Latest news from Unibet: The lack of clarity on the laws surrounding gambling is used as an advantage to some companies. You only need to look at the world of online poker to see how different companies approach areas of uncertainty. One country where the gambling laws are extremely blurred around the edges is Greece, and one of the worlds largest betting exchanges is getting cold feet.

Betfair have said that they will withdraw from the Greek market until there was greater clarity on gaming regulation in the country. This comes on the back of a statement issued by the Greek Gaming Commission stating that gambling firms operating in Greece, without a permit, would face financial penalties and potentially criminal sanctions.

Most gambling companies, and forums, are looking to the European Commission to prevent what is being called ‘protectionist behavior’ by the Greek authorities. But it was only last month that the European Commission stated that it would not be pursuing EU-wide legislation to regulate online gambling.

The decision to withdraw from the Greek market will affect the balance sheets at Betfair, but that is nothing prepared to the effect it will have on the players. It is expected that Betfair will lose around 13 million pounds of profit, which translates into a lot of Greek gambling. There will be people who rely on sites like Betfair to have fun and even those who use it as part of their livelihood.

It is not the first time that Betfair has withdrawn its service from a country. Earlier this year it withdrew from the German market because of tax issues that ate into the bottom line. Whether this will start an onrush of online entities departing the country of Greece remains to be seen.