Greeks spent 12 billion euros in legal and illegal betting and gaming

It is estimated that there are 60,000-100,000 illegally operating game machines, while the turnover in the legally operating market recorded a significant drop

Evgenios Giannakopoulos, head of the Commmittee for the Gaming Supervision and Control, said at the Institutions and Transparency Committee that the turnover from legal and illegal gaming operations in Greece is estimated at about 6 billion euros for 2013.

It is estimated that there are 60,000-100,000 illegally operating game machines, while the turnover in the legally operating market recorded a significant drop, according to Mr. Giannakopoulos and added that “I hope that the new games to be installed by OPAP (the state-run lottery and betting pools agency) within 2014 would fight the phenomenon”.

However, the greater loss of revenue is recorded at casinos, since their profits decreased in 2013 by 50% compared with 2009 (1.68 billion euros and 2.83 billion euros respectively).