All forms of gambling in Qatar are illegal, just as in almost all of the Islamic countries worldwide.
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar is a sovereign country located in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It has a population of a bit above 2 million and with a per capita GDP of $145,894, it is the richest country in the world.
Given these figures, it’s no doubt Qatar could be an extremely lucrative gambling market (and it is, for illegal operators). However, as mentioned before, Islamic laws in the country strictly prohibit all gambling in Qatar and this is not likely to change in the near future. There are no casinos, poker clubs or bingo halls in the country, whatsoever. There are, however, illegal gambling dens and illegally organised poker in Qatar. Betting on camel races, that are reportedly the most popular sporting event in the country, is also widespread.
The closest thing to any form of legal game of chance in the country is a lottery, organised by Qatar Duty free, the subsidiary of Qatar Airlines. The game is similar to the Dubai Duty Free lottery, which is also the only legal “gambling” in Dubai (it’s more of a raffle).
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Online gambling in Qatar is forbidden as well. According to the Qatari penal code (Law No. II. Of 2004), players caught gambling (online or offline) can face a prison sentence of up to three months and/or a fine of not more than 3,000 Riyals (approx. $824)*. However, the chances of individual online gamblers being prosecuted are almost non existent. There is no indication that authorities would make any serious attempts to find and prosecute online players. Such laws are almost impossible to widely enforce on the level of individual players and internationally.
Reportedly, the government also has an internet censoring system in place, which mainly blocks pornographic, anti-islamic and political content. However, Freedom House’s press freedom report does not indicate, that the ban applies to gambling sites as well**. Therefore it is safe to assume, that most of these platforms are freely accessible – even though, they’re technically illegal.
*Source: Law No. (11) Of 2004 Penal Code
**Source: Freedom House Report 2014 – Qatar
Summary:
Qatar – casino gambling
Online casino gambling in Qatar: illegal
All forms of gambling are illegal in Qatar. Therefore, even though the lavish lifestyle of locals would undoubtedly make such an operation extremely lucrative, there are no legally operating Qatar casinos.
Online casinos are outlawed in Qatar. Players can theoretically face fines for gambling online. However, the government doesn’t appear to have taken any measures to make such sites unavailable to the country’s residents. Moreover, individual players are low priority in the eyes of authorities.Although it is illegal, the risks involved in gambling in an online casino for a Qatari player are almost non existent, if done from the safety of your home in a discreet manner.
The following online casinos accept players from Qatar:
Bingo in Qatar
Online bingo in Qatar: illegal
Bingo – apart from being unpopular in the Arab world – is outlawed in most of the Muslim countries with some degree of Shari’a law, including Qatar. There are no reported land based bingo halls in the country.
Online bingo is also technically illegal and players caught gambling online or offline in Qatar can theoretically face criminal charges. However, individual players gambling from the safety of their homes are extremely unlikely to be prosecuted. Moreover, the censoring system employed by the government reportedly does not target foreign online gambling websites.
Poker in Qatar
Online poker in Qatar: illegal
Poker is considered a form of gambling in Qatar and therefore it is illegal – just like in the overwhelming majority of countries with some degree of Islamic law and a predominantly Muslim populations. However, some reportedly conduct illegal, invitation-only tournaments and poker nights in the houses of wealthy individuals that are out of the country. Gulf News Qatar reports that the gangs usually bribe caretakers to allow them into the apartments*.
Online poker is also outlawed. Authorities appear to make no serious attempts to make such sites unavailable to Qatari residents through ISP blocks, or if they do, these are rather halfhearted. In short, Qatari players can play online poker safely, if they do it from the safety of their homes and are being reasonably discreet about it. Despite the fact that online poker is technically illegal, the ban is not widely enforced on the level of individual players.
