Online Gambling In Greece Dropped By 40%

Revenues in Greece’s online gambling business have fallen by 405 during the first 5 months of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic halted all major sports around the world.

The Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) released figures show that in the first five months of 2020 revenues generated stood at €150 million, showing a 40% drop compared to the same period in 2019.

All the major online operators saw falls in their revenues during that period such as Stoixman, Bet365 and Sportingbet.

However smaller capital share operators did rather well as they offered other gambling opportunities to players such as NetBet, but the big winner was PokerStars as players took to playing poker and casino games while sporting events were all closed down. PokerStars actually doubled their revenues in the 5 months of the year compared to 2019.

New Online Gambling Licenses In Greece To Be Released in October

Greece’s new licensing system for online gambling operators is set to be implemented by October. Deputy Finance Minister, Trifon Alexiadis, confirmed that the new rules would be made public “within a month”.

In 2011, Greek ran an experiment by issuing 24 “temporary” licenses to online gambling sites. The licenses were later suspended as the Greek government aimed to increase the betting monopoly that OPAP had. The government then sold one-third of the stake of the company. Alexiadis explained that this was to stop worldwide gambling operators from making profit while evading Greek’s taxes.

The experiment also revealed that many operators were producing false reports of their revenues. The Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) surveyed the operators on their revenues and turnovers. Alexiadis said that public documents from these operators showed discrepancies compared to declared revenues.

Alexiadis also stated that the newer regulations were more optimized and put a cap on how much operators could earn from Greek betters. New regulations required foreign payment providers to report to the Greek authorities thus making it easier to track financial transactions from users to foreign operators.

Interestingly, many operators might be reluctant to apply for a license as Greek has a massive 35% punitive tax rate on gambling revenue. OPAP, the current monopoly in Greek gambling has also fallen victim to the new tax and reported a decrease in profits of 36% in Q2 of this year. The company clarified that if it wasn’t for the tax, profits would have risen 2% instead.

The EEEP has also been making efforts to curb online gambling without authorization and has recently started blocking more and more sites. As of August, 847 sites have been blacklisted by the EEEP. At the beginning of this year, the number of blocked sites was nearly half that.

PartyPoker to return to 21 online gambling markets under GVC

PartyPoker returns to 21 new online gambling markets including jurisdictions it exited as part of its “volume to value” strategy.

PartyPoker has begun operating in a number of new national markets after GVC Holdings completed its deal to buy bwin.party.

Bwin’s online poker room has written to affiliates asking them to estimate the number of first time depositors they anticipate in each market.

New sign-ups from 18 countries in EU and South America served by bwin.Party were blocked in April 2013. The decision was likely a mix of regulatory concern and simple cost analysis. The remaining countries may represent markets either too small or simply unprofitable for bwin.party to maintain operations in.

Many EU countries on the list curbed or prohibited online poker such as Greece, Poland, Romania, Cyprus and Hungary. Finland and Serbia, on the other hand, had a small regulated online poker markets.

South American countries — Argentina, Brazil and Colombia — were also blocked same with three former Soviet Republics Armenia, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Many of the markets that PartyPoker is re-entering are expected to introduce online poker licensing systems such as Colombia, which opened a consultation on launching a regulated online gambling market. Brazil has approved a legislative attempt to legalize online sports betting, casino and bingo games last year.

Bwin.party group head of partypoker and Cashcade Tom Waters confirmed the news to EGR, saying that it had re-opened in a “limited number of regulated territories” following a “thorough review” of PartyPoker’s operations.

“Along with other operators in the industry, we do accept gameplay from customers based in yet to be regulated territories where customers are not prevented from accessing online gaming products,” said Waters. “We have re-opened registration for a number of markets and could potentially look to do more if the commercials support it.”

Greece gives OPAP suitor more time to raise bid

Greece's privatization agency has given Greek-Czech fund Emma Delta more time to improve its bid for a controlling stake in gaming firm OPAP, two officials directly involved in the sale talks told Reuters on Thursday.

