WHY IS MY COUNTRY NOT ACCEPTED?
Nowadays, many changes are happening in the world of online gambling and the legislation of each country is often updated in order to comply with the international institutions rules (such as the European Union) or just to regulate the market in order to deliver a better and safer environment for the customers (bettors).
Unfortunately, the decisions a government takes are not always the best for the bettors because they just end with a limited number of online bookmakers, with many restrictions in terms of markets, sporting events and even stakes. On the other side, this can be a really good thing because online bookies are easier to be tracked and forced to comply with the rules from a specific country.
In the last few years there are more and more online bettors from many countries who complain on the internet that they were excluded from several online bookmakers (either they weren't able to access the websites anymore or they received emails from the bookies that their countries were excluded). The big frustration comes up when online bookmakers do not provide a clear explanation or the reason for this decision.
In most cases, the story starts when the government of a specific country tries to regulate the online gambling market. The institution immediately bans every unauthorized online betting website (e.g. one way is to use internet providers to block the access to some specific websites) and eventually "force" the online bookmakers to get authorized or get a license if they want to keep on offering services in that specific country.
To better understand the reasons for this you need to know that most online bookmakers have the headquarters and licenses from Costa Rica, Curacao, Malta, Gibraltar and they just pay taxes in that country where they have the license. For example - if an online bookmaker licensed in Gibraltar (with offices in Gibraltar) has 200,000 customers from e.g. Romania, it will not pay one single $ to the Romanian authorities for all the profit coming from Romanian customers. It's easier to understand why each country tries to regulate the market so that it can receive more money/taxes into the country's budget.
As we said earlier, some government authorities start blocking online betting websites until they get a license from that specific country, they open an office and pay taxes. In some cases, this doesn't need to happen because online bookmakers comply immediately to the new legislation and they block the players from that country or apply for a license.
An online gambling market which is regulated (properly) can have a really good and positive impact on the quality of the services, but if the legislation has issues it can result into a poor market with low quality bookies and limited services, such as poor types of markets and bets. The good thing is that if a country is a member of the European Union, no online gambling legislation can pass unless it's according to the European Union law (e.g. a country can be called at the European Court of Justice if the adopted gambling legislation violates many international principles, including free movement of services in the European space).
You may also want to read the following:
How to make a complaint against a bookmaker
Why am I being asked by online bookmakers to send documents?
Do bettors have to pay taxes from their winnings?
