Gambling is one of the human civilization’s favorite activity. The reason we say this is more than clear: there is no culture where you cannot find gambling games. When we say this, we mean it literally.
You just need to take a look at a wide array of cultures, and you can see just how widespread gambling is. Of course, this rule has a few exceptions since gambling is completely foreign in Islamic culture. However, we can see that some doors are about to open.
For instance, you can see that several online casinos have started to penetrate the Middle Eastern market. A good example of that is Bet0Bet Casino. You can read all about this one at ArabiCasino.com.
It is just one of the examples of how the current tides are changing in the region. Besides that, we can see that the local governments are considering legalizing the market and introducing legislation to control it.
While there are only a handful of such occurrences in the Middle East, the best example is what recently occurred in the UAE. The United Arab Emirates is among the hot spots of both technological and touristic places in the world. But we can see they are ready to open a new possibility for themselves: a gambling market. Today, we want to dig deep into this topic. Without further ado, let us begin.
How Did the Law Looked Before?
As we’ve mentioned previously, we can see that the UAE federal regulator created a legislative framework that helps regulate the local market. Of course, the local market is rather small, and we need to wait for some years before it reaches the levels of its competitors. Still, it is among the biggest ones in the region where it operates. Because of the region’s religious background, we can see that some limitations still exist.
Still, we can see that the legislation has been made to complement the local laws. For instance, it is interesting to see how gambling was defined in the local law. It is defined as a game where two parties agree that the one who loses the game must pay a certain amount of money or everything they agree upon. Also, gambling in the country is punishable by the word of law through a fine or imprisonment.
Besides that, we can see that the law also heavily prevented the potential exposure of younger generations to such activities. Therefore, promoting any company that works in this field is not allowed, which was not hard for the locals since all the companies that did it were foreign. But as we’ve said, the whole narrative will change in 2023, when several changes will be implemented.
Federal Gambling Regulator
On the third of September, 2023, UAE’s state agency announced that the government would create a federal gambling regulator. The goal of creating a federal regulator is to create an institution that will handle several tasks regarding the gambling market, including issuing and managing licenses. However, we must say that a high percentage of the current legal framework is still unclear since many unknowns exist.
To explain this, we want to say that the form this one will take is not completely clear. The reason for all the uncertainty is clear since there are many cultural limitations we’ve mentioned previously. Another thing that remains unclear to most people is whether an online platform will regulate this field. We will have to wait and see the elements that will come to fruition and which ones will not.
The need for creating this sort of institution is because of the local market’s expansion. A good indicator of where it will be in the future is the creation of a brand new casino, which will be located on Al-Marjan island. The island is in the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate, for those who do not know. Furthermore, whether the two existing ones, Mahzooz and Emirates Draw, will fall under the regulator’s jurisdiction is still unknown.
When considering their options in the world of casino gambling, individuals often weigh the potential outcomes against the associated risks, striving to make informed and strategic decisions.
Other Goals
Besides creating the regulatory body and putting the whole market in a framework, the government wants to achieve the highest possible level of quality. Furthermore, you will see they are interested in creating a socially responsible environment. With that in mind, we can see that issuing licenses will require meeting the highest possible standards on behalf of the companies that want to enter the market.
Furthermore, the ultimate goal is to boost tourism. While tourism is a field that has a lot of potential left to be explored in the country, the UAE already has millions of people worldwide visiting the country every year. So, when you see they are interested in adding various other content, you can understand they are serious about exploring a wide array of possibilities they didn’t explore before, which is always a good sign.
What About the Managerial Staff?
Probably the most interesting thing to know regarding the federal gambling regulator is that the veterans of the United States gambling will head it. The most prominent name is Kevin Mullally, the head of the Missouri Gaming Commission. In the last two decades, Mr. Mullally has been a part of Gaming Laboratories International, better known as GLI, which is an international organization in this field.
Besides Mr. Mullally, we can see that Jim Murren, another prominent name, is going to be on the board of directors. What is also interesting to see is that Jim Murren was a personal choice of Kevin Mullally. The experience of these two veterans, with the addition of many more, will ensure the success of the UAE’s local gambling market. Surely, we will need to wait for a couple of years, even decades, before it reaches its full potential.
The Bottom Line
A completely new market will emerge in the world gambling scene, UAE. While it was believed this was impossible for many years, we can see this is finally about to become a prominent force. Here, you can find all there is to know about the possibilities of this market.