Gambling has been prevalent in any country in spite of disapprovals from different cultural backgrounds and religions. In terms of cultural values, gambling undermines the conservative nature of the citizens. While in religion, it goes against the teaching of loving others just as you love yourself because a gambler intends to always wish for the other players to lose in the game. Although their disapproval is rational, gambling has played a vital role in helping the growth of economy and opportunities in some countries, including Bangladesh. MCW Bangladesh or MCWBD, an online casino site available in Bangladesh, contributes to the development of the country by paying taxes and licensing fees used for education, infrastructures, and social services. CasinoMCW Bangladesh is dedicated to provide safety and reliability despite the many controversies in the iGaming industry.
Overview of Importance and Implications of Gambling in Bangladesh
- Cultural and Social Context
- Historical Presence: in many South Asian countries, the presence of gambling is strong among their citizens as part of customs and recreation. During family reunions, easy-to-play card games are played such as war, spoons, and Egyptian ratscrew. Poker and blackjack are also played in closed spaces as long as no real money wagering is involved. It is inevitable to totally get rid of gambling for leisure and entertainment, especially among family and friends.
- Legal Restrictions: the Public Gambling Act of 1867 strictly prohibits any form of gambling, but with the exception of lotteries and horse racing. Bangladesh’s law enforcers pursue the players involved in gambling even in private spaces and enclosures. There’s just an ambiguity if the prohibition also applies to online form of gambling since the law was enforced prior to the internet age.
- Social Stigma: not just in Bangladesh, gambling is depicted as malevolence in most countries, causing perversion of acceptable social norms and conservative nature. This is why gambling is strongly discouraged by religious and moral discipline among the citizens to prevent social concerns and major risks.
- Economic Impact
- Revenue Generation: income-generating lotteries and horse racing are regulated by the government to provide for the development of the country such as infrastructures, health-care system and quality education. Special events for these regulated gambling activities, such as state lottery, are held in state or nationwide for fundraising projects. Online casino sites also contribute to this cause by paying taxes and licensing fees to operate in the country, even from offshore.
- Job Creation: opportunities are created from regulated gambling activities because they are situated mostly in scenic ranches, hotels and resorts, promoting tourism, hospitality, and entertainment in Bangladesh. There is a need for employees to run these operations. Thus, lowering the unemployment rate of the country.
- Underground Economy: the informal economic activity evident in illegal gambling operations leads to outrageous social concerns, including violence, bankruptcy, and gambling addiction. Thus, implying that gambling represents corruption because aside from these social concerns, some lawmakers and enforcers are caught violating the laws and getting involved with illegal gambling sponsorship and protection, money laundering, and more.
- Online Gambling
As mentioned earlier, there is an ambiguity whether the Public Gaming Act of 1867 prohibits online gambling or not. There are no specific clauses clearly stating the legal status of online gambling, creating confusion among citizens and public officials how to deal with such activity.
- Growth of Online Platforms: as social media platforms have become popular to people of ages, so are online casino platforms to individuals of legal age. Although accessible via the internet and compatible with most devices, these online casino operators/platforms implement stringent policies to comply with international standards of online gambling implementation. They seem to bypass local laws, but their terms and conditions observe the disciplines and policies governing gambling in general.
- Financial Risks: the risks present in online gambling are induced by the lack of understanding of players and loss of self-control. As a conscious effort of online casino platforms, they promote responsible gambling to prevent addiction and financial problems such as bankruptcy.
- Tourism and Entertainment
- Potential for Tourism: in some countries where gambling is permitted such as in the US, they set up premier destinations for gamblers to visit, satisfying their pleasures. Las Vegas is a renowned city for casino goers and tourists. In Bangladesh, if only gambling were to be widely accepted by its government, their great cities like Dhaka and Chittagong are suitable to flourish, boosting economic activities and tourism.
- Entertainment Industry: in countries where gambling is permitted and land based casinos are regulated, these fabulous establishments and gambling destinations are usually featured in films for entertainment purposes. Since gambling is illegal in Bangladesh, only the underground gambling activities are likely to depict the story or reality of its society. If this recreational activity were to be legalized or at least become less tight, it is expected to be a driving force for many opportunities, expanding the horizons for the entertainment industry.
- Responsible Gambling and Social Welfare
- Addiction and Social Issues: since the tremendous increase of gambling enthusiasts in 2012 when Bangladesh held a premier cricket tournament, addiction has been seen among the youth in the rural areas. It is to be expected that when new things are introduced to individuals, they are likely to become drawn into them. In urban areas, they are more susceptible to the influence of online gambling since ads are regularly shown on social media apps such as Facebook and YouTube. That’s why Responsible Gambling is promulgated in online casino platforms to prevent social concerns and addiction.
- Need for Support Systems: Responsible Gambling responds to the needs for support systems of people suffering from problem gambling such as addiction through self-assessment, Self-Exclusion, and referral to seek professional help and counseling.
Conclusion
One of the hurdles that Bangladesh has to overcome is to find a balance between the social impact and economic benefits of gambling. The Public Gambling Act of 1867 is already obsolete. Policymakers need to consider the current situation, involving online gambling, for the advantage of their economy and social welfare of their citizens. MCW Bangladesh adheres to Responsible Gambling and the policies of the country it serves.
