The legislative package concerning casinos has been revised - one of the requirements for hosting an international tournament will be that 80% of all participants are foreign nationals

The proposed amendments to the Law on the Organization of Lotteries, Gambling and Games of Chance, which would allow casinos to host international gambling tournaments in Georgia and are being fast-tracked through Parliament, were revised during the second reading.

Before the bill package was put to a vote at the second reading, its rapporteur, Shota Bereкаshvili, Chair of Parliament’s Economic Policy Committee, said that following internal consultations with the team, as well as with the People’s Power and European Socialists, it had been decided that at least 80% of all participants in an international tournament must be foreign nationals, instead of the 70% stipulated in the original draft.

Parliament passed the bill at the second reading with this provision. The vote was 74 in favor and 9 against.

The legislative package is set to be approved at the third reading later today.

Under the draft law, an international gambling tournament is defined as a gambling tournament organized by a casino, with a prize pool guaranteed in advance by the organizer and in which at least 80% of all participants are foreign nationals.

According to the draft, if an organizing club uses a gaming table exclusively to hold an international gambling tournament and the tournament’s prize pool exceeds GEL 3 million, it will be exempt from paying the gambling business fee imposed on club tables under the Law on Gambling Business Fees.

At the same time, the organizer will be entitled to generate revenue from hosting an international gambling tournament. Such tournaments may be organized both at venues operating under a casino license and outside those venues.