Online gambling may be a thing of the past in Cyprus. The Cypriot government proposed an amendment to their gambling laws yesterday that would ban online gambling. In recent years, online gambling has become popular across all parts of the Mediterranean nation, but the government seeks to put an end to that.

Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis is no fan of online gambling, calling it a “social scourge” and claiming that online casinos have popped up on “every corner of Cyprus and anyone, young or old, can basically gambling in the same way it is done in casinos abroad.”

Instead of placing age restrictions and other regulations on the online gambling market, the government of Cyprus wants to eliminate it. The proposed gambling amendment would outlaw online poker, roulette, slots and all table games.

However, online sports betting would still be allowed and will be licensed by the government. The new legislation would set up a government board to regulate sports betting operations. A tax that is estimated at 10% would be levied on online betting sites. Stavrakis seems excited about the added revenue from sports betting, saying that with the banning of online casino games, you can assume that those who want to wager money online “will go to internet or other betting.” Stavrakis, it seems, doesn’t see sports betting as a “scourge.”

With online casino gambling to be banned in Cyprus, the nation can expect to see illegal gambling on overseas casinos. Time and again, history has shown that such restrictions do little to keep people from gambling online.

Tags: Charilaos Stavrakis, Cyprus gambling laws, Cyrpus online gambling, Online Casino, online gambling, online gambling legislation, sports betting