Is Gambling Banned In Morocco

• Is Gambling Banned In Morocco 2020
• Is Gambling Banned In Morocco 2019

According to the Quran, Muslims are forbidden to gamble. However, there are casinos in countries where Islam is the predominant religion, and there are numerous other countries throughout the world with casinos that focus their marketing strategies on attracting gamers from Muslim-majority countries.

In addition to the countries where BTC is banned, there are also countries where Bitcoin is somewhat restricted and cannot be traded or used for payment. In such states, banks and other financial service providers are prohibited from dealing with cryptocurrency exchanges and companies, and in more extreme cases the countries have even banned. The two biggest points about gambling when it comes to legislation are that it is a hugely profitable industry, and that the risks posed by problem gambling behaviour are real.

In the 1960s and ’70s, the high-end casinos in London were populated with Arab customers awash with their newly found petrodollars. Millions of pounds sterling were exchanged on a nightly basis. Today, in the London casinos, one will still find some of the largest players from Arab nations rubbing shoulders with Asian players.

Despite all the historical and current troubles in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Middle Easterners continue to seek gambling opportunities both within the region and in the West and the Far East, where larger integrated resorts attract the highest-net-worth players from around the world. With such intense investment and development originating from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and other major corporations, especially in the hospitality and leisure sector, the region may be primed to become a major gaming and integrated resort destination.

However, it is important to consider the previous successes and failures of the market, as well as the delicate balance of casino gaming within the culture of any Muslim-majority nation.

Gambling in MENA Countries Today

In Egypt, the 14 or so casinos in Cairo still do a good business, generating over $200 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) annually. Casinos are only permitted within five-star hotels, and Egyptian citizens are not supposed to enter the casinos. All players must present their passports at the door to gain entry. However, in the Middle East, many people have dual citizenship, and even Egyptians will show another passport to gain access to casinos.

Other quirks are that the casinos have to pay a gaming tax of 50 percent of GGR, and this has to be paid on a daily basis. If the casino loses on any particular night, the loss cannot be netted against casino wins in the following nights for tax purposes. The basis for the gaming tax and the consequent win/loss volatility work against high-action games such as craps and roulette.

Morocco is similar to Egypt in that it allows casino gambling, albeit with a smaller number of casinos than Egypt at only seven, and Moroccan citizens are also not supposed to enter the casino. However, similarly to Egypt, many wealthy Moroccan citizens are holders of two passports. The casinos are all located within five-star hotels and resorts in Marrakech, Agadir, El Jadida and Tangiers. The length of licenses and the gaming tax are negotiable depending on the level of investment made.

Tunisia allows casino gaming but only for foreign visitors. There are currently three casinos in the country. There were more, but many have closed since the downturn in tourism following a terrorist attack in Sousse that targeted foreign tourists in 2015.

Not many people realize that in Lebanon, the Casino du Liban operates in the coastal town of Maameltein, about 20 kilometers north of Beirut. It was originally opened in 1959 and closed in 1986, only to reopen after a $50 million refurbishment in 1996. The casino has more than 60 tables and 600 slot machines, a 1,000-seat showroom, a 600-seat theater, three restaurants, and banqueting for up to 600 people.

The casino’s average annual GGR is approximately $175 million. In 2017, the casino had gross revenues of $150 million, of which 50 percent was paid out in taxes and $80 million was paid out in salaries; the company has over 1,400 employees.

The oldest casino in the Middle East is the Casino du Liban in Lebanon, located just north of Beirut

Casino du Liban is a public company, quoted on the Beirut OTC market. Shares of the company have traded as high as $550 per share but are currently trading at $140 following years of losses. More than half of the shares that are not in the public float are owned by Intra Investment Company, which is owned 35 percent by the Lebanese Central Bank, 10 percent by the Lebanon Ministry of Finance, 4 percent by the Kuwaiti National Bank (which used to own 23 percent but has sold down), and 3 percent by the Kuwaiti government. There appears to be no restriction on Middle Eastern governments owning shares in casino companies, whether domestic or international.

Another Middle Eastern fund that has no difficulty investing in casinos is Dubai World, the sovereign wealth fund of the government of Dubai. In 2007, Dubai World invested $5.2 billion in what was then known as MGM Mirage, in order to bail out the company due to the strain of developing CityCenter in Las Vegas.

Istithmar World, a subsidiary of Dubai World, invested heavily in Kerzner International in 2006 to take the company private, emerging with a 30 percent share of the company. Kerzner International once owned the Atlantis Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas, but its only gaming property today is the Magazan Beach and Golf Resort in Morocco.

Other non-Middle Eastern countries that attract customers from these regions include the approximately 25 in Northern Cyprus; Melco’s City of Dreams resort under construction in Cyprus; the five casinos in Batumi, Georgia, which is just a short drive away from the Turkish border; the casinos in Tbilisi, Georgia, which are widely popular with guests from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Israel and Iran; and many other countries in the region.