"They asked for and were given a postponement until Wednesday, May 1,» said one official at Greece's privatization agency, who declined to be named, after a first deadline expired. An official at Emma Delta confirmed the move.

Emma Delta, controlled by Czech investor Jiri Smejc and Greek shipowner George Melisanidis on Monday offered 622 million euros ($808 million) for 33 percent of Greek gambling monopoly OPAP and management rights at the company.

Emma Delta submitted the only valid bid in the sale, Greece's first big privatization under its international bailout program.

But privatization agency HRADF asked the fund to raise its offer to at least 650 million euros, the stake's minimum value as estimated by an external assessor.

Deutsche Bank and National Bank, Greece's main sale advisers, had put the stake's value at 610 million.

OPAP shares were up 0.3 percent to 6.9 euros in early trading in Athens, giving a 33 percent stake in the company a stock market value of 726 million euros.

Bwin.party look to withdraw from 18 countries.

Bwin.party have announced they are blocking players from 18 countries within the EU and also South America. Those countries involved are Greece, Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Finland, Serbia, Armenia, Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Argentina, Brazil and finally Colombia.

The move was announced to affiliates by the company on an email on Friday 19th April.

On the email it said that from the 30th April no new singups will be accepted from those countries and also there was a request that all marketing material aimed at those countries be removed. However all existing accounts will remain open, and affiliate commission to those accounts will continue to be paid.

It is thought the move is connected with those countries mentioned looking to reduce or prohibit online gambling within their borders in the future along with the commercial aspect that those mentioned are small in operating value and allows bwin.party to focus their efforts on more lucrative markets such as the US and more recognised and profitable regions such as the UK and Spain.

Greece monopoly ruled illegal

OPAP’s gambling monopoly in Greece is close to the end of the road after the Court of Justice for the European Union (CJEU) ruled it illegal. The monopoly contravenes European Union (EU) law as it grants exclusive rights without serving the public interest by limiting the amount of betting opportunities, according to a court ruling this morning. The current case was one filed by Stanleybet, William Hill and Sportingbet, with the result sending OPAP’s share price sliding downwards on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index – 11 percent to €6.27 at the last check.

There is still breathing room for Greece and if they implement stricter controls to ensure consumer protection they will be allowed to preserve it. If that doesn’t happen then Greece will have to open up the market to allow firms from other EU countries to operate.

Immediate reaction to the ruling came from Sigrid Ligné, secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, who stated: Given the factual setup of OPAP’s monopoly which clearly fails to meet the CJEU test we hardly expect effective control to be implemented in the future. Therefore, Greece should follow the Court’s clear advice to liberalise the market. The ruling is highly relevant and gives the EC yet more jurisprudence to put an end to non-compliant gambling policies across the EU.”

Ligne is hopeful this ruling will give way to more cases being investigated by the EU regarding other member states that contravene EU law.

“At this stage only the EC, as the Guardian of the Treaties, can restore legal security by acting directly on the many complaints it has received, not only against Greece, but also against many other Member States. The EC can now take firm action on all pending infringement cases in order to ensure all Member States are in full compliance,” she added.

William Hill announces its withdrawl from Greek market

William Hill has announced that William Hill Online will no longer make its products available to customers located in Greece until such time that there is greater clarity on the regulatory approach to be taken by the Greek authorities in relation to such customers.

On 5 November 2012, the Greek Gaming Commission issued a Decision that includes provisions for financial penalties and criminal sanctions against gaming operators that continue to accept custom from the market after 5 December without a locally issued licence. William Hill believes that there are significant issues with the legality and enforceability of these proposals; however, until greater clarity is received, it has taken the decision to withdraw from this market.

