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The Cyprus government has approved a bill which will simultaneously regulate internet sports betting and ban online games such as slots, poker and roulette. The bill is the state's latest attempt to put an end to the ever expanding online casino industry operating out of Cyprus.
"It is a very important bill, which tries to resolve a problem that has developed into a social scourge in recent years," said Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis. "These (on-line) casinos have been created on every corner of Cyprus and anyone, young or old can basically gamble in the same way it is done in casinos abroad."
The new bill will tax online betting operators and produce revenue for the state. The exact amount of the tax has yet to be decided but Stavrakis speculated that it would probably be somewhere in the range of 10 per cent.
The new bill will also provide stricter penalties for those breaking the law. Under current legislation, police only seize the establishment's equipment, which is often promptly replaced but under the new bill, "The establishment will be sealed for as long as the case is tried,"
Approval of the bill was unanimous and now all that awaits its implementation is approval from the European Commission. Time can only tell if it will make much of a difference for the Eurasian island country.
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