In addition to those listed above, London casinos still attract some of the highest-net-worth players in the region. One would need only to walk into a London club to see who these big players are. In addition to the few Chinese players in the region who will always find their way to the casino, the casinos’ largest whales tend to be of the Middle Eastern persuasion.

Defunct MENA Gaming Markets

Turkey used to have a vibrant casino gaming market. In fact, Turkey’s gaming market was too vibrant.

The first casino opened in Turkey in 1990, and there was little established in terms of regulation. When casinos were eventually banned in Turkey, it wasn’t the number of casinos in the country, but rather the ubiquity of casino-style slot machines in bars and restaurants throughout the country that led former President Süleyman Demirel to ban all forms of gaming except the lottery. Today, any Turk wishing to gamble can simply hop on a plane to Northern Cyprus (whose official name is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) or Georgia.

There was a casino in Jericho, a Palestinian city in the West Bank, with 120 tables and more than 300 slot machines. It was permitted to open by Yasir Arafat in 1998 in the hope that it would bring a much-needed economic boost to the Palestinian National Authority, despite the fact that many of the residents of the territory are Muslims and do not agree with gambling.

The intent was for Israelis to gamble in the casino because casino gambling was, and is not currently, allowed in Israel. The casino was a commercial success for the two years it operated, with gaming revenues estimated at roughly $160 million per year. Unfortunately, rioting and a subsequent travel ban on Israelis visiting the territory put a halt to the casino enterprise.

Similarly, Azerbaijan formerly allowed casinos, although a scandal involving the current president and gambling overseas led him to close the casinos as a part of his moral crusade against gambling.

In Iraq, prior to the first Gulf War, there was a casino in the Ishtar Sheraton Hotel in Baghdad. Although intended for foreigners staying at the hotel, many Iraqis enjoyed playing in the casino. Following the onset of the first Gulf War, the casino closed, and the expatriate staff was evacuated. The casino has yet to reopen.

During the reign of Shah Reza Pahlavi in Iran, there were casinos in Isfahan and Tehran, as well as one on the island of Kis. The casinos were purported to be owned in part by the Pahlavi family. They were operated by British companies, including Ladbrokes, and they were extremely popular and highly profitable with a high volume of play from wealthy Iranians and others from countries nearby. The casinos closed when the Shah was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution of 1978.

Evaluating the MENA Gaming Market as a Whole

Is this a billion-dollar market? Yes. However, not all of the money is filtered through the aforementioned casinos. Much of it finds its way over to larger casino resorts in Asian countries, such as Genting Highlands in Malaysia. In Malaysia, while it is illegal for Malay Muslims to gamble, there is no particular gambling ban for Muslims from other countries. When walking on the casino floor at Genting, while the majority of players are coming from China and elsewhere in Asia, the presence of gamers from the Middle East is staggering.

While the Middle East does generate substantial levels of gaming play, it comes at a price. Deep discounts on losses are to be expected. While loss discounts of 20 percent to 30 percent are expected, some casinos in North Cyprus will discount players’ losses by as much as 50 percent. The game of choice is Russian Poker, a house-banked version of five-card poker. While the hold percentage of this game can reach upwards of 35 percent, which makes large discounts on play more palatable to the operators, larger players will often negotiate the rules with the casinos prior to visiting. By adjusting the number of hands that one can play simultaneously, and through other unique rule changes, the players can lower the house’s advantage.

Many of the guests who frequent these casinos arrive through a junket program. With these programs, the casinos often need to arrange for the players to receive discounted or free hotel rooms and food, and often some amount of free play or direct bet in the casino. In certain circumstances, the operator will share a percentage of the total win from the group with the junket operator. However, operators must be very careful in selecting the junkets with whom they partner, as the players arriving to Middle Eastern casinos via junkets are not usually high worth. Very often, the average junket player might only lose $800, against which the casino had $400 of promotional allowances.

While there can be high levels of risk taken on by the operators based on considerations for promotional allowances and potential adjustments to the rules of the game, these casinos can make substantial amounts of revenue. Those casinos that are successful can generate upwards of $4,000 per table per day. While slots are not as popular, they are growing and beginning to attract more players.

Despite the Sharia law mandate prohibiting Muslims from gambling, gamers from the Middle East account for a sizeable share of gaming dollars spent throughout the world. However, as most of these dollars are lost to casinos outside of the Middle East, a significant challenge remains in ensuring that these revenues are kept closer to home.

While many Muslim-majority countries chose to offer casino gaming only to foreigners or non-Muslim visitors, the performance of these casinos is often hindered by high tax rates and impractical regulatory barriers. The ideal Middle Eastern gaming market would enable casino operators to achieve sustainable gaming revenues with a moderate tax rate that yields the optimal amount of revenue to the host nation, all while respecting the rich culture and norms of Muslim-majority nations and ensuring that casinos and integrated resorts are welcomed within local communities, an essential aspect of any successful gaming operation.