Based on legal advice, it considers the gambling legislation in Greece to be inconsistent with European law and the associated fiscal conditions attached to these licences – which may include payment of retrospective taxes on past revenues – makes the market economically unattractive. On this basis, William Hill Online does not currently intend to apply for a licence to operate in Greece.

William Hill, along with other operators, has been working with various parties to achieve legislation that allows fair competition in the market in Greece and elsewhere. William Hill is disappointed that the European Commission continues, despite previously stated intentions to the contrary, not to take effective action to prevent protectionist behaviour on behalf of member states, of which the Greek, German and Belgian regimes are only the most recent examples.

Prior to the decision to withdraw from Greece, William Hill Online had been expecting to generate £4-5 million of operating profit p.a. from Greek resident customers.

Greece gives online operators until Dec. 6 to get lost or face blacklist, prison

Truly, this week is only a couple days old but the board of directors at Bwin.party digital entertainment likely already wishes it was over. As co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger beats an inglorious retreat to the UK following his detention by Belgian police, Greece is now telling Bwin.party and other unlicensed operators serving Greek punters to get the hell out of Dodge (and Athens) by Dec. 6 or face a decade in prison, up to €500k in fines and ‘severe administration penalties,’ which we assume means being forced to untangle the country’s messy finances using only a slide rule and a No. 2 pencil.

The Hellenic Gaming Commission issued warning notices on Nov. 5 to all operators currently serving the Greek market without the government’s say-so. These operators are being given a one-month grace period in which to wind down their affairs, after which any operators still serving the market will be put on a blacklist (much as in Belgium). Banks will be forbidden to process transactions for any company on the blacklist and IP-blocking will cut off punter access. The Commission’s notice said it was asking for support from other EU regulators “and will appreciate proactivity” by same “to inform and strongly advise” operators they regulate to comply with Greek wishes.

Greece passed a new gaming law in August 2011, which was supposed to be followed by a public tender for online gaming licenses. While that has yet to occur, Greece issued temporary permits to 24 operators – including Sportingbet and Paddy Power – on the condition that they ante up two years of back taxes (similar to what transpired in Spain). Other major European operators, including Betfair, Bet365 and William Hill, chose instead to file a grievance (via the Remote Gambling Association) with the European Commission over what they viewed as the Greek gaming law’s discriminatory provisions.

Bwin.party, reportedly Greece’s online gambling market leader, also chose not to apply for a license and filed its own EC complaint in November via its European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) mouthpiece. Unless Bwin.party has learned a lesson from Tuesday’s strong-arm tactics in Belgium, a business-as-usual approach in Greece would result in its name appearing on yet another blacklist and creating another no-fly zone for Bwin.party execs.

With Bwin.party’s Nevada online poker tech provider license application hearing expected sometime early in the new year, shareholders are likely starting to wonder if Bwin.party execs are treating the hearing as a foregone conclusion. If continued nose-thumbing at European regulators ultimately proves too blatant for US regulators to ignore and eliminates the possibility of Bwin.party adding a US revenue stream, could the next Bwin.party AGM be a bring-your-own-pitchfork-and-torch affair? (Entirely uncorroborated scuttlebutt has Teufelberger’s arrest the result of a tipoff Belgian authorities received from co-CEO Jim Ryan, who is presumably itching to ditch the ‘co-’ from his business card.)

Of course, the public companies currently doing business in Greece will eventually ‘choose’ to leave, much in the way one ‘chooses’ to keep breathing. Their shareholders have no appetite for risk and video clips of senior management being frog-marched away in handcuffs tend to have a depressing effect on share prices. Public protestations about ‘illegal’ laws don’t mean much in practical terms; it’s been seven years since the World Trade Organization declared the US anti-online gambling stance to be a breach of international trade rules yet Antigua still hasn’t received its rightful redress.

