The Most Gambling Countries of the World

Each country has a passion for excitement, and each has its own particular games. In the top ten most gambling countries, for many, there may be quite unexpected applicants. You can determine the most gambling countries by annual spending on games in the casino. Let's list the gambling countries in descending order.

10. Spain
For every adult in Spain, there are 418 dollars of gambling expenses per year.
B is in spite of the fact that all gambling was banned in the country until 1977. In 1981, the country became legal slot machines "one-armed bandits", but, in our days, the situation has clearly changed for the better. Especially popular among Spaniards are bets on football, card games and a lottery. El Gordo (Fat Man) - the national lottery holds the title of the largest in the world with a prize pool of more than a billion dollars. Last year, tickets to El Gordo, despite the price of $ 286, bought 80% of the country's population!

9. Greece
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 391
Greece boasts one of the most famous players in the history of gambling - the legendary Nicholas Dandolos. In 1966, in 83 years, "Nick the Greek" died without having a penny in his pocket, losing all the money he won, which today would be equivalent to almost $ 500 million. One of the favorite games of the "Greek" was a lottery. In 2010, the Greek lottery "Joker" scored a record jackpot of 19 million euros. Also in the country is the largest European game company OPAP, with a total market value of about 4.1 billion euros.

8. Norway
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 416
Norwegians adore lotto, slot machines and sports betting. According to a survey conducted in 2008, 88% of Norwegians admitted that they had played various gambling games almost all their lives. The poll also showed that young people, who are keen on slot machines, are the most addicted to gambling. And all this despite the considerable efforts of the government of the country to limit access to gambling. In July 2007, the number of slot machines fell from 22,700 to only 10,000. The restriction did not stop, but on the contrary forced the players of Norway to switch to card games, mainly poker, and on such a scale that made the government think about limiting or completely banning online activities Casino and poker rooms. The state-owned company Norsk Tipping, which is under the jurisdiction of the local Ministry of Culture and Religion, annually brings about 2 billion state profits.

7. Hong Kong
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 468
Casinos in Hong Kong are officially banned, but the world's largest casino city Macau is only an hour's drive away, so it is visited by more than half a million Hong Kong residents annually. On the territory of Hong Kong itself, only lotteries, bets on football and horse races are legalized. And not surprisingly, it's enough to see what obsession with the local population causes competitions at the local Jockey Club, which, carrying out about 700 races a year, earns about 2.5 billion dollars annually. Residents of Hong Kong are known for their love of gambling. According to the study, every 20th in Hong Kong suffers, in one form or another, in a game addiction.

6. Italy
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 481
Italians prefer to play on electronic slot machines. According to a study conducted in 2010, electronic vending machines bring almost half of the total profits from the local gambling industry, which annually amounts to about $ 40 billion. It is also worth noting that in Italy for the first time appeared such a popular game as Baccarat, as well as the first legal casino in Europe "Ridotto", opened in 1638 in Venice. Only now in "Ridotto", with all the desire, no longer go, in 1774 the casino was closed in order "to maintain the purity of minds, discipline and decent behavior"

5. Finland
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 514
According to a study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Statistics among the adult population of Finland, 41% gambling weekly. The average age of the player on slot machines, which is now 18 years old, was recently at the level of 15. And the most surprising is that the country's largest gaming company Veikkaus is completely owned by the state, moreover, it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Most of the proceeds from the casino, goes to the development of education, art and culture - cleverly invented! Company Paf Group of Finland, which owns a large online casino in the country, conducts an interesting policy of "payments" to its visitors. If you have spent 120 euros or more in a casino, you will receive free of charge psychotherapist sessions to combat gambling addiction, and the sessions themselves, which can be up to ten, at a cost can be about 2, 300 euros.

4. Canada
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 528
Either way, 75 percent of Canada's residents are gambling. The most popular here is the lottery and scratch cards. Canadians are so fond of the lottery that sometimes it comes to ridiculous - the local government recently launched a social campaign to inform the public that a lottery ticket is not the most suitable gift for a child for Christmas.

3. Ireland
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 547
In Ireland, the gaming industry is not subject to state control at all, and it's no surprise - the game legislation in Ireland has not changed since 1956. According to this law, the maximum bet on a slot machine can not be more than 6 pence, and the winnings, more than 10 shillings. Only, neither pennies, nor shillings, are no longer a currency: Ireland , in 1999, switched to the euro. Now the legislation is being revised, and the Irish government has already given permission for the construction of a huge sports and entertainment complex in Tipperary at a cost of 460 million euros (668 million dollars). The project is expected to be completed within 3 years, and according to preliminary data, it will consist of a casino, a hotel, tracks for car and dog races, a golf course and even a banquet hall made in the form of a replica of the White House.

2. Singapore
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 1093
Although the first casino in Singapore opened more than a year ago, this city is already considered one of the largest centers of the gaming industry, alongside Macau and Las Vegas. The decision of the government of Singapore to allow the construction of a casino in the city limits has caused serious unrest that many Singaporeans can get into the game dependence. In order to protect its citizens from such a danger, the authorities of Singapore even introduced payment for entrance to the casino in the amount of $ 80. Also, a "Family Exclusion" system was created that allows citizens to put a ban on their casino visits for their relatives. But, even with such measures, they could not extinguish the ardor of local players. In 2011, Singapore has already outscored the total revenue of Las Vegas for 600,000 dollars.

1. Australia
The cost of gambling per person per year: $ 1199
Here, betting is done on everything, some gaming companies offer to put even on the rise or fall of the interests of the Central Bank of Australia. Slot machines in here have found simply insane popularity, according to a recent study, 75-80 percent of Australia's dependent players sat down on them. According to the Ministry of Culture from 2006 to 2010, 935 players have banned themselves a visit to the casino, and in 1, 249 cases were caught violating their own ban.