A bill submitted to the City Council of Prague on September 10 aims to ban slots and VLTs in the Czech capital. The draft legislation would ban all mechanical, electromechanical and electronic slots and video lottery terminals in the capital but permit traditional table games to remain. According to CDC Gaming Reports, if approved, the ban would take effect immediately, though existing licenses would be honored, with the last expiring in 2024.
Prague Councillor Hana Kordová Marvanová said: “The issue of regulating the operation of gambling is primarily a question of finding a balanced solution, responding to the development of legislation and modern gaming technologies. On one hand, this leaves the citizen free to decide and do business, on the other hand reduces pathological phenomena associated with gambling, and on the other hand, reduces pathological phenomena associated with gambling.”
The number of slots and VLTs fell from 15,934 on January 1, 2010, to 3,995 at the end of August 2020.
Marvanová said the ban will cause a CZK400 million (US$15.1 million) deficit in annual gambling taxes for the city, funds used to support sports, culture and educational programs.
“The issue of regulating the operation of gambling is primarily a question of finding a balanced solution [while] responding to the development of legislation and modern gaming technologies,” said Marvanová. “On the one hand, this leaves the citizen free to decide and do business, and on the other hand reduces pathological phenomena associated with gambling.”
. “I promised the city districts that the loss of income due to the ban on technical games will not be felt and will be compensated from the budget of the city of Prague so as not to suffer from this step the financing of important public activities.”
“The last decree on gambling regulation is from 2015. Unfortunately, it did not limit the number of casino gambling rooms, but in fact, they are only slot machines where almost anyone can play day and night except for short breaks. Slot machines are a bad sign for the city because they are the most addictive and are linked to all sorts of crime, so it is both a social and security risk,” she added. “I am aware that this will deprive boroughs of a significant portion of their income to finance sports and similar activities. That is why I also want the city to compensate for this loss of income for the boroughs so that no borough is motivated to keep the gambling clubs just for money.”
One district, Prague 7, banned slots in November 2019, with 92 percent of the voters favoring the zero-tolerance policy.
Gambling in the city has been long-debated due to concerns regarding criminal activity, including tax evasion linked to gaming bars and the impact of compulsive gambling, especially on poorer communities.
Previous decrees passed have reduced the number of venues in which gambling can take place. Prague currently has 101 official casino venues, with the number of gaming machines declining over the past 10 years from nearly 16,000 to just under 4,000.
Of Prague’s 57 districts, 41 opted for a total ban on gambling, while others voted to allow live gaming in casinos operating in non-residential urban areas, many of which cater to tourists.