It will be interesting to see how the Greeks treat Playtech, which, via its partnership with German outfit Gauselmann, is one of eight prospective bidders for the Greek government’s one-third stake in lottery/betting monopoly OPAP. Playtech also supplies technology to a number of Greek-facing operators, including (for the moment) William Hill Online. If Playtech licensees choose to ignore the Greek blacklist, would Playtech escape criticism and/or legal action?

In the past, Playtech has taken an “it’s our clients that are breaking the law, not us” stance regarding its revenue streams from licensees operating in China, Malaysia and Germany, but much will depend on how broadly Greece chooses to define ‘operator.’ As with Bwin.party’s Belgian brouhaha, the fallout from the Greek clampdown may extend well beyond its borders. The fact that Playtech founder Teddy Sagi did time in an Israeli prison in the 1990s for stock manipulation was noted by Nevada regulators when William Hill’s sports betting license was being considered and further European controversy might eliminate any possibility of Playtech participating in a regulated US online poker market.

Legal complaints could impact OPAP value, says RGA

The Remote Gambling Association has alerted banks handling the sale of OPAP to three legal complaints that could affect the monopoly’s future value, as the lobby group maintains pressure on Greece to open its online sports betting market.

In the letter to Deutsche Bank and the National Bank of Greece, the world’s largest online gambling trade association provided details of three outstanding complaints against OPAP’s monopoly, two lodged with the EC and another with the Greek Council of State, “that could have a material effect on the future value of OPAP”.

Greece’s privatisation agency HRADF forged ahead with the sale process for its 33% stake in OPAP last week, despite a key legal advisor to Europe’s highest court casting doubts on the sustainability of OPAP’s monopoly and analysts projecting that a 30% tax on gross revenue and 10% on winnings on all of OPAP’s operations from 2013, introduced under pressure from the EC, could wipe up to €280m off annual profit.

The RGA’s letter has been sent on behalf of its members, which include bet365, Betfair, bwin.party, Paddy Power, Sportingbet, Unibet and William Hill, many of which have been impacted by Greece’s law and regulations designed to protect the position of its betting monopoly.

Chief executive Clive Hawkswood said that while Greece had been pressurised by the EC into withdrawing OPAP’s preferential tax treatment on its land-based operations, there were other issues that had yet to be resolved, not least the Greek state’s intention to extend OPAP’s sports betting monopoly online.

“[I]t is only right that we brought these to the attention of Deutsche Bank to ensure that they are properly reflected in the sale process”, said Hawkswood. He said that the RGA’s position may change if the online sports betting market was fully opened and all potential stakeholders were taxed and treated equally. “[T]he Greek Government, online betting customers and gambling operators will [then] benefit from a fair and competitive market that operates in compliance with EU rules.”

The RGA’s first complaint to the EC competition directorate concerns the retrospective taxes applied to EU-licensed operators since last August, when Greece passed its online gaming act. The RGA complaint argues that the tax regime amounts to a potential form of State Aid as it exempts the OPAP-controlled land-based sector in Greece.

The RGA has also submitted a joint complaint with its continental counterpart the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) to the EC’s Internal Market and Services Directorate. This submits that OPAP’s offline sports betting monopoly is an unjustified obstacle to free trade within the EU, while also potentially being awarded the online sports betting monopoly.

Finally, the RGA has petitioned the Greek Council of State on the basis that the retrospective tax regime for online operators represents an unconstitutional restriction on the right to conduct a business activity in Greece. The case is set to be heard in December.

