The Ten Biggest Gambling Countries Part Two

In the first part of this article we looked at numbers 10 through to 6 (Spain, Greece, Norway, Hong Kong and Italy respectively) concerning the countries that lose the most money gambling. In this article we’ll focus on the top five, as things get a little more interesting.

5. Finland

In the previous article we included Norway at number 8, which came as quite a shock to us and many of our readers. The majority of gambling in Norway is online as offline gambling is tightly restricted, but in Finland they have a different setup. In fact, the system here is very unique, with not-for-profit casinos that feed money into gambling addiction charities and also give money to other charities and to local communities. There is also a very popular national lottery in Finland.

4. Canada

Losing around $570 per person per year, the Canadians love to gamble. Gambling in all of its forms is popular here, but some of the biggest revenue spinners are Video Lottery Terminals, which are like slot machines, and offline casinos. There is also no shortage of Canadian poker players, many of which frequent online sites like Pokerstars and Full Tilt, with others flocking to the poker rooms located across the country.

3. Ireland

A small country and one perhaps best known for having the gift of the gab and an obsession for Guinness and whiskey, Ireland also likes to gamble. They spend a little more than the Canadians do per person, and have some of the biggest European bookmakers based in their country, including Paddy Power. Horse racing is very popular in Ireland, as is sports betting, with soccer, rugby union and gallic football all very popular as well. The Irish are also one of the few countries that seem to prefer land-based casinos and brick-and-mortar bookmakers, as opposed to online ones.

2. Singapore

We have seen relatively small increments until now, with 10th place spending around $420 per person and 3rd place spending around $580. However, Singaporeans spend a huge $1,200 or so gambling. Casinos are big business in this country and you’ll find some of the most beautiful casinos in the world in Singapore. This is also a very rich population, and when you have a lot of money, you have a lot of people willing to throw it around.

1.Australia

This won’t come as a surprise to many Aussie readers, and many will probably be proud of the fact that no country loses as much money gambling as Australia does. What’s more, those gambling losses, which total around $1,300 per person per year, are perhaps more heavily weighted towards one form of gambling.

That form of gambling is, of course, pokies, which is what we have dedicated this site to and what many Aussies have dedicated their lives to. Pokies are popular in all forms, both online and offline. Of course, such big losses don’t come without their issues, and as a result Australia has one of the biggest problems with gambling addiction in the world. Still, it’s always good to be number 1.