Moroccan culture features a blend of European, Arabian and African influences that combine to make for a unique culture. For example, Morocco is one of the few predominantly Muslim countries in the world in which gambling is not totally outlawed. The primary forms of gambling available in Morocco include a number of brick-and-mortar casinos in larger cities and tourist areas as well as a national lottery.

Local laws neither endorse nor prohibit internet gambling and there is no licensing system by which actual Moroccan online casinos could go into business. These same laws also do not prohibit us from visiting foreign casino sites headquartered in nations that do issue gaming licenses. The end result for us is that we have free access to many international gambling websites.

The best places to play real money casino games online today include:

The Moroccan government makes no attempt to prevent or even discourage people from visiting online casinos, but the government also does not regulate the activity at all. This means you must choose your casino carefully to ensure you are treated well, that the games are fair and that you will be paid in a timely manner if you win a big jackpot.

Is Gambling Banned In Morocco 2020

These are serious concerns because the internet is a big place and there are no guarantees that some random gambling site is legitimate. The best way to mitigate the risk is to stick with recognized name brands that operate under licenses from legitimate regulatory bodies. Our opinion is that the UK Gambling Commission is the best and most demanding regulator in the world, so we have chosen to recommend UK-licensed casinos above.

Every casino listed above does accept players from Morocco and has a full range of casino games in addition to other forms of gaming such as sports betting, poker, bingo and so on. One account with any one of these casinos will grant you access to an entire world of gambling options.

Online Gambling in Morocco

The entire Arabic-speaking world suffers a dearth of online casinos catering to our unique needs such as providing Arabic-language websites and offering regional payment methods. This comes down to a simple function of the law and economics.

Casino sites located in other countries do not go out of their way to block Moroccan customers, but they also do not bend over backwards to cater to our needs. In all likelihood, the casino sites of the Western world simply do not find it worthwhile to invest much time or money into catering to a region that is mostly anti-gambling.

Even so, these are but minor obstacles to overcome in order to play and win real money at online casinos in Morocco.

Is Gambling Banned In Morocco 2019

Arabic Language Gambling Websites

There is not a single Arabic-speaking nation in the world that licenses online casinos. In fact, most actively prohibit online gambling. The good news is that it really isn’t all that difficult for us to work around these challenges and play online for real money. First of all, let’s talk about the language issue. There are not very many casino sites that even offer their services in Arabic. There are a few, but they are smaller casino with which we are unfamiliar and are therefore unwilling to recommend. Safety always comes first.

However, most Moroccan casino sites do offer their services in French, Spanish, English and other languages. If you can get by well enough with some other language to register your account and make a deposit, the games pretty much explain themselves with little translation necessary. And if you’re reading these words right now, you won’t have any problems getting started.

Making Deposits and Getting Paid

Deposits and withdrawals for Moroccan casino sites are slightly more challenging due to much of our economy still being based on cash. However, things have changed on that front as well and now there are options for everyone – even if you do not have a bank account.

If you have a bank account, getting started will be very easy. Just get your debit or credit card, log in to the gambling site of your choice and visit the cashier. There, you can choose an amount to deposit and type in your card number to fund your account. It works just like purchasing anything else online.

You can also sign up for an e-wallet such as Neteller (which does operate in Morocco) if you are not comfortable sharing your banking details with your gambling site. Neteller functions as an intermediary in which you first send money to your Neteller account and then send money from there to your gambling account. By having Neteller serve as the middleman, the casino never sees your banking information.

If you do not have a bank account, getting started will be significantly more difficult. You may look into bitcoin casinos if you are absolutely against opening a bank account. It is possible to purchase bitcoins with cash and then fund certain gambling websites with bitcoin deposits. It would be easier to sign up for a bank account somewhere, but bitcoin is a valid option today.

Culture and Religion

And finally, the last challenge is one related to religious customs. As you probably know, gambling is not highly looked-upon in the Islamic world. Morocco may not impose a legal ban on gambling, but that still does not make it the most socially acceptable activity. If you decide to visit online casinos in Morocco, it is best to keep it private and prepare a cover story for any big wins you are lucky enough to catch.

Morocco is a moderate country as far as Islamic nations go. There are some hardline influences, but Morocco has so far managed to avoid descending into the types of extremism we have seen in recent years in other nations where Islam is the predominant religion. Still, it is best to keep your gambling a private affair to avoid any negative social repercussions.

Gambling Laws in Morocco

Moroccan law does not prohibit gambling at the individual level. If all you want to do is participate as a player, you have free reign to visit land-based casinos and online casinos as you see fit. The law does prohibit running a gambling establishment without the express permission of the prime minister.

The only organization allowed to offer any form of online gambling is Marocaine des Jeux & des Sports (Morocco Games and Sport) or MDJS for short. The MDJS website offers online lottery games as well as a limited form of sports betting, but does not offer casino games such as slots, blackjack and so on.

There have been concerns that Morocco could take a different, more restrictive approach to gambling in the future, but so far those concerns have mostly failed to materialize. The biggest change to gaming laws to occur in Morocco recently was a draft law proposed in 2015 that sought to outlaw advertisements promoting gambling.