Greece offers more OPAP to get privatizations on track

Greece will sell almost all of its stake in gambling monopoly OPAP, the government said on Thursday, increasing the amount that is for sale in an attempt to convince foreign lenders that it is serious about selling off state assets. Athens, which owns 34 percent of one of Europe's biggest gaming companies, has launched a tender to sell a 33 percent stake in the company, the privatization agency HRADF said. Previously Greece had planned to sell 29 percent of OPAP, currently worth about 450 million euros on the Athens bourse. OPAP is central to Greece's plan to raise 19 billion euros from privatizations by 2015 - a key condition of its 130-billion euro bailout agreed earlier this year. It is the country's most profitable state firm with a sports betting monopoly stretching, for some games, as far as 2030. Greece is badly behind on privatization targets and the three-month-old, conservative-led government has pledged to do better as it struggles to convince the EU and the IMF to resume the bailout payments that keep the country afloat. "The fact that OPAP is being completely sold off shows the government's will to privatize," said Dimitris Mardas, an economics professor at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University. HRADF set an October 19 deadline for expressions of interest and said the tender would be carried out in two phases. After an initial declaration of interest, bidders will be called to submit binding offers, HRADF said. The agency has the right to introduce an intermediary phase of non-binding bids in order to evaluate bidders' business plans. "The complete privatization of OPAP will be carried out transparently, rapidly and with efficiency," HRADF's chief executive Yiannis Emiris said in the statement. A senior government official told Reuters earlier this month that Athens aimed to find a buyer for OPAP by January and that four consortia of Greek and foreign companies were interested in the company. Turkish conglomerate Dogan Holding said on Monday it would consider taking part in a sale tender for OPAP. Investment funds Fidelity and Silchester Inv. already hold 5 percent each in the company. Greece has picked Deutsche Bank and National Bank of Greece as financial advisers, it added. Athens has already moved to clear issues that might block the company's sale. Earlier this month, it settled a row with European Union competition authorities over how the company should be taxed and set a new 30 percent levy on gross earnings from next year. But investors' appetites might be dampened by an ongoing court challenge against the Greek company's monopoly brought by Britain's biggest bookmaker William Hill and online gaming companies Sportingbet and Stanleybet after they were denied gambling licenses in the country. A senior EU legal adviser raised questions about OPAP's right to control all betting in the country last week. Greece's highest administrative court is expected to issue a final ruling on the case in the coming months.

Greece agrees flat tax on gambling winnings

Greece’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it had agreed with the European Commission to set a flat 10% tax on player winnings from both online and slot machine games operated by state-owned betting agency OPAP from next year.

OPAP, one of the prime assets set for privatisation as part of Greece’s debt-cutting efforts, has been the subject of complaints by online gaming operators because of different tax treatments for online games and slot machines.

The finance ministry said it had agreed to harmonise tax levels at a flat level of 10% on all on all winnings from online and slot machines from Jan. 1, 2013.

Greek gambling laws breach EU state aid rules, says RGA

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA), whose members include most of the leading gaming operators, has lodged a complaint with the European Commission challenging the compatibility of the Greek government’s new gambling law with EU State aid requirements.

The complaint focuses on the favourable tax treatment afforded to the land-based services of OPAP, the part state-owned gambling operator, in relation to private online gambling operators.

The Greek Parliament adopted new gambling legislation in August of this year, which regulates remote gambling.

The RGA said that it welcomed the fact that the legislation provides for the licensing of online operators, however it believes that the legislation has been geared towards delivering an unfair economic advantage to the existing monopoly operator OPAP.

Police Announce Arrests in Greek Match-Fixing Probe

Nine people have been arrested in connection with a probe into match-fixing in Greek football, police announced on Wednesday.

Police conducted an extensive search at suspects’ homes following an investigation by Greek judicial authorities in the last few months over a list of 41 matches submitted by UEFA to the local football authorities.

The presidents of Super League sides Olympiakos Volou, Achilleas Beos and Kavala, Stavros Psomiadis are reportedly among the nine men arrested. Beos’s lawyer has confirmed the arrest of his client.

The nine Greeks – also said to include the president of second-division side Ilioupoli, Giorgos Tsakoyiannis, and the manager of second-division side Ethnikos Asteras, Nikos Pantelis – are remanded in custody accused of betting fraud, money laundering and participation in a criminal group.

According to reports, at least 20 people were detained in total, including a number of football agents and the son of a well-known Athens soccer and basketball official.

