What makes Latvia’s casino industry so special? Maybe the answer is “diversity”. The diversity that Latvia offers when it comes to casinos, can satisfy almost every wish when it comes to gambling; from little casinos with few slots machines, to big casino-hotels, you have everything. And there’s a reason why we say this: roughly 20% of the total income was brought by tourists visiting the country. According to the “Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspection of Latvia” ( https://www.iaui.gov.lv ) there are 14 land-based companies and 7 on-line gambling companies that hold a gambling license. And they’re doing a great job; these companies have shown a grow in total profits. The stars of this “show”, are of course, the casino hotels in Riga, the capital of Latvia. But let’s see what that profit looks like in numbers.
€124.63m in the first half of 2016
Yes, this is the recorded sum in the lotteries and gambling industries, specified by the Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspection of Latvia. That’s a bit more than a 10% rise in the budget, considering last year’s recorded of €113.06m. And even though a number of 44 sites have been banned in 2014, in an attempt to control online gambling, that didn’t stop the market from evolving. But it’s not just the web sites; Latvia has declared war to the negative effects of gambling. For example, let’s take a look at section 37, in the Latvian law :
~“Section 37. Additional obligations of the gambling organizers in casino, gambling halls and bingo halls.
(1) The gambling organizer to whom license for casino, gambling hall or bingo hall is issued, should ensure during working hours of such venues for arrangement of gambling:
[..]
6) information warning that gambling may create addiction. In casinos and gambling halls at a visible space a self-control test should be placed and possibility to receive it in writing, as well as to receive information where to have recourse to when addiction is caused by gambling should be ensured.”~
Everything started in 1994 when certain laws and bills were passed in order to control crime, assure a fair treatment of the gamblers and transparency. Over time, other laws have made gambling in Latvia a bit more strict, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Betting and interactive games are still the strong point in the increase of profit, Latvia priding itself with over 8,800 slot machines in more than 300 game halls and five main casinos. Slot machines apparently are on the first place, while the lottery is on the last, going down by a few percentages. Betting and interactive games have seen a rise though, almost 17%, raising interactive gambling percentage by up to 74%.If we calculate the lottery and gambling industries turnover we can see an increase of 23.4 percent only in the first half of this year having a total turnover of €14.55m, unlike last year, when the total sum was €2.76m less.
As Janis Laganovskis mentioned in the EEG Report Magazine, The strong points of the Latvian gambling market is represented by “Slots, and they take most part of the market 77, 16%(on net revenues)”. If we compare this to 2014 we can see an increase of 210% taken on the gambling market. Hopefully the industry will continue growing in 2016 (EEG Report Magazine Issue 2-Janis Laganovskis).
Here are the four companies that create 79% of all industry net revenue:
SIA “ALFOR” – largest slot machine operator (almost 30% of all slots machines on the market)
SIA “OLYMPIC CASINO LATVIA”
SIA “JOKER LTD”
SIA “ADMIR U KLUBS”
The first three companies have also received online gambling operating license.
