The history of sports betting and, more in general, gambling goes back in time ages and it’s present in almost every ancient culture worldwide. We know that people enjoyed some good gambling action since the beginning of civilization.
It’s a thrilling activity that can give the human mind a nice dose of serotonin being also quite addictive.
Nowadays, however, as society’s understanding of what gambling and betting truly mean to some people, some countries decided to put a limit or, in a certain case, a full ban on those activities.
Europeans Love Gambling
It’s easy for us Europeans, for example, to find good gambling and betting sites, we can just visit Casinonet.gr online casino and look at our options, or just go to a physical betting and gambling spot.
In fact, even considering that the EU does not have specific laws on the matter, most European countries allow at least some games of chance to be offered on the internet and more legal ways to gamble offline.
Some of them allow all games, some other are stricter, like Belgium, but you can be sure you’ll find a legal way to gamble your money in each and every one of them.
The Rapidly Changing US Regulations
In the US, on the other hand, while gambling is permitted under federal law, every state has a different way of dealing with it.
In general, more and more states are beginning a process of legalization of both in-person and online gambling and sports betting but be sure to check the specific laws of the State you are traveling too, to avoid any bad inconvenience.
Africa’s ups and downs on gambling and sports betting
In Africa, things are a bit different. It’s the world’s second-largest continent, in terms of both landmass and population, and has 54 individual and independent sovereign states with, of course, different rules.
In general, we can say that in strict Islamic countries, such as Sudan, gambling not only is not permitted, but it’s also very dangerous to be caught breaking the law: in Sudan, people caught wagering on chance games or sports betting are lashed in public.
In other States that may have been more influenced by western culture, gambling is perfectly legal. Again, be sure to check the laws of the country you are traveling to, especially in the African or Asian continent, to avoid inconveniences that can even lead to… the death penalty.
Asia and its different choices
Asia is the largest continent in terms of both land area and population. It has many countries with different political views and systems so laws may vary quite a lot between one country and another.
Tourism is huge in the continent and visitors may be tempted to enjoy some good gambling action, but they should be aware of the fact that gambling in Asia is allowed only in certain regions.
A strict ban on gambling goes on in China, India, North Korea, and Kuwait, for example. On the other hand, countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, and Japan allow both gambling and sports betting (and both are quite huge in them!).
The widely gambling-friendly Latin America
Latin America, like other major regions of the world we already talked about, presents different approaches to gambling and sports betting.
Mexico is the land of the free when it comes to these activities, for example, with its online gambling and betting industry still largely unregulated.
On the other hand, Brazil has very outdated laws, keeping all luck-based games completely illegal, creating a vast illegal (and dangerous) underground gambling world. Online gambling and sports betting, however, didn’t exist at the time the law was written, so they remain unregulated to this day.
Argentina and Uruguay are very gambling-friendly, while Colombia bans all online betting and gambling activities.
A quick look at Oceania’s gambling laws
When it comes to Oceania’s gambling and sports betting laws, we get a similar picture to the other Western countries.
Some honorable (and dishonorable) mentions
We gave you a quick look at the main continents and regions of the world with their regulations and laws on gambling and betting, but let’s have a look at some interesting cases of countries in which wagering is prohibited.
Or is it?
Take Cambodia, for example. The country had serious problems with gambling, so they decided to prohibit it in every instance, except in a state-funded situation. However, visitors can gamble freely in the country without breaking any law!
Would you like to try and guess another country in which the same contradictive laws as in Cambodia apply? You guessed wrong, it’s North Korea. Of course, gambling and betting are prohibited to every North Korean citizen, but visitors can gamble as much as they want.
Usually, rich and developed countries tend to be “soft” with their regulations on gambling, but the United Arab Emirates are not the case: being an Islamic nation, they banned all forms of gambling and sports betting and they set up heavy penalties for those who break the law. Players can face up to two years of prison and the internet is heavily censored!
There are, to be fair, some Islamic countries in which gambling is not completely illegal. Consider Lebanon, for example: the state has a tight grip on gambling and betting activities, but they are not considered illegal. Both land-based casinos and online platforms, however, have to be approved by the government and get the license to start their business.