“As part of the Athens prosecutor’s investigation a large-scale police operation has been conducted, which has resulted in nine arrests so far in connection with match-fixing. Investigations are continuing,” said a police statement.

Betfair files complaint with EC over Greek draft law

Betfair has filed a complaint with the European Commission over the ban on betting exchanges contained within the Greek draft egaming law.

Martin Cruddace, Betfair’s chief legal and regulatory officer, said: “Having played a constructive role in the preparatory phase of the draft Greek gaming law, we were disappointed with the inclusion of elements within it which unfairly discriminate against Betfair and are clearly incompatible with EU law.

“We have therefore asked the Commission to review the matter and engage with the Greek authorities, with the aim of addressing the concerns raised in our complaint."

In addition to challenging the blanket ban on betting exchanges, Betfair is seeking to address several other components within the draft law which it argues are in breach of EU law. These include the obligation to establish a Greek legal entity, locate servers and process gambling transactions exclusively within Greece, and also the requirement for online customers to obtain a special players ID card.

The EC is due to deliver its verdict on the compatibility of the Greek draft with EU law on 5 July. However shortly after notifying the proposal to the European Commission on 5 April, the Greek government withdrew the draft law from its own parliament for review amid Socialist Party concerns that the draft went too far towards “full deregulation of gaming and gambling.”

The Greek government originally presented its bill aimed at raising around €700m this year from the issue of 15-55 new licences to its parliament in March, by which time it had undergone several important changes since appearing in its initial form in January. These included dropping a proposed “black period”, requiring applicant operators to cease activity in the market until licensed, and opting for a 30% gross profit tax (GPT) instead of the 6% turnover levy originally proposed.

Greek league suspended over match-fixing

Greece’s Football Association has moved to suspend the country’s professional game over claims of match-fixing and violence.

What initially started out as a probe by UEFA, (European football’s governing body) into irregular betting patterns during the 2009 and 2010 domestic season has now lead to the Greek FA suspending all activities while various reforms are considered.

The 15-day lockout period fortunately takes place during Greece’s off-season which lasts until the end of August. In addition, the FA has okay-ed the friendly match between Greece and Ecuador scheduled for June 7th in New York.

In the meantime, seven people have been charged with betting on fixed matches, while another eight suspects are currently under investigation after each winning over €15,000 ($22,000) from the state-controlled football pools.

This follows the relegation of north Greek club Iraklis after discrepancies in its finances were uncovered.

As well as corruption, consistent violence has also plagued the domestic Greek Football scene leading to the extraordinary suspension decision.

For instance, on April 30th at the Greek Cup final between AEK Athens and underdogs Atromito, AEK hooligans invaded the pitch and attacked opposing supporters despite their team being 3-0 ahead.

Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) President Sofoklis Pilavios announced news of the suspension on Friday after EPO delegates approved the move by a 49 to 7 margin.

Commenting on the drastic decision taken by the EPO, Pilavios stated: “We are facing a very major problem of violence. We have a choice to make: Do we want football in the hands of hooligans, violence, and match-fixers, forgers, and liars? A game with deals made under the table, exploited by politicians, a game of violence and threats? Or do we want a game based on strong institutions and rules and strong moral grounding?”

Greece delays egaming bill amid ruling party concerns

Greece’s draft egaming legislation has been withdrawn for further consultation, after the ruling Socialist party (PASOK) expressed concerns with the law tabled by finance minister George Papaconstantinou.

A PASOK MP present at a meeting of party members told Reuters: “There were objections…that Greece would become a vast casino.” Socialist party MP Dimitris Papoutsis added: “We should not go towards full deregulation of gaming and gambling."

The Greek government presented the bill aimed at raising around €700m this year from the issue of 15-55 new licences to its parliament last month.

Greece’s draft legislation has already undergone several changes since being introduced in January. Last month the government voted for a 30% gross profit tax (GPT) instead of the 6% turnover levy originally proposed after briefing from lobby group the Remote Gambling Association.

