India Opening Up to Gambling

When most people think of gambling, the first thing they think of is Las Vegas. The US has long reigned the gambling industry, but Asia is catching up at lightning-speed. Macau is already giving Las Vegas a run for its money and has already become a household name, with the only real difference between the two cities being the type of games which are popular to play. Las Vegas is dominated by blackjack lovers, whereas Macau is more about baccarat.

However, India has always been very conservative on this issue in comparison to other Asian countries, but it seems as if things might head in a very different direction in the near future. Creating a more open forum for gambling would certainly be the wise decision as an estimated 60 billion dollars are bet in the country each year, the large majority of which being bet illegally. The little portion of this money which is legal is restricted to state lotteries, horse races and just a small number of casinos, which clearly fail to meet the demands of eager casino players who want to spend much of their hard-earned cash playing games like blackjack.

Following a scandal last month in which players were accused of accepting bribes from bookies, new legislation has been proposed which aims to make cheating in sports a criminal offence. This might alert legislators and lead to a review of ancient gambling laws in India putting severe restrictions on gambling, some going as far back as the 1800s. However, insiders speculate that gambling will be opened up in the country, even if it may take some time.