Athens is informed that all options are being reviewed in the economic and social fight against black market operators, including prison sentences and consumer fines for repeated play on illegal websites.
Greece maintains its ambitions to be the first EU nation to launch a ‘comprehensive framework’ dedicated to combat illegal gambling activities and related crimes.
The commitment comes from the Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who is proceeding with a bill to overhaul Greece’s laws and protections against illegal gambling and the accelerating encroachment of the black market.
Pierrakakis has informed parliament that he expects to publish a decree “in the first half of 2026”, containing new laws and toughened measures “to combat a €1.6bn illegal economy,” as the Greek state’s current losses now exceed “at least €500m annually in lost public revenues.”
“The numbers are shocking,” Minister Pierrakakis told lawmakers. “This is not simply a leak of public resources, we are combatting a deep social pathology that requires a modern and uncompromising response.”
The legislative push follows warnings delivered by Pierrakakis to Parliament in August 2025, when he formally outlined the scale at which illegal gambling operators had expanded across both online platforms and physical venues.
Taking on the mandate, Pierrakakis and the Hellenic Gaming Supervision and Control Board (EEEP) underscored the scale of consumer participation in illegal gambling during 2024, with 9.5% of the population, equating to around 799,000 citizens, having engaged with unlicensed gambling at least once.
Zero tolerance approach
Government briefings at the time described unlicensed gambling as having evolved into a parallel shadow economy, increasingly driven by organised networks and offshore digital operators operating beyond traditional enforcement reach.
At the centre of the new framework is a sharp escalation in criminal penalties aimed directly at illegal operators. The organisers of unlicensed gambling particularly games of chance, will now face prison terms of up to 10 years, alongside financial penalties ranging from €50,000 to €100,000.
Aggravating circumstances include professional-scale activity, repeat offences, the involvement of minors or the reopening of premises after being sealed — penalties will rise further, signalling a zero-tolerance approach to organised gambling networks.
However in a controversial shift, Pierrakakis summarised the introduction of criminal liability for consumers who knowingly participate in illegal gambling as “repeat participation will trigger punishment”.
Consumer liabilities mark a significant policy departure that extends enforcement beyond operators and facilitators to the consumer side of the black market. Government officials argue the move is necessary to dismantle illegal ecosystems that continue to thrive despite website blocking and venue shutdowns.
Land-based enforcement will also be dramatically strengthened. Authorities will gain powers to immediately seal premises found hosting illegal gambling activity, particularly internet cafés, private clubs and unlicensed gaming halls.
Land and online strike
Municipalities will be empowered to permanently revoke operating licences connected to illegal play, a fast-track mechanism designed to prevent operators from reopening under new business fronts — a tactic frequently observed in previous crackdowns.
The framework is being developed in collaboration with the EEEP which will receive expanded investigative authority and stronger enforcement mechanisms.
The regulator already maintains a real-time blacklist of more than 11,000 illegal gambling websites supported by DNS filtering and cooperation with domestic and international law-enforcement bodies. A new framework is expected to give it faster intervention rights across both digital and physical markets.
The fast-tracking of enforcements is required as 2024 data shows that approximately 390,000 played online via mobile or computer, 215,000 participated in physical venues such as clubs and internet cafés, while 194,000 used both channels.
The dominance of the 18-34 age group in this data has triggered deep concerns. The age demographic now account for more than a quarter of all unlicensed gambling participants.
Officials view the trend as evidence of early exposure to high-risk gambling behaviour through illegal digital platforms that operate without consumer protections.
“The protection of younger generations sits at the heart of this reform,” Pierrakakis stressed, arguing that the state must disrupt illegal markets that “normalise unlawful play as everyday digital entertainment.”
EU watches developments
Beyond domestic enforcement, Athens is increasingly positioning the framework to be the first reference point for wider European nations to combat illegal gambling.
Developments will be followed closely by regulators in the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, who have been warned of the escalating growth of the black market.
Greek officials argue that soft national approaches are no longer sufficient in a borderless online environment.
“This is a modern regulatory response to a modern criminal economy,” Pierrakakis concluded. “It is about protecting society, restoring public revenues and confronting illegal gambling with real consequences.”