The Greek Gaming Authority (EEEP) presented important data regarding the behavior of participants in illegal gambling, describing the extent of the phenomenon and the impact on a financial and personal level.
The data is the result of a survey conducted by KAPA Research on a sample of 5.800 respondents across the country with systematic random sampling of points with a fixed time step from the beginning of January 2023 to the end of February 2024.
According to the results of the survey presented by head of the General Directorate of Supervision and Operational Operations of the EEEP, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, an estimated 900.000 people played games in 2023 in an unlicensed environment (land-based or online). Specifically, 10,4% participated in illegal gambling at least once in the last 12 months. Among players who choose to participate in illegal online gambling, nearly 76% of players choose both licensed and unauthorized providers. And 24% of players choose exclusively unlicensed providers.
The money spent on the illegal network in total, according to the investigation, amounts to 1,7 billion euros. Of these, 1 billion euros in online games and 700 million euros in online games. euro in land-based games.
Furthermore, the average amount spent in the last 12 months is 1.934 euros per player. The average spend for unlicensed online games is at 1.194 euros per year and around 738 euros per year for unlicensed land-based games.
Finally, particular emphasis was placed on the 17-24 age group, which seems to have a freer sense of risk, underestimating its importance and the risk associated with participating in games in an unauthorized environment, which may be linked to high participation rates at younger ages.
In his opening speech at the conference, the President of the Authority, Dimitrios Ntzanatos, referred in detail to the social and financial consequences of the illegal gambling phenomenon, as well as the control difficulties resulting from rapid technological developments in this market.
Ntzanatos underlined that: “the close collaboration of all stakeholders in the state and the legal market is important for the effective prevention and repression of the phenomenon of illegal gambling".
