Greece Online Gambling Regulation
- Greece gambling law reform. Based on the new rules, online RNG games will have a maximum stake set at €2 ($2.36). On top of the stake limit, there is also a limit of €5,000 ($5,895.68) set on prizes per gaming session. For all casino games, a maximum prize limit of €70,000 ($82,539.45) has been set.
- The Greek Parliament is set to vote on a draft legislation that includes measures for the legalization and regulation of online betting and gaming activities this week. The bill aims at providing.
- This Guide to Law Online Greece contains a selection of Greek legal, juridical, and governmental sources accessible through the Internet. Links provide access to primary documents, legal commentary, and general government information about specific jurisdictions and topics.
- The EU Commission has sent the latest in a long series of letters complaining that Greek gambling regulation is in breach of EU law. The trigger for the latest missive was a decision by the Greek Finance Ministry to offer partially state-owned OPAP SA a ten year monopoly on virtually all online gaming.
Conditions have remained difficult for Greece's nine land-based casinos despite a reduction in gaming taxation that came into effect at the end of 2018, two years earlier than expected.
Greece: (e-Gambling) New regulation for the commercial communication of the games of chance TheHellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) issued the 106/ Decision on commercial communications regarding games of chance (including betting/ e-gambling).
The changes saw casino taxes reduced to 20 percent from 35 percent of GGR, but added tough new licensing requirements for the properties.
An outright smoking ban, introduced in October 2019, has impacted trading at venues already suffering competition from online gambling and VLT halls with some casinos experiencing revenue declines of more than 30 percent in the final months of the year. Previously, casinos had been able to pay a per square metre fee to allocate smoking areas inside each property.
The showpiece Hellenikon Integrated Resort casino project in Southern Athens, where development costs are expected to exceed €1bn, has again become mired in legal wrangling after spurned bidder Hard Rock International confirmed that it would launch an appeal against the decision to exclude it from the process, that left only rival Mohegan Entertainment as a contender in the process.
A new Greek online gambling law is currently being evaluated by the European Commission to replace a transitional licensing programme that has been in place since 2011, but the new licences will be Europe’s most expensive and it is unclear whether any of Greece's land-based casinos will take the opportunity to seek licenses.
Greece is located in Southern Europe and has one of the largest coastlines in the Mediterranean. The country is renowned for its ancient civilization which created the ancient Olympic Games, nearly 3000 years ago in 776 BC. It is no surprise therefore that sports betting has always been common in the region.
In this guide to online sports betting in Greece you can first find a brief history of the industry in the country. Then the current situation of online betting is looked at along with how taxes on winnings will affect you. Following there is a section on how betting sites accommodate Greek customers before finishing up by looking at possible changes in the future.
Controversies with Market Regulation
The most significant piece of Greek gambling legislation came about in 1996. Under the claims of regulating sports betting and gambling in their jurisdiction, the Greek government awarded exclusive bookmaking rights to the State backed company the Greek Organization of Football Prognostics (OPAP). Furthermore while these rights were originally set to expire in 2020, they were later extended to 2030 [1]. This has led to OPAP becoming one of the world’s largest bookmakers.
In addition to causing a large black market to form, due to the lack of competition, the Greek monopoly caused concern among other EU members and frustration among the locked out companies. UK companies Stanleybet, William Hill and Sportingbet all tried to apply separately for Greek licenses between 2004 and 2007, only to have them rejected. The companies argued this breached EU free market laws and Stanleybet chose to go ahead and just open a shop in Athens in November 2008. This was swiftly closed by the authorities [2] although intervention on the part of the EU led to the shop reopening in 2009.
After the monopoly was deemed to be illegal by the EU in 2013 [3], the Greek government agreed to sell a controlling stake in OPAP to a private investment firm. The ruling also resulted in Stanleybet threatening to sue Greece over loss of earnings since their application was rejected in 2004 [4].
Greeks Have a Ton of Betting Options
In order to find alternatives to OPAP’s monopoly of the Greek market a black market quickly emerged. Around the same time, internet betting, casinos and poker started to become more common. This assisted the black market operators and gave Greek citizens the opportunity to bet in their own homes. Realising the growth in the gaming sector the government rushed through laws in 2002 to ban this, resulting in poorly worded legislation which applied to all electronic gaming, not just gambling and covered video games and arcade machines [5].
As economic hardships hit the country the government was forced to repeal these laws in 2010. In 2011 Greece organized 24 interim licenses for online gambling companies, such as William Hill and Ladbrokes, while the details of new laws were being organized. The following year it was decided to essentially scrap this idea and continue to keep a monopoly in the sector though OPAP, as the country had in land based gambling.
This stance on online gaming was included in the 2013 EU ruling that OPAP’s monopoly was illegal [6] after concerns about the online market were raised by operators including Bwin.Pary and Betfair. OPAP reported a 72% drop in profits in 2013 blamed on the loss their tax-free status and that Greek bettors were either abandoning online gambling completely or using international operators.
Greek Gambling Taxes
The taxation laws for Greek sports-bettors were changed in 2013. Prior to then a flat 10% tax applied to all gambling winnings. The change brought in a tiered system where winnings between €100 and €500 were taxed at 15% and winning above that threshold were taxed at 20%. The good news for small stakes bettors is that winnings below €100 are now tax free. The move was intended to encourage an increase in small stakes bettors who may have previously been put off by the flat tax rate.
Of course if you can get onto a non-OPAP site there is no framework in place to tax you on your winnings through the site, so paying these taxes will be your own responsibility.
How Accessible are Online Bookmakers for Greek Customers
Greece Online Gambling Laws
Despite the current Greek law only supporting OPAP, most of the top online bookmakers accept Greek customers and many offer Greek language support on their websites. These are mainly the large UK based companies who obtained the 2011 interim licenses and set their sites up to cater for Greek customers. The downside is you may struggle to find operators who offer customer support in Greek.
Of course there are no problems using Euros on any reputable sites. Credit card deposits can be made with Visa or MasterCard and there are no problems with Greek banks processing these transactions. Alternatively you could use one of the web wallets like NETeller or Skrill for fast transactions.
The Future of Online Sports Betting in Greece
As of yet there has been no movement in response to the EU’s ruling in 2013, with regards to letting in new operators. The government has given up the majority of their stake in OPAP and removed its tax free status. In order to recover the ongoing income they will lose from this you would imagine the next stage is to get new operators in the country and start to apply charges and taxes to them.
While these legislative changes are still pending, Greek bettors are able to choose from a huge selection of online betting sites. If more operators are licensed, this will lead to greater competition, which can only be a positive for Greek punters. Watch this space.
Greece Online Gambling License
References
Greece Online Gambling Regulations
[1]EU OKs Greek Plan to Extend OPAP Exclusive Rights – Greek Reporter
[2]Greece Shuts Down Stanleybet’s Outlets – Reuters
[3]CJEU Rules on Issue That Prevents UK Betting Companies From Entering Greek Market – Out-law.com
[4]Stanleybet Threatens to Sue Greece Over Gambling Monopoly – Reuters
[5]In Greece, Use a Gameboy and go to Jail – CNet
[6]OPAP Loses EU Court Case Over Greek Gambling Monoploy – Bloomberg