Greeks set to bet 8.5 bln euros in year

Casino punters on the rise

With gambling fever about to peak on New Year's Eve, sources said that Greeks are expected to have gambled -8.5 billion this year with growing amounts being spent in casinos, on OPAP lotteries and on illegal online games.

About -3 billion will be spent in all of the country's nine casinos in 2007 while annual turnover booked by OPAP, one of the largest companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, is around the -3.5 billion mark.

Experts said that a combination of slick marketing campaigns, people's belief in the possibility of getting rich overnight and a shift in community values has fueled demand in gambling.

«From the OPAP marketing campaigns to television game shows, there is the message everywhere that there are ways to win money quick and that those who are rich are also happy,» sociologist Andreas Fountoulakis told Kathimerini.

«This, in combination with the economic difficulties that exist, has brought gambling to the spotlight,» he added.

The number of visitors heading to casinos is expected to nearly double during the festive season.

Data show that the Loutraki casino, west of Athens, is visited by about 3,000 people daily but the figure shoots up to around 5,000 around Christmas.

Meanwhile, punters turning to illegal electronic gambling are spending almost -1.5 billion per year on their pastime.

Illegal betting on the Internet has been winning more fans as it offers better returns than OPAP and the opportunity to gamble on only one sports match, helping boost their chances of winning.

«The number of those who play [illegal games] are fewer than those who play the legal games, but the amounts that are bet are much larger,» said a senior police source.

A large number of betting agency owners are allegedly helping support the increase in illegal electronic gambling by accepting debts from their trustworthy customers and then processing the bet themselves for a commission of up to 4 percent.

«One in 10 betting agency owners does this,» the police source added.