Greece Steps Up Its War on the Black Market, EEEP Blocks 142 More Domains

On June 3, 2026, the Greek gambling authority Επισροπή Εποπτείας και Ελέγχου Παιγνίων (EEEP) blacklisted 142 new online-casino and sports-betting domains. This pushes the Greek blocklist to 1,487 entries, a 31% increase year-on-year. iGaming Expert covered this move, a key part of Athens's strengthened anti-black-market push since early 2026.

Greece's blocklist has teeth, unlike Germany's. Greek internet providers must block listed domains at the DNS level within 48 hours. Banks and payment services — Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller included — must reject transactions to blacklisted operators. Fines? Up to €500,000 per incident. The result: from Greece, you either hit an ISP block page or your bank declines your deposit.

Germany's system looks almost helpless in comparison. The GGL does publish a whitelist (about 30 online-casino licenses, June 2026 count). In theory, they could order ISP blocks under § 9 (1) No. 5 GlüStV. Our experience? Only 42 such orders since 2021, usually after long court battles. The OVG Koblenz, in November 2025, agreed the GGL *can* issue these blocks. Things have sped up a bit since, but still not close to Greek levels.

Payment blocks? Germany's, in principle, further along. § 9 (1) No. 5 allows orders against payment service providers. § 4 ZAG demands they suppress illegal transactions. But here's the rub: many black-market operators use white-label PSPs in Curaçao, Costa Rica, or Anjouan. These transactions don't look like gambling payments; they hide as generic e-commerce. This is where Greece, with its EEEP database, has the key advantage: banks get a live, central list of suspicious MCC codes and recipient IBANs.

The Greek numbers back this up, vividly. The EEEP 2025 annual report shows black-market share of total online-gambling gross revenue fell from 38% (2022) to just 14% (2025). Germany's GGL? They estimate it around 25%, barely budging. Athens lifted its online-gambling tax revenue by 84% in three years — from €187 million to €344 million. Germany, over the same time, saw a 31% increase (€850 million to €1.11 billion).

For German players, Greece's path offers two intriguing points. One: effective black-market suppression is possible. But it needs political will and real enforcement power for the regulator. The GGL keeps asking the federal states for this. Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia? They're hesitant, citing bank bureaucracy. Two: international comparison data is becoming crucial for the reform debate. The GlüStV 2021 evaluation, planned for late summer 2026, will surely highlight the Greek model as a best practice.

What does this mean practically? If you play online in Germany, check that the operator is on the GGL whitelist *before* signing up. A quick visit to the authority's website takes under a minute. And if you've lost money with an unlicensed operator? Under current BGH case law (Case No. I ZR 88/23, judgment of September 13, 2024), you can pursue civil claims. Firms like CLLB Rechtsanwälte or Goldenstein report 70% to 95% success rates against clearly identifiable operators.

We're watching Greek developments closely; they are clearly forming a reform blueprint for the GGL. The big question: will the EEEP payment-database model actually be discussed in the upcoming federal-state consultations? The arguments are there now, solid European comparison data, unlike earlier reform rounds.