Gambling and Playing Dubai Lottery Online: Is it Legal?

Gambling is traditionally and religiously prohibited in Islamic countries. Thus, gambling in the United Arab Emirates is strictly forbidden for religious reasons. But it is still practiced through online gambling sites in UAE in some parts of the region. The country follows Islamic laws. It has all the tools and possibilities to prosecute anyone caught gambling. But despite of that, citizens have access to a number of gambling sites. Note that now there are online lottery platforms in Dubai that are completely legal.

History of Gambling in the UAE

The history of online gambling in the UAE goes further back than we think. Before physical casinos were established, Arabs had a different type of entertainment and gambling, which is kept until today. One of the traditional sports in the Emirates is camel racing. It wasn’t a big deal at first. But with time racing became a big sporting event with a lot of money invested in it. Sheikh Zayed was the one who invested in this sport in 1970. Nowadays, along with the camel racing, horse racing is also a very intense sport. And a favourite of both foreigners and locals. Another traditional sport is falconry, although it is not as popular as other ones.

Land-based casinos in Dubai

As for the physical casinos, there were gambling centres in certain upmarket hotels before a change of law in 1998. As mentioned earlier, there are some gambling facilities that are legally functioning in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and more. But overall the Emirates still have strict anti-gambling laws functioning. After they banned most casinos, casino cruises came out. These are still among the main attractions in the Emirates.

The 2012 gambling law decree made the situation even more complicated for the players. It made the regulations against online gambling even stricter than they were in the beginning. A lot of Internet tools were banned., citizens didn’t have access to VPNs and a total of 12 online gambling sites were blocked in 2017. Players have fewer and fewer options to enter online casinos. However, some of the remaining foreign online operators, give access to residents of the Emirates to 1xBet Lottery.

More about Gambling and Dubai Lottery Online

As the rest of the gambling types, online gambling operations in the United Arab Emirates is also illegal. Local providers just cannot get any licenses. The punishments for players who are caught using such overseas-operated gambling or betting websites for rather severe and vary to up to two years in prison. Some users’ access to such websites, on the other hand, is blocked by competent authorities in order for them to prevent accessing such websites. There's a huge number of local players reported to be accessing such websites using proxy servers. Although, there are some foreign online casinos that accept players based in the United Arab Emirates. Some of them also include sports-betting, bingo, and online lotto sites in UAE. Such websites offer maximum security to players’ personal and bank account data and accept various kinds of payment methods. However, betting on such websites can bring severe penalties, so the responsibility for betting on such a website is on the players.

Legal gambling in Dubai

As we’ve already mentioned, gambling is not a very common ‘practice’ in the UAE. But there are 3 cities with gambling facilities – all 8 legal facilities in total. The largest gambling city, of course, is Dubai. It includes table games, slots and video poker machines and online lottery in Dubai. Dollars are accepted in the legal gambling facilities in the UAE. And this is a great opportunity for Arabic gamblers to play.

Online Lotto Sites That Accept Players from UAE:

Here is a list of online lotto sites and promotions in UAE. They are reliable and accept players from UAE.

• 1xBet Lottery
• theLotter
• Jackpot.com
• WinTrillions
• LottoKings
• EuroLotto
• Lotto Agent

UAE Welcomes First Fatwa-Approved Lottery - Play Dubai Lottery Online!

Emirates Lotto, the first fatwa-approved digital lottery operator within the United Arab Emirates, has staged its inaugural draw, with one player winning AED350,000. It makes about €87,958. Launched in March 2020, Emirates Lotto will run a live weekly draw and is open to players over the age of 18 in the UAE and across the globe.

Players can purchase collectible tickets online. Each of them featuring a local landmark via the official Emirates Lotto mobile application. You can also buy it at retail stores throughout the UAE. Once a player has purchased the ticket, they can choose to opt into a free live draw for a chance to win between AED35m and AED50m in jackpot prizes each week. Online buyers can also donate their tickets to charity instead. When opted into the draw, players select six numbers from one to 49 on the app or website. They win other cash prizes. Depending on how many numbers they match. Emirates Lotto will pay out a guaranteed AED350,000 for matching five numbers in any draw. In addition to paying out prizes, Emirates Lotto committed to donating millions of Dirhams to UAE government initiatives. It is to support both national and community projects.

First Legal Digital Dubai Lottery Online

Emirates Lotto is the first digital lottery to launch with fatwa approval. The Fatwa is a non-binding legal opinion on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified jurist. “We are incredibly excited to be launching the region’s first fatwa-approved digital collectible scheme and draw,” Emirates Lotto chief executive Paul Sebestyen said. “The UAE, with its spirit and drive for innovation and entrepreneurship, was the most obvious choice to set up this initiative.” The inaugural draw took place on 18 April. With one player winning AED350,000 for matching five numbers in the main jackpot draw. A total of 43 players won cash prizes from the debut draw event.

You can discover more about 1xBet Lottery here.