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

On June 3, 2026, the Greek gambling authority Επιτροπή Εποπτείας και Ελέγχου Παιγνίων (EEEP) added 142 new online-casino and sports-betting domains to its official blacklist. With that, the Greek blocklist now comprises 1,487 entries — up 31% year on year. iGaming Expert reported on the latest move as part of a broader anti-black-market initiative Athens has been pursuing with markedly more force since the start of 2026.

Unlike in Germany the Greek blocklist has real teeth: Internet service providers in Greece are legally required to block listed domains at the DNS level within 48 hours. Banks and payment service providers — including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller — must reject transactions to listed operators. Fines for violations reach €500,000 per incident. The result: anyone trying to access a black-market operator from Greece either sees an ISP block page or has their deposit declined by their own bank.

By comparison the German system looks almost helpless. The GGL does publish a whitelist (around 30 online-casino licenses as of June 2026) and could, in theory, order ISP blocks under § 9 (1) No. 5 GlüStV. In practice, however, only 42 such orders have been implemented since 2021, most after lengthy administrative court proceedings. The OVG Koblenz ruled in November 2025 that the GGL is fundamentally entitled to issue such blocks — pace has picked up somewhat since, but remains far below Greek levels.

On payment blocks Germany is, in principle, further along — § 9 (1) No. 5 allows orders against payment service providers, and § 4 ZAG requires them to suppress illegal transactions. In practice, though, many black-market operators route payment processing via white-label PSPs in Curaçao, Costa Rica, or Anjouan that don't formally show up as gambling payments but are disguised as generic e-commerce transactions. This is exactly where Greece, via the EEEP database, has the decisive edge: banks receive a centrally maintained list of suspicious MCC codes and recipient IBANs in real time.

The Greek numbers back this up impressively: per the EEEP 2025 annual report, the estimated black-market share of total online-gambling gross revenue fell from 38% (2022) to 14% (2025). In Germany the GGL estimates the figure at around 25% — only slightly falling. Athens has lifted its online-gambling tax revenue by 84% in three years (from €187 million to €344 million). Germany, over the same period, posted a 31% increase (from €850 million to €1.11 billion).

For German players the Greek trajectory is interesting for two reasons. First, it shows that effective black-market suppression is possible — but it takes political will and clear enforcement powers for the regulator. The GGL has repeatedly demanded exactly that in its statements to the federal states; so far Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia hesitate, citing bureaucratic concerns for the banks. Second, it illustrates how international comparison data is becoming ever more important for the reform debate. The GlüStV 2021 evaluation planned for late summer 2026 will almost certainly cite the Greek model as a best-practice example.

Practically, this means: anyone playing online in Germany should verify before any sign-up that the operator is on the GGL whitelist. A quick check via the authority's website takes less than 60 seconds. Players who lost money with a non-licensed operator in the past can, under current BGH case law (Case No. I ZR 88/23, judgment of September 13, 2024), assert civil-law claims against the operator. Specialized firms such as CLLB Rechtsanwälte or Goldenstein report success rates between 70% and 95% against clearly identifiable operators.

We are tracking the Greek developments because they are visibly taking shape as a reform blueprint for the GGL. The big question will be whether the EEEP payment-database model is actually discussed in the upcoming federal-state consultations — the arguments now sit on the table as solid European comparison data, unlike in earlier reform rounds.