If you asked anyone from the gambling industry if it could be combined with the Internet, and become what it is today, no one could have expected it to turn into one of the world’s most powerful industries!
However, it’s 2024, and the popularity of online casinos and online gambling websites can be measured in billions of dollars since the gambling market is worth somewhere around 100 billion dollars at the moment!
Every country has its own regulatory bodies, laws, and regulations to control this market. When the first casino game appeared centuries ago, there wasn’t the need for regulating something that was happening in the comfort of people’s homes, but as the first brick-and-mortar casinos appeared on the market, the governmental institutions realized that they have to establish some kind of control over these activities. As a result, gambling and betting had to find their way into the laws, this way or another.
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What’s the situation like today?
Some countries are completely open to online gambling and brick-and-mortar gambling, perceiving it as a powerful way to boost their economy, while in other countries, gambling is strictly forbidden and can also be punished by the law.
For gamblers around the world, this means being able to play their favorite games online and place bets using just their phones, laptops, or tablets. The convenience of betting online is the fact that people don’t have to go to brick-and-mortar casinos anymore, whether they wanna have fun or they want to earn some money.
Visiting brick and mortar casinos was and still is controversial in a way, because it is a risky activity, and developing the addiction is a quite common thing, especially for people who don’t have a lot of self-control nor the developed strategies that would help them stay on top of the game and keep things under control.
However, land-based casinos still exist and still have a lot of visitors, but they’re mostly transformed into tourist attractions, so people go for the experience that includes many factors, not just gambling.
Visiting the famous Bellagio in Las Vegas or any of the casinos in Monaco is a part of people’s vacations just like visiting museums or beaches. At the same time, the majority of gambling went online. Whether it’s poker, blackjack, slots or sports betting, it’s been proven as a much convenient way to access your casinos anytime and anywhere, track the results, pick up the winnings etc.
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That being said, online gambling became an easy-accessible solution for all the people who wanna have a side hustle or who just prefer this kind of entertainment over the others. Many people enjoy spending time on gambling websites rather than spending time on social media, and that is completely fine as long as it’s something that can be controlled.
When it comes to online gambling websites and activities, some countries find it illegal. These countries forbid both hosting internet gambling operations and visiting these websites. Counties such as Singapore, Qatar, North Korea or Lebanon are strict about this – according to their laws, it’s illegal to indulge in any gambling activities, whether it is sports betting or classic casino games. This is being controlled by the government and also punished by the laws of the country.
In the United Arab Emirates, gambling (whether it’s online or offline) can lead to imprisonment of up to 2 years, which is something you should keep in mind when traveling. But what about Malaysia? What’s the situation in this country when it comes to online gambling? Let’s dig into that.
Gambling in Malaysia
When it comes to Malaysia, gambling in brick-and-mortar casinos, as well as the existence of brick-and-mortar casinos, is forbidden. Gambling laws in this country prohibit land-based gambling activities and organizations, but all these laws are relatively old since, they’ve been around for 50 or more years, and they do not contain any information about online gambling.
As you may already know, online gambling has spiked over the last couple of years, only to become one of the most popular and powerful markets out there. This means that Malaysian gambling laws have been established long before the Internet and online casinos entered the stage.
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However, Malaysian governmental organizations and authorities have permission to ban online casinos and gambling websites, thanks to the four legal frameworks that are currently active in this country.
Still, there’s always a way around it.
Malaysian Grey Area
Malaysian governmental institutions can ban Malaysian gambling websites and online casinos, but they can’t ban foreign gaming websites, since their laws and regulations can be applied only within their territory.
On the other hand, Malaysian laws don’t prohibit gambling online on foreign websites (and it’s mainly harder to get caught) meaning that people from Malaysia can indulge in the world of online casinos, with no consequences.
However, other countries’ online casinos or even Malaysia-based international online casinos are being visited by Malaysians only if they are renowned and trusted, such as Uwin33, along with the gambling websites from Great Britain or Malta. The most important thing about these websites is the fact that they guarantee data protection for their users and players, which is extremely important in a country where gambling is forbidden in general.
The Future Brings More Freedom
Source: newsbugz.com
An interesting thing is a fact that the Malaysian deputy minister of communications and multimedia has announced that Malaysia has had a great spike in online gambling activity since the pandemic started, which is an area that could and should be regulated.
According to his beliefs, a much better option for this country will be to tax all gambling activities, rather than trying to prohibit them at all costs, which proved to be impossible.
Therefore, he said that the main goal is to establish a governmental body or organization that would be in charge of all the gambling activities that would monitor them and regulate them according to the law, no matter if it’s about Malaysian gamblers who indulge in gambling using international casinos, Malaysian online casinos or it’s about foreigners using Malaysian websites.
However, these tendencies show that Malaysian authorities are slowly but surely becoming conscious about gambling importance and popularity, which can (and probably will) result in much better regulations of this industry.
