GUYANA, in the middle of a war of gaming ideas GUYANA, in mijlocul razboiului mentalitatilor fata de joc
Former Dutch colony for almost 150 years, then conquered by the British in 1814 and gaining its independence in 1966, Guyana is the only country in South America with English as an official language, but it’s also the poorest country on the continent, with the smallest GDP per capita. Out of a total population of 750.000 people – mainly making a living out of agriculture -almost a third live in the capital of Georgetown.
Gambling in Guyana
Gambling is legal on the territory of this small South-American state, but it is not a priority for the government. In fact, games of chance are regulated by a law – Gambling Prevention Act – which was issued in 1902 and which has been slightly modified over time.
There is only one live casino in the country and it’s located in the capital. Guyana Princess Hotel and Casino covers 16.000 square meters which is exclusively dedicated to tourists (as Guyana people are not allowed to play) and the most popular games are roulette, poker or blackjack, with the casino displaying 16 table games and 250 operating slot machines. Nevertheless there is a provision in the law that is used by the Guyana people in order to enter themselves in the casino, and that is: if there is a hotel directly connected to the casino and one of the locals has rented a room here, even for a night, he can enter as a guest of the hotel to play in the casino, “eschewing” the law.
Over the last years the economy in Guyana gave signs of opening more widely to the outside, especially through tourism, and this thing began to have an influence on the standard of living of the population at large.
There is also an ongoing discussion and a war of ideas in this South-American country: a part of its population still believed that there is a need for liberalization for operating casinos in the country, subsequently followed by allowing locals to play, while others are against this and are not in favor of such an opening of the gambling sector towards the public, as the population could develop certain “inappropriate habits”.
At the moment that will mark the end of the debate and the emergence of a winner, who could lean towards gambling liberalization and extending them to the entire territory, only then we could truly talk about a gambling market in Guyana. A few years ago there was an attempt coming from the president, who argued in favor of relaxing the conditions for participation and license issuing, but the initiative lacked support from the political ground, and obviously from the people of Guyana.
Online in Guyana
Online games are not regulated at the moment, which means that is someone from Guyana wants to play online games he or she can only do so by accessing offshore online casino sites. These sites abound in numbers and they most of the times do accept players from the country.
Poker in Guyana
It is not that safe to play poker in the intimacy offered by your house if you are in Guyana. From the local news we see that there have often been raids to private housing places and that amateur poker players often get arrested. Still, poker has a tradition in this country, and one of the best local players, Victor Ramdin, is a professional player and member of Team Poker Stars Pro, having won a WPT title as well. He is now obviously a resident of the United States.
There is still one particularly interesting thing about the aforementioned things, concerning online games here, namely that you can play online poker on foreign sites. Approximately one third of the population of Guyana has access to the internet and, consequently, they can play poker or place bets on games, with the condition of having enough money in order to deposit. In this way, the online space is more secure, and if the state is willing to lose money by maintain the domain deregulated, he will continue to do so, even though the money could help the local economy.
Conclusion
When talking about Guyana it feels like travelling back in time in the Eastern Europe of the 80’s, and why not even in Romania. Old mentalities that being forcefully transmitted to the population and deregulation seen as part of the solution and not of the problem. Unfortunately, Guyana looks like a Third World country that does not want and cannot chance, because a change in this field could signal towards the population that they are heading towards an economic liberalism, which the country needs – for its 750.000 people. Let’s hope that over the years we will hear better news about it.Fosta colonie olandeza aproape 150 de ani, apoi cucerita de britanici in 1814 si care si-a castigat independenta in 1966, Guyana este singura tara din America de Sud care are ca limba oficiala engleza, dar este si cea mai saraca tara de pe continent, avand cel mai mic PIB pe cap de locuitor. Din populatia totala de 750.000 de locuitori, care traieste preponderent din agricultura, in capitala Georgetown locuieste aproximativ o treime.
Gamblingul in Guyana
Jocurile de noroc sunt legale pe teritoriul acestui mic stat sud-american, dar nu reprezinta o prioritate pentru guvernul de aici. De fapt jocurile de noroc sunt reglementate de un act normativ – Gambling Prevention Act – vechi din anul 1902 si la care de-a lungul timpului s-au efectuat diverse modificari.
