Official language: Greek
Population: 11,216,708
Currency: Euro (EUR)

Current Exchange Rate
1 GBP = 1.0681 EUR
1 USD = 0.6754 EUR

Sports Betting in Greece
In Greece sports betting is incredibly popular. Since 1996, the industry has been regulated, and a company called OPAP has a government-endorsed monopoly over all Greek sports betting, with exclusive rights extending until the year 2020. OPAP is the world's largest sportsbook, and takes in millions in profits annually. Even more astonishing is that the illegal, black market sports betting industry in Greece is on a level equal to OPAP.

The situation with OPAP's monopoly, and the millions of Greeks who choose to place illegal sports wagers, has foreign bookmaking companies very frustrated that they can't get their piece of the industry. In November of 2008, Stanleybet, a UK company, actually set up a sportsbook office in Athens. Weeks later, Greek police raided the offices, arrested the employees, and confiscated money and equipment. The EU put so much pressure on the Greek government to fix the situation that in late January of 2009, Stanleybet was allowed to re-open their office under a provisional court order.

Online Sports Betting in Greece
OPAP does not offer their services online. In fact, there is no online gambling of any kind allowed in Greece. The Greek government has gone to extreme measures to curb internet betting, including bans on all electronic games altogether. But like the underground sports betting, Greeks still find ways to bet on sports online, and that is by turning to foreign online sportsbooks.

Greece is also receiving pressure from the EU to open up to online gambling, but progress is slow. In the meantime, major international online bookmakers try to accept Greek players whenever they can, and a few provide Greek translations of their pages. Until the Greek government becomes more open to gambling online, not much will change.