Greece Blocks Online Casinos

August 2, 2013

We have just heard that the Commission for the Supervision and Control of Games (CSCG) in Greece has blocked over 400 online gambling sites, and is taking extreme measures to curb online gambling within the country.

The total list of online casino sites that the Commission for the Supervision and Control of Games has blocked in Greece lists 401 separate online gambling operators, and these are not small sites either, the list contains many of the big players in the market and this includes PartyPoker and Bwin. Some sites such as FullTilt and PokerStars were not blocked, and it is unsure why they were overlooked.

The list of 401 online casino sites was given to internet service providers, who have been instructed to start blocking the sites, so that people within Greece can no longer access them. This is an incredible move, almost draconian, and an indication of how much control and censorship is possible in Greece.

The Commission for the Supervision and Control of Games has really clamped down here, we have seen the CSCG take similar measures in the past, but not on this massive scale. Greece is often criticized for its censorship of the internet. We also need to consider that Greece operates what in effect is its own online casino, OPAP, and this of course, is not blocked. Indeed, when Cyprus banned online gambling within its borders last year, OPAP was one of the only online casino sites allowed to keep operating within the country, due to the close ties that Cyprus has with Greece.

The European Commission has in the past, gone head to head with the Commission for the Supervision and Control of Games, and tried to stop the CSCG from putting so many restrictions in place, but with little effect.

Overall, thanks to this move by the Commission for the Supervision and Control of Games, if you are an online gambling fan living in Greece, it is highly likely that your favorite online casino sites are now blocked, and you will no longer be able to play at them. However, as always, there are ways around this such as a VPN tunnel.

Other Recent News Added to 777 Online Slots