Exista un singur cazino live aici si este situat chiar in capitala. Guyana Princess Hotel and Casino are 16,000 de m2 de spatiu de joc care este oferit exclusiv pentru turisti (pentru ca guyanezii nu au voie sa joace) cele mai populare jocuri fiind ruleta, pokerul sau blackjackul, care sunt jucate la 16 mese de joc si 250 de sloturi in operare. Cu toate acestea exista in cadrul legii o prevedere de care guyanezii se folosesc pentru a intra si juca si ei in cazinou, si anume: daca exista un hotel atasat (lipit) de cazinou si un guyanez a inchiriat de exemplu o camera aici pentru o noapte poate intra ca si oaspete al hotelului sa joace in cazinou, “pacalind” legea.
In ultimii ani economia din Guyana a dat semne ca s-ar deschide mai mult catre exterior in special prin turism si acest lucru incepe sa se simta incet, dar sigur, si in nivelul de trai al populatiei.
Exista o discutie si un razboi al mentalitatilor in aceasta tara sud-americana: o parte din populatia sa crede ca ar trebui liberalizata/permisa operarea cazinourilor in tara, urmata inclusiv de participarea la joc a guyanezilor, insa altii sunt impotriva si nu doresc o astfel de deschidere a gamblingului catre public de teama ca populatia ar putea capata “obiceiuri nepotrivite”.
In momentul in care aceasta dezbatere se va solda cu un invingator, si acela ar inclina catre liberalizarea jocurilor de noroc si permiterea lor pe intreg teritoriul tarii, d-abia atunci se va putea discuta cu adevarat de o piata de jocuri de noroc in Guyana. Acum cativa ani a existat o tentativa din partea unui fost presedinte guyanez de a relaxa termenii de participare si de operare a jocurilor de noroc aici, dar initiativa sa nu a fost sustinuta suficient de fortele politice, si evident de popor.
Online-ul in Guyana
Jocurile de noroc online nu sunt reglementate in acest moment, ceea ce inseamna ca un guyanez care vrea sa se joace online o poate face doar la siteurile de offshore online casino. Aceste siteuri sunt cu nemiluita in zona si accepta de cele mai multe ori jucatori de aici.
Pokerul in Guyana
Nu este asa sigur sa joci poker in intimitatea casei tale in Guyana. Din stirile locale mai aflam ca exista destul de des raiduri care vizeaza case particulare si ca jucatorii de poker amatori sunt arestati. Insa pokerul are traditie in aceasta tara, unul din cei mai buni jucatori locali, Victor Ramdin, este jucator profesionist, membru al Team Poker Stars Pro, avand si un titlu WPT la activ! Evident ca acesta este rezident in Statele Unite.
Un lucru totusi interesant si amintit si mai sus, la jocurile online practicate aici, este ca exista posibilitatea sa joci poker online pe site-uri din afara tarii. Aproximativ o treime din populația Guyanei are acces la internet, și, prin urmare, poate juca poker sau sa parieze pe orice doreste cu condiția să aibă putine resurse banesti pentru a face depuneri. In felul acesta, online e mult mai sigur, iar statul daca vrea sa piarda bani din nereglementarea domeniului o va face si in continuare, insa banii acestia ar putea ajuta economia locala
Concluzie
Cand vorbesti de Guyana acum parca faci o calatorie in timp prin anii `80 in Europa de Est, si de ce nu in Romania. Mentalitati invechite si transmise populatiei cu persuasiune, nereglementare ca parte a solutiei si nu a problemei. Guyana, din pacate, arata ca o tara de lumea a 3-a care nu vrea si nu poate sa se schimbe, caci o eventuala schimbare in acest domeniu ar reprezenta un semnal ca societatea guyaneza se indreapta catre un liberalism economic de care tara asta are nevoie pentru ea si pentru cei 750.000 de locuitori. Sa speram ca peste ani vom auzi vesti mai bune.