*Source: Gangs run card gambling dens in Qatar homes
Sports betting in Qatar
Online sports betting in Qatar: illegal
All games of chance are illegal in Qatar, so is any form of wagering on sporting events. Even though camel racing is extremely popular in Qatar and there are several lavish camel racetracks in the country, betting on these races is also considered illegal. Nevertheless, as you could expect, huge amounts of money change hands during these races, through illegal bookmakers.
/An interesting fact about Qatari camel racing:
Historically, all the jockey’s in these races were children below 60 pounds to get the most out of the camels. However, this practice was banned due to human rights concerns of various organisations, the US State Department and the UN. In 2005, children were replaced with robot jockeys made by a swiss company*. Robots riding camels in the desert, watching a race like this would undoubtedly make for a fascinatingly bizarre experience./
Online sports betting is also illegal in Qatar. However, individual players are low priority cases in the eyes of authorities. The chances of a Qatari players being caught and penalised for betting online are minuscule.
*Source: Ride ’em, Robot: Qatar Offers Solution To a Jockey Shortage
Qatar – lottery
Online lottery in Qatar: illegal
Lottery is illegal in Qatar, as all other forms of gambling. There is neither a national lottery, nor any private lotteries. There is a lottery like game operated by Qatar Duty Free, which appears to be exempt from the ban, but it’s more a raffle than a lottery. At the time of writing, a ticket costs $262. The top prize is $1 million.
Foreign online lotteries are also illegal. However, authorities reportedly do not aim their efforts at individual players and they also did not issue a wide scale ISP ban on online gambling sites. The chances of a player from Qatar being prosecuted for participating in an online lottery draw are almost none.
Bitcoin gambling in Qatar
Bitcoin gambling in Qatar: illegal
There doesn’t appear to be any laws restricting the use of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in Qatar.
However, as all forms of gambling are illegal, it is safe to assume that Bitcoin gambling is illegal as well. That being said, authorities do not seem to actively prosecute people for online gambling in Qatar. If anything, players who place bets online in Bitcoin are even safer, as anonymous Bitcoin transaction add an additional layer of privacy to their activities. It is very unlikely that a player from Qatar would be prosecuted for online Bitcoin gambling.
If you have questions or any feedback don’t hesitate to drop a comment below. Please let me know in the comments section if you think we might have gotten something wrong or if you have additional information, clarification about the legal status of online gambling in this country.
This page is part of Simon’s List – Legal Status of Online Gambling – a definitive guide to the legal status of all forms of online gambling activities in every country around the world.
Last updated: 2015. 01. 28.
Gambling is strictly forbidden in Qatar, as it is in several other strict Muslim countries in the Middle East. So there are no casinos, no betting shops, no poker rooms, no bingo halls, no lottery outlets, or any other legal places to bet here, although this doesn’t mean that gambling and poker doesn’t take place here. (1)
There’s actually quite a bit of illegal gambling that goes on in Qatar, and it seems that in spite of this being a Muslim country, a lot of people here like to bet. Betting on camel races is particularly popular, but it’s far from limited to this.
A lot of the illegal gambling in Qatar is run by several gangs, who operate out of private homes, either by bribing the owners or using unoccupied residents, and they also tend to move their locations frequently to stay one step ahead of the authorities. Players are informed by text message of the locations, and the games typically run during the middle of the night, usually starting after midnight. (2)
Online gambling here is illegal as well, and the government actively looks to block people from gambling on the internet, although like other countries who try to do this, it is of limited effectiveness, and only really prevents more casual gamblers from partaking, those who are not familiar with workarounds to this, using virtual private networks to connect to servers located in other countries, servers that their government don’t have control over. (3)
Most of the focus to block sites is on online sports betting operations though, which is the most popular form of gambling here, and there’s no reports here of online poker sites being blocked specifically, and it seems that players here do have full access to the online poker rooms that do accept them, although the list here is limited and some major online poker rooms, such as PokerStars and Full Tilt do not accept players from Qatar anymore, although there are several good ones that still do.
