cyprus, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Tailand.

Final thoughts

Despite of currently still being a large group of countries that don't regulate or ban online gambling, recent trends demonstrate a tendency towards regulation, especially towards the licensing requirement, so that list will probably grow at the expense of the gambling free for all list.

The fact that there are 25 countries where a player could actually go to jail for gambling a little online is also quite disturbing. While some of the countries on the list are not a big surprise, few of them certainly are and we hope that this is one trend that will not take roots.

For more information and comparisons, check out the original research, which features some really nice stats and graphs to help you create a better overall picture of the state of gambling and casinos in general today.