Despite the fact that gambling can most certainly be fun, sometimes it is just not the case. When you stop gambling in moderation, you might very well develop an addiction, which may lead to your financial downfall. In some countries, this problem is more pronounced than in others, and today we will tell you about three of them who take their gambling to an extreme.

We will also discuss various ways in which punters prefer to spend their cash in different places, because even the websites from which people bet are vastly different across the globe. Where in Nigeria, an avid player may ask “How to play on Bet9ja?” and in Canada, for example, he will ask about DraftKing.

Fear and Loathing in the Land Down Under

Australia is probably not the first place that comes to mind when you think about rampant gambling, yet it is one of, if not the most troubled region of the world in that regard. An average Australian citizen gambles away upwards of $1500 each year, and what’s scary is the fact that most of this is happening in poor, rural areas whose GDP is comparatively smaller than those of big cities such as Melbourne or Sydney. This has led to an almost critical situation in which banks all around the country have to raise the interest rates on loans just to keep up with an ever increasing number of people applying for credit.

Overall, Australians mostly gamble their fortunes away at the casinos, in games like poker or blackjack. With poker being played with such prominence, the singular county of New South Wales makes up almost half of all high-level poker games played around the world.

Despite that, betting is also very popular. Usually, Aussies wager on domestic sports like rugby or cricket, but they also quite enjoy placing stakes on NBA matches and, being a former British colony, major football tournaments.

Vegas of the Pacific

Singapore is a place of contrasts. A micronation where natural beauty and Buddhist pagodas coexist peacefully with bustling streets and skyscrapers of steel and glass. For a long time, the place had zero to no casinos or gambling in any form. Strict laws with severe and sometimes even brutal punishments did not allow for such things. But it all changed in the year 2010, when the first casino in Singapore opened its doors to everyone.

It was an overwhelming success and a way for the government to fundraise for some of their ambitious projects by chipping away at the immense wealth of both Singaporean citizens and arriving foreigners. But it all came crashing down a couple of years later. Casinos were attracting a very specific demographic: senior citizens with a lot of time on their hands. Why is that so?

A significant majority of the Singapore population is ethnic Chinese. This particular nationality has a long-lasting gambling tradition in which male seniors who have retired spend their days betting, rolling dice, etc.

It was not a problem at first, but later down the line it became one, since these individuals were taught that the money they had was practically infinite. But when it turned out that it wasn’t, it was already too late.

The government instituted a number of laws in order to combat the situation, but they were all in vain and the massive problem of rampant gambling addiction among the Singapore elderly is still very much present to this day.

The Curse of  the Leprechaun’s Gold

The modern Republic of Ireland is a wealthy island nation of green pastures, good beer, and many more things. It had successfully become a member of the European Union in 1999, but despite all the benefits of euro-integration, it brought along something quite vile. Irish law is a complicated thing. A mish-mash of traditional Gaelic, Roman-Latin, Danish, and British-Colonial law systems with a hefty dose of nationalism and a sprinkle of EU systems on top. As a result of this mess, it so happened that the Gaming and Lottery Act of 1956, which specified the use of shillings and pennies as legal tender, stopped working in 1999, when the entirety of Ireland switched to the Euro. Ever since that happened, it has been the wild west for casinos and sportsbooks alike. They are simply everywhere and pretty much everyone takes part in this pastime, without thinking about any repercussions, of course. It became so bad, that police started to conduct raids on known casinos, which was sadly in vain, since when one was closed, another 5 sprouted.

Final Thoughts

These cases show us the ugly side of gambling, but there are also good things about it. Gambling, when regulated, brings loads of money to sectors much needed, like healthcare, education, infrastructural development, and social services. So don’t get the idea that everything about casinos or bookmakers is bad. It is only a matter of regulation and moderation that separates good and evil..

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