Oddly enough, a look at the law of Qatar as written, as it pertains to gambling, only prohibits betting that is to some degree based upon luck, and although it’s hard to see how this would apply to camel race betting and other forms of sports betting, they still interpret this as prohibiting all forms of betting, whether luck is involved in the outcome or not. (4)
People found to be gambling here face both a fine and a sentence of three months in jail, although if you are found to be gambling in a public place, the sentence gets doubled to six months and the fine is also increased. Like some other Muslim countries, they are more concerned with what goes on in public than in private, although they do look to prosecute offenses in private as well, where some countries don’t even care about this and for instance will only make things like public gambling and public drinking illegal.
Playing Poker In Qatar
So in spite of their looking to block online bookies, sports betters in Qatar aren’t put out by this, and there are said to be a lot of people who bet on sports online here. As far as poker goes, there are also a fair number of online poker players from Qatar as well, in spite of poker not being a popular game here traditionally. (5)
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The coming of the internet has changed this though, and in areas where people have widespread access to the internet, the game of poker does tend to catch on. Qatar has the second highest internet penetration in the Arab world, second only to the UAE, who only have a very slight lead on them, and about 90% of the people from Qatar now have internet access, an impressive number indeed. (6)
We won’t be seeing the World Poker Tour coming to Qatar anytime soon, and this is one of the least likely places to ever open up a poker room or a casino, but as is so often the case, when people want to partake in live gambling, the law doesn’t really stop them very much.
The illegal betting dens here actually focus on poker for the most part, and if you’re going to run this out of a residence, and especially if you are a mobile operation, you aren’t going to have a lot of gambling equipment, and with poker all you need is a deck of cards and chips, so this is a perfect game for this sort of thing, and is helping grow the game of poker in the country.
There is also said to be at least some private games that go on here as well, although as is the case with the betting dens, you have to be in the know to get in on the action here, but that’s always the case with private games.
Playing live poker does carry with it the risk of getting caught though, especially at an illegal gaming den, and the great thing about online poker is that this reduces the risk here to virtually zero, as it’s just you and your computer that are getting involved, and when you bring others into the mix there’s always the risk that the word will get out, but this isn’t an issue with online play of course.
It’s probably wise though to use a virtual private network to play poker here though, as it’s at least possible that the government may be spying on your online activities, although this takes a lot of resources and is extremely rare, and there’s no reports of Qatar authorities doing this, but it does pay to be smart here. Using internet wallets to move money in and out of online poker sites is also recommended, which is a good idea in any country where online poker is illegal.
Top Online Poker Sites That Accept Players From Qatar
Players from Qatar tend to be pleasantly surprised at the selection of top quality online poker rooms that they can play at. While big sites like Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and Party Poker, among others, say no to players from Qatar, some real top sites are still saying yes, which is very good news. All of our recommended sites offer nice bonuses to new players, so they are well worth trying if you haven’t tried one or more of them before.
You don’t get much better than 888 Poker in fact, and although PokerStars gets more traffic, no other site does, and the competition at Poker Stars is fierce, so even if they did take players from Qatar, 888 is still a better choice. This may be the finest online poker site on the internet in fact.
Another great place to play is on the iPoker Network, and both Titan Poker and Bet365 Poker is on our list of our top recommendations for you, and both offer full access to this very popular and well liked poker network. This is the third busiest place to play poker on the internet, and they offer very good game selection and very good customer service as well.
Black Chip Poker is a bit down the list as far as traffic rankings go, but they still make our list, based upon the overall appeal of this poker site. They offer access to the Winning Poker Network which has grown tremendously lately, and with all the casual players here, this is a real good place to have an account, especially if you like doing well at the tables.
References:
1. Gambling Laws in Qatar; Online and Offline
2. Gangs Run Card Gambling Dens in Qatar Homes
3. Qatar Gambling Laws
4. Qatar Online Casino Guide
5. Qatar Poker Community
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6. Internet in Qatar
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