Gambling has been banned in Japan for the past 150 years, but looking for new sources of funds, government officials regard online and land-based gambling as one of them.

Traditionally, Japanese people have been keen gamblers. Thus, during the Edo period (1603-1868) many Japanese ended up selling their daughters into slavery to pay off their debts. As a result, gambling became illegal in Japan in the 19th century.

In spite of the ban on casinos, now there are other ways to gamble: horse, motor car and bicycle racing. Additionally, parlor games such as Mah Jong and Pachinko are officially sanctioned, but these activities bring little tax revenue to the government.

There aye lots of illegal casinos in Japan, normally located in bars and massage parlors. They are said to be controlled by Japan’s mafia – Yakuza. It must be noted, that in case gambling becomes legal in Japan, the mafia will have much to lose.

To the mind of many officials and businessmen, legalizing casino gambling would produce a gold mine. But still it is not clear when “the Japanese government will open the doors to online and land-based gambling”.

The potential buyers of the Svenska Spel gaming monopoly are welcome. The government is selling off the parts of the monopoly. The games that are less likely to lead to gambling addiction are on sale.

The government’s gaming commission is working on modernizing and strengthening Sweden’s gaming regulations. The gaming commission is also responsible for the examination of various gaming companies and making decisions whether to allow these companies to participate in the market or not.

As for the sale itself, the gaming commission has to judge whether the sale is appropriate from the point of social protection aspects and Sweden’s obligations under EU law.

Have you ever expected money raised from the lottery to be used for various environmental programs?

Nowadays there are lots of examples all over the world how lottery money is used for the good of our nature. At the same time there is an opinion that this way, governments try to cover their own faults, and the lottery money should be used for some other purposes. The reason for such an opinion is simple: a major increase in so called “green taxes” such as increased airport duties, car taxes, taxes at the fuel pumps, etc which appear almost every day, but seem to be not working. “Green taxes” are not used for what they are supposed to be used – environmental problems.

So, where does the money go?

Having inspected the premises, a magistrate has finally granted the Nottingham based poker club belonging to Dusk Till Dawn a license as a poker venue only. Dusk Till Dawn’s officials are absolutely delighted with the magistrate’s decision. There might have been a problem if they had applied for a casino license. But the demand for the type of the poker club Dusk Till Dawn is offering was key point.
The poker fans across the UK cannot but be pleased with the news. At the same time, the opening of the card room has attracted stiff opposition from London Clubs International, Gala and Stanley Leisure. In their opinion, there was not “sufficient interest to justify the opening”. Anyway, they had to listen to the magistrate rule in Dusk Till Dawn’s favor.
The opening of the card room is being planned for a mid-November.