Greece’s gambling market sees upward trend in Q1 2024

Gambling, one of the most common vices in the world has a long history that dates all the way back to ancient Greece. Records of ancient Greeks playing dice and other luck-based games are found throughout ancient literature, and are even included in the works of Homer, who is possibly the most famous ancient Greek poet in history. Possibly the most common and popular form of gambling in Greece involved various dice games.

The ancient Greeks played knuckle bones, and even assigned numerical values to each of the four sides of the pieces, much like modern dice. Ancient Greeks and Romans also began to form cubic dice out of clay in later antiquity. These strongly resembled contemporary dice. While the rules of many of these ancient games have been lost to time, scholars are capable of guessing and estimating some rules based on ancient sources.

A well-known element of dice games played first in ancient Greece and then in Rome is called “Aphrodite’s throw,” which involves throwing four knuckle bones at once. If all four landed on a different number, it was considered the best result and called “Aphrodite’s throw.”

In our days, the Hellenic Gaming Commission reported that total turnover from legal gambling activities in Greece, including OPAP, lotteries, racecourse betting, online gambling, and casinos,reached €10.85 billion ($11.79 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, up from €9.51 billion ($10.33 billion) during the same period last year.

Reformed turnover (TGR), which includes profits and bonuses reinvested by players, increased to €3.89 billion ($4.23 billion) from €3.49 billion ($3.79 billion) in Q1 2023. Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), the actual revenue for gambling providers, rose to €682.3 million ($741.28 million) compared to €641.3 million previously. Additionally, player tax revenue grew to €97.4 million ($105.82 million), up from €80.9 million ($87.89 million).

The report comes as the Hellenic Gaming Commission explores the integration of artificial intelligence within the gaming sector. At the Beyond 2024 technology exhibition, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Chief Operation Officer of the Commission, discussed the potential of AI and linguistic models to tackle issues such as player addiction, illegal advertising, complaint management, and public information dissemination.

Papadopoulos emphasized that integrating machine learning technologies to oversee and regulate gaming activities in Greece stands as a steadfast strategic objective of the Hellenic Gaming Commission. The Commission aims to leverage AI to enhance regulatory oversight and ensure responsible gambling practices.

Greece’s gambling market sees upward trend in Q1 2024

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