In Estonia, purchasing lottery tickets, placing sports bets, or playing casino games is permitted from the age of 21. Nevertheless, according to a study commissioned by the Gambling Addiction Counseling Center and conducted by Kantar Emor, 59 percent of respondents aged 15-20 have had contact with gambling. Furthermore, 47 percent of 15-19-year-olds who had gambled in the past two years were also in the at-risk group, indicating that gambling had caused them some problems or that they were pathological gamblers.
According to Silver Sternfeldt, the CEO of the Gambling Addiction Counseling Center (HNK), over one hundred thousand people are in the “at-risk” group, Estonia ranks first among European countries with gambling problems. Sternfeldt attributes this to societal attitudes toward gambling.
As a society, we have not yet reached a point where we know how to gamble responsibly or demand responsible gambling operations.
Silver SternfeldtCEO of the Gambling Addiction Counseling Center (HNK)
The Ineffectiveness of Bans
Gambling providers are thriving, interest in gambling is high, and new online casinos are constantly entering the market. For example, last year, the difference between the stakes-placed and the winnings paid out in online gambling alone was €350 million. The state collected €48 million in gambling taxes over the year.
No operator is interested in having a gambling addict. This option exists and is used very actively; all operators impose internal restrictions within their organizations to prevent compulsive gamblers from playing.