The Greek government also dropped plans last month for a “black period”, requiring applicant operators to cease activity in the market until licensed.

Greece drops egaming black period

The Greek government has dropped the proposed black period from the draft egaming bill it presented to its parliament last week, which would have required applicant operators to cease activity in the market until approved.

The “black period” clause had been present in the initial draft released by the government in January, leading to fears operators would have to suspend operations until licensed, with the likes of Sportingbet, which generates 15% of NGR from Greece, particularly affected.

While companies will still be required to incorporate in Greece in order to qualify, several of the financial requirements have been lowered, with those licensed only needing a minimum share capital of €400k (compared to €500k before), and a letter of credit for €200k (instead of €300k) in order to enter the tender process.

Other changes introduced include the lowering of the participation fee (minimum bet) from €5 to between €0.10 and €2. The issuing of a player ID card also becomes compulsory.

The Danish government also proposed a “black period” ahead of the regulation of its egaming market, until a complaint over tax rates to the EC compressed the possible timeframe for this to be implemented and enforced.

Gaming bill will give monopoly to OPAP

The new gambling bill’s apparent favouritism towards Greek gaming company OPAP is leading to a complete monopoly in the sector, MPs warned yesterday.

The bill was re-tabled at the House Institutions and Legal Affairs Committees yesterday, after receiving the seal of approval from the European Commission.

The Attorney-general (AG) was summoned to yesterday’s meeting however to settle a dispute between the government and online casino operators.

The latter say the bill – drafted by the finance ministry – omitted to include OPAP in its ban on supplying online betting games, even though OPAP offers games of luck such as Joker, Proto and KINO.

AG Petros Clerides said the OPAP games were completely different, as they operate under an inter-state agreement and are not played by the player directly over the internet.

The Chairman of the House Finance Committee, DIKO’s Nicolas Papadopoulos, said the bill – which bans online casino games and regulates betting, while also imposing a 3.0 per cent tax on certain bets – was leading to a clear monopoly.

“The specific bill will not ban gambling, but legalise it and unfortunately it will legalise it for only one company, which will enjoy a monopoly,” said Papadopoulos, adding: “Of course I am referring to OPAP, a company which gained around €70 million in 2009, of which only a little over €1 million went to state coffers in the form of taxes.”

He said this bill would lead to a continuation of this monopoly and wondered why the finance ministry was attempting to abolish all of OPAP’s competitors in order to allow the organisation to profit millions from lucky games.

“Massive technical matters are raised over whether we can truly restrict gambling over the internet with legal bans,” said Papadopoulos. “We have our doubts over whether this could be a success; those who know how the internet works will know how easy it is for anyone to overcome any restrictions, any filters, in order to gamble on the internet and it is naïve to think that we can stop the phenomenon with filters and laws.”

The DIKO deputy was concerned that all the law would achieve would be to encourage gamblers to seek the services of the underworld and lead to the creation of a black market for gambling, which would lead to even less control than the state has now.

The Chairman of the House Institutions Committee, EVROKO’s Rikkos Erotokritou, said the Attorney-general’s explanations needed to be clarified further. “It seems that from the moment that there is a violation of the regulations for the protection of competition, it is OPAP and some subsidiary companies that will benefit from the introduction and implementation of this bill’s provisions,” said Erotokritou.

He added that this would lead to a monopoly, “which it is categorically banned from reason, but also the spirit of EU law.”

OPAP is a private Greek gaming company that operates on the island through its local counterpart, set up in 2003 following a bilateral agreement.

Greece to auction up to 50 online betting licences

Opening up gaming will be a major step for the debt-ridden country, which hopes to get hundreds of millions of euros in extra revenues. The move will also put it back in line with EU regulations and allow it to stop paying hefty fines to Brussels.

