Bratislava Prohibit Gambling Again

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, seeks to prohibit casinos once more. On December 17, in reaction to an anti-gambling motion, the majority of Bratislava councilors voted to prohibit gambling. The ban takes effect on 1 January 2021.

The casinos won't be shut down completely according to the Slovak Spectator. Instead, the government will not extend the licenses when they expire (the expected timeline for expiry is between 2023 and 2024), and no new licenses would be given. There were 89 gaming venues, two bingo halls and 6 casinos in Bratislava at the end of last year. The town received €2.76m ($3.38m) in casino income in 2019.

Casino owners, however, contend that such a ban will not end the issue but will only produce more underage gaming. One of the operators, Róbert Vystavil, claimed that the existing gambling regulations are adequate, and that "blanket bans" won't fix anything.

This is a second effort to curtail the country's gambling; the first ban lasted less than two years; it began on 1 May 2017 and expired on 28 December 2018 when the country's courts ruled that it was not in line with the constitution. The second ban was approved after a movement that was launched by residents and sponsored by local authorities.

Bratislava isn't the only city that aims to prohibit (or at least manage) gambling, Nitra still wants to outlaw gambling, but since 2019 the city has failed to pass appropriate legislation.