Politics and betting - bad mix

[sofa_pundit]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forum and wasn't sure where to post this (so feel free to move it!). Basically I'm sick of the state of regulations on betting put in place by the EU. The courts have recently ruled to allow countries like Portugal, Germany and Greece from continuing their gambling monopolies. It means that citizens of those countries can't access the gambling suppliers of their choice, instead they are forced to use the government's. This means less competition between suppliers, less business for operators like bigFREEbet, but worse prices for punters.

There's a petition at www.right2bet.net to try and change the situation. It's unfair! Gambling is expensive enough as it is!

[wayneroo]

Which ones do they not allow? Do the governments actually own gambling companies?

[sofa_pundit]

Any of them! Yes, the state owns a bookmaker, which is the only supplier people from that country can legally use to place bets. It's a little like in Canada, where there are no off-licences or licquer stores - instead everyone has to go through state-owned licenced stores to buy their alcohol.

But obviously with the government controlling the prices, the temptation is always there for politicians to increase their revenues by charging punters more than they would be paying if many gambling agencies were competing for their business. And without say, all of the citizens of Germany, Greece etc contributing to the European gambling market, other agencies charge more too becuase the market value of betting is artificially raised by what the government of Germany or whoever is charging. It's pretty annoying!

[wayneroo]

So which countries are we talking about? I've not heard about this.

[free bet]

numerous countries are involved in this, including offshore havens....

[sofa_pundit]

Hi everyone,

There’s another petition set up as part of the same campaign, this one a little more fun. It can be found at http://www.thenakedpetition.com , and features a sexy girl who’ll dance and strip when you sign her body. And she’ll send you another photo, which, trust me, you’ll want to see. It’s all still to get better deals on gambling, but have a look