“The bill is expected to be voted within the first quarter of the year,” the official, who has direct knowledge of the government plans, said on condition of anonymity. “Our aim is to tender the licences by the end of the year.”

Greece aims at proceeds of at least 700 million euros ($949 million) from new gaming licences and royalties this year as part of the EU/IMF bailout plan that saved it from bankruptcy last year. It has earmarked another 625 million euros for 2012.

The country had struggled to crack down on unlicenced gambling, estimated at about 4 billion euros a year, since it imposed a blanket ban on gaming machines in 2002.

Betting monopoly Opap and slot machines in casinos were excluded from the ban.

The official did not say what the duration of the new betting licences or the payout would be. Referring to the VLTs, the source added that there would be a limit on wagers.

Greece’s finance ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Greeks reveal gaming proposals ahead of parliamentary debate

The Greek government has published draft legislation for an opening up of the country’s slots and VLT market, and for the partial liberalisation of the country’s online gaming market.

A first glimpse of the legislation has been posted on the Greek government website and details specific proposals for opening up Greece’s markets for sports betting and for poker.

The regulative framework produced by the Finance Ministry aims to ensure that most of the €5bn worth of illegal gambling estimated in a recent Reuters report will be added to the present €9bn annual spend generated by OPAP, and produce substantial tax revenues for the hard-pressed treasury.

In the introduction to the proposals the authors admit that “Greece has been ordered by a decision of the ECJ because of its ban on gaming machines to pay a daily fine of €32.000 i.e. € 11.5m a year” and “absence of any market regulation of online gambling within Greek territory progressively resulted in the regime being de facto illegal.”

The report suggests that the government has no choice but to open up its slots and VLT market following the ECJ decision from October 26, 2006 that states that “by inserting ... a prohibition on the installation and operation of all electrical, electromechanical and electronic games, including technical recreational games and all computer games, on all public or private premises apart from casinos, the Hellenic Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 28 EC, 43 EC and 49 EC and Article 8 of Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament.”

The document, which will be open for consultation until midnight on September 12 gives, in Chapter IV Article 11, details of the online products to be made available to Greek gamblers.

Initially sports betting and poker would be offered online, via mobile or interactive TV.

According to the proposals betting on horse racing and casino type games may be subject to future consultation.

The framework also includes mechanisms for blocking of access to overseas gaming sites and for preventing Greek customers having financial transactions with overseas operators.

Operators would be required to have servers inside the country and use dot.gr websites. Licences would be available for a period of five years.

However the document suggests a number of options are to be debated on how the licences would be allocated. In section 4 of Article 11, three possibilities for granting of online licences are mooted.

The first possibility would involve a competitive market with an unlimited number of licences available. The selection would be made based on the operator satisfying specific requirements set out by the government rather than via a tender. This would be similar to the model introduced in France and in Italy.

The second option would involve a public tender for a limited number of online licences, again with operators being required to satisfy specific requirements while licences would be allocated to the highest bidder. In previous comments from government representatives there has been suggestion that there would be five licences available.

The final option would involve OPAP maintaining its current monopoly status in some online gaming spheres until 2019, with again a limited number of additional licences available for operators, but in this case they could act as subcontractors and pay royalties to OPAP.

The Greek media is reporting that OPAP is already negotiating with online systems provider Intralot to develop online casinos and possibly poker rooms for Greek players in advance of legalisation coming into force during 2011.

There has already been discussion related to the introduction of slots and VLTs in the Greek market, with OPAP almost certainly to be allocated one of the licences available, although again there appears to have been no decision on how many licences would be up for grabs.

Any suggestion that OPAP would be allowed to maintain any form of monopoly going forward is certain to be the subject of a legal challenge.

In France both Stanleybet and Zeturf are awaiting developments from their legal actions against the monopoly status of Francaise des Jeux and the PMU with regard to retail betting.

More concrete plans for opening up the Greek market will now be awaited once the consultation period has been completed.