You might enjoy an occasional bet when your favourite team is playing on Saturdays, or you might get a kick out of roulette or a poker game at a casino. Nowadays, you don’t even have to go to a casino or sports betting place to have a little bit of fun. Chances are, you have an app on your phone or you just visit a website from your computer and have some fun online.
You can easily bet on sports events from the comfort of your home. Also, you can play now a lot of different games like blackjack, poker, slots and more. All of that and more from the exact same spot you’re in right now.
You might be wondering why we’re even telling you this. It’s not like online gambling is a new thing. Yes, online gambling and sports betting have been around for quite some time now and it’s been getting only better ever since. However, what you might not know is how much of a privilege it is to be able to plapld where online gambling and gambling in general is forbidden and illegal.
We have all heard about the illegal poker games and similar stuff, this is not about that. There are a few countries in the world where any form of gambling is punishable by law. You can easily end up in jail in some of these places if caught gambling. It’s not like you’d pay a fine and be over with it. To get to the bottom of it we have to kind of philosophical. We might have to take a look at some of the societies pillars to understand this. We won’t get philosophical a lot – just enough for everyone to understand why it is the way it is.
At the moment, there are 15 countries in the world where gambling is illegal. 7 out of those 15 countries have laws that state that online gambling is illegal. Those countries are Cyprus, North Korea, UAE, Brunei, Poland, Singapore and Cambodia.
Aside from them, you cannot gamble in Afghanistan, Algeria, Cayman Islands, Lebanon, Indonesia, Qatar, Pakistan and Vatican. As you can see, most of these countries are Islamic, although not exclusively. The Vatican is clearly the heart and soul of Catholicism and it is illegal there, as well. Poland might come as something of a surprise to you, but unless the sports betting is in question, you cannot place a bet online. Surprisingly, Indonesia is also one of the countries that had banned betting altogether. Fortunately, Thailand isn’t far away so Ufabet is just a couple of clicks away.
In all of those countries that we’ve mentioned earlier, there are laws in place that forbid all or some kinds of gambling. However, most of these laws are based on religious views even though it’s not actually a sin to gamble in any religion. This brings up the question of whether religion is the only reason or are there some others as well.
First of all, let us take a look at the two of the most common and main reasons why gambling is illegal in several parts of the world – religion and ethics. Although those reasons seem a bit archaic or strange for 2024, it’s just the way it is
1. Religion
Some cultures are very religious and in those cultures, gambling is considered sacrilegious. To be fair, most of the religions consider gambling sinful and sacrilegious, but, nowhere is it actually, explicitly deemed as a sin. It’s frowned upon, but nothing more than that. The key difference is, in some countries religion is very important and even something that is only frowned upon is avoided at all costs. Some countries still practice their religious laws as state laws, so a ban on gambling and religious influence should come as no surprise.
2. Ethics
On the other hand, you have an ethics or a morality problem. In some countries, it’s about the consequences and issues that are associated with gambling. For instance, some of the common problems associated with gambling are underage gambling, addiction or even in extreme cases loss of human life. Also, there is a stigma about the people who gamble in some societies as well. So, to avoid all of those, some countries have just decided to outright ban the gambling altogether. Even though this might seem like a fool-proof solution to said problems, it might not be.
3. Addiction prevention
Some of the countries have banned gambling just recently, in the last 20 or 30 years because of the increasing number of gambling addicts. This was the problem in countries with a larger percentage of poor people. It’s natural for poor people to look for an easy way to make money.
One thing that is interesting is that the ban isn’t always the right thing. In places where the ban has been placed to ‘protect’ the people from addiction, it caused people to find alternatives. Those alternatives are often way worse for them and their families. It’s not really the desired result – it’s quite the opposite in fact. Some countries even ban lotteries and bingo. Any game where luck and money are involved can potentially be law braking.
4. Status
Another thing in common with most of these countries is that they are either really poor or really rich. As you can see, Qatar, UAE and the Vatican are countries that are very well developed and most the residents are rich. Aside from the great impact of religion, the reason gambling is banned might be connected to social status. Gambling is often considered to be something only poor people do, although that is not even remotely true. However, the ban on gambling might be for those reasons as well.
One thing is certain, whatever the reason behind all of this is – it’s not simple. Will the laws ever change? We don’t know. One thing we do know though. If you’re lucky enough to live in a place where gambling is legal and not frowned upon – be responsible.
