Studying how casino games and betting in Spain transitioned from a black market to a heavily regulated one is a really easy way to understand the differences between regulated and unregulated casino markets. Online casino games answer a global human desire that must be fulfilled whether legal environments condone it or not. Before Spain lifted its ban on casino games, people still played in hiding. The unregulated market was dark and gloom, but it was the only means through which people could enjoy the fun and lucrative casino games. People were often ripped off, and a lot of money was used to facilitate criminal activities below the government’s radar. Then, Spain made royal and legislative policies that lifted the York of banned casino games. The market changed for the better, and now we shall examine how.
Before 2006, Spain did not allow its people to bet on sports games or scientific outcomes in research. People still did it, and that strengthened the influence of wealthy criminal masterminds heading cartels. They invested heavily in the underground betting market to rip off people and to launder their criminally obtained money. They were the underground tax collectors. Their methods of ruling the black market involved intimidation, kidnapping, rape and murder. The government struggled to fight well-funded criminal cartels that could easily coerce the people into silence and cooperation. It lost out on a huge tax stream and even lost potential investment partnerships for the sports sector. Worse still, it impeded the growth of jackpots, blackjacks and roulette. Worst of all for the government, illegal betting encouraged the growth of other criminal activities significantly.
In 2006, the government caught a glimpse of its mistake. It started issuing licenses to brick and mortar as well as online betting sites. In 2008, the government allowed the first betting shops to open. In the same year, the brick and motor casinos obtained regional licenses. However, during those two years of the great transformation that saw online sports betting legalized, online casino games still remained illegal. People could only go to brick and mortar casinos that were tied down to small regions. It was not until 2010 when the Spanish parliament moved to legalize online casino games like poker, roulette, slots and blackjacks. It was at this time when the betting market transitioned from unregulated online casino games to regulated casino games.
The government still had to consolidate the real advantages of regulated online casino games. The parliament had already done part of the job through the Spanish Gaming Act of 2010. It had also set up parameters to dry out the criminal cartels though licenses denial. People quickly flocked out of the black markets and into the newer, safer and legally licensed markets. In 2014, the Royal Decree 304/2014 moved to protect the Spanish economy by giving the Financial Action Task Force the authority to act against money laundry efforts in online casino games.
