Legislation is one of the most important aspects for the successful development of any business sector. However, legislation should be flexible and focused on business development, and not on infringing of the rights of the business sector. Based on the fact that this sector already attracts a lot of public attention in society and that there are still many myths and stigmas around the gambling sector, the compatibility of society and the gambling industry should be regulated through legislation. There are several aspects that the government should take into account when adopting and implementing this or that legislative act: 

1. Regulation should make business transparent. 

2. The process of implementing the law should be simple not only for the state, but also for operators. 

3. Exceptions to the possibility of corrupt contracts. 

4. Ability to administer the adopted legislation. 

5. Cost of administration. 

6. Consideration of the interests of the state, the business and the public. 

Why it is important to consider the ease and cost of administration is important in the adoption process. If the administration or the cost of administration is high for the state, the state will always try to shift its burden to business. Based on the fact that additional costs always hinder business development, the business will always try to shift this burden to the consumer. As a result, the consumer and the taxpayer always suffer. This leads to a change in consumer behaviour. The consumer begins to look for new opportunities and markets for himself, where they can fulfil their need to gamble with minimal losses. This leads to a decrease in business income, and the decrease in business income directly affects the reduction in the replenishment of the state treasury. And this cycle is only being perpetuated by the wrong legislation. 

If we consider various legislative errors in the region, for example, in Georgia, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine. It can be understood that people have not stop gambling and, due to incorrect legislation, they have started to look for new markets for themselves. 

Türkiye - gambling is in demand, but a large number of Turkish citizens, around 79%, play in different markets, including Georgia. 

Turks love to play casino games. However, due to legal restrictions, there are no land-based casino centres or salons here. Instead, all online casino platforms are allowed in Türkiye through web services. If Turkish citizens want to play casino games in land-based centres, they prefer to visit casino hotels in Northern Cyprus. In Türkiye, people have a strong tendency to play online casinos. This is because Turks love to earn a lot of money in a short period of time. So many Turks dream of making money fast. Online casino games encourage all people in Türkiye to become rich immediately. Therefore, people prefer online casinos. 

Azerbaijan - the country still allows sports betting through a single operator - Topaz, as well as various lotteries organised by the state-owned company Azərlotereya. Incidentally, the latter has been transferred to the management of a foreign company. 

Azerbaijani parliamentarians have decided to tighten control and sanctions on an industry that is almost non-existent in the country - gambling. 

This is proved by the fact that, despite the ban, Azerbaijanis continue to play a lot, including in Georgia. 

Armenia - the gambling law has been tightened and many gambling establishments are closing. According to reliable sources, more than 2,000 people will remain unemployed. The budget will also lose $2 million in income tax. 

Ukraine - despite legalization, which for 2 years has not been able to regulate the adopted law (although, unfortunately, at the moment there is a war in Ukraine started by Russia). There are many problems in relation to foreign investors. The tax legislation has its downsides, a lot of corruption and an unfavourable environment for the player. Although Ukraine has the opportunity to flourish as one of the largest hubs in the region. 

Georgia - about Georgia, we can say that the development of gambling legislation began in 2005, the first major changes, which was the beginning of the regulation of this area. After that, Georgian regions, where new gambling establishments were opened due to benefits, entered the market. The regions of Batumi, Kazbegi, Tskhaltubo and others have developed partly through the development of the gambling sector. Until now, the budgets of 8 large regional municipalities are mostly funded by gambling licence fees. The second major change in legislation took place in 2011, further improving the business environment, and these changes soon bore fruit. Foreign investors began to enter the Georgian market and large corporations such as Betson Group, Entein and Flater became interested in the Georgian market. 

Since 2011, the gambling legislation has been improved more than once and the Association of the Georgian Gambling Business has taken an active part in its improvement. With the participation of the Association, the method of accounting for statistical data has been improved, which has contributed to greater transparency in the industry. The Law on Illegal Money Circulation, the Law on Verification and Identification of Users (by the way, this law has minimized the possibility of phishing operations and illegal circulation of money) and much more. 

But at the end of 2021, due to the political decision of the government, it was decided to tighten the legislation of the gambling business, which resulted in the following: 

1. Tax increase. 

2. Advertising ban. 

3. Ban on playing under 25 years old.

4. Prohibition to play for persons who receive social assistance. 

5. Prohibition to play for government employees. 

6. Withdrawal tax. 

As a result, Georgia received an anti-effect from these changes in legislation, which I predicted more than once during the consideration of this bill. But, unfortunately, due to a purely political decision, an outside arguments were not taken into account. We can say that this is one of the most classic examples of how the sector, the state, the society can suffer from the adoption of incorrect legislation. What has Georgia got today after the adoption of such legislation: 

1. Players who have been asked to play have moved to overseas markets or are using relatives' data.

2. On the part of the state:

2.1 the state has lost control over these players; 

2.2 there is an outflow of funds from the state; 

2.3 illegal means of access to gambling have emerged; 

2.4 the replenishment of the budget has decreased; 

2.5 crime has been activated; 

2.6 many illegal operators have appeared. 

3. On the part of business: 

3.1 lost users; 

3.2 decreased gross profit. 

4. Related industries: 

4.1 loss of additional income; 

4.2 advertising ban. 

State - received illegal advertising, which is impossible to fight due to the fact that these are foreign countries and are not under the jurisdiction of Georgia. 

Businesses - found themselves in a non-competitive environment, unable to compete with illegal operators with advertising. 

Related industries - the advertising and TV market lost 400 million lari of income and the sports market lost 30 million lari in sponsorship. 

As a result, the Georgian gambling market is currently undergoing major unpleasant changes, which leads to an unfavourable business environment and an uncontrolled situation in society. 

Local operators will have to concentrate on keeping players in the sector. 

As for the region, the same mistake is being made by Romania, which wants to introduce a new gambling law and introduce a tax on winnings. The result will be that local players will simply move to other markets and the state, despite the desire to prohibit the influx of illegal operators, will not be able to regulate the market based on the rapid technological development in the IT field.

There are many ways to get around any ban. Therefore, the best way to combat the illegal market is to develop local operators - and to do this you need to adopt the right legislation and introduce a system for administering this legislation. Of course, we must not forget that administration has its price and it should not be more expensive than the negative aspects, both financially and socially.