A report from Prague indicates that the free and easy gambling regulation in the Czech Republic is causing alarm. The rapid growth of venues offering video lottery terminals (VLTs), the fastest growing sector in the Czech gambling industry according to a Finance Ministry statement, has led to calls for tighter legislation to avert increasing problem gambling. Inexpensive to run and hugely profitable, it is easy to see why there is a proliferation of bars and casinos operating the machines.

An article in The Prague Post comments that four years ago there were no VLTs in the Czech Republic, and that the present figure of around 2,800 is set to rise rapidly. Other types of gambling machines are also hitting the market in increasing numbers, up 30% in less than five years. In 2006 Czechs spent US$4.4 billion gambling. The government gets 10% of the revenue from VLTs and considers the technology reduces both tax evasion and money laundering.

Regulations at the moment allow for the operation of gambling machines with few restrictions on location. The business is overseen by the State Supervision of Gaming and Lotteries department. New regulations this year do limit VLT operators to those with a minimum capital of Kè 100 million (US$4.85 million) and cap machines at four per establishment, but measures to slow down the games and other safeguards against pathological gambling that have been introduced in some European countries are unlikely to be adopted any time soon in the Czech Republic. (E-04.27.07)

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