The Czech Republic is the latest country to approve regulated online gaming after the country's president, Miloš Zeman, signed a variety of laws in June with Jan. 1, 2017, being the expected launch date of the new online gaming regime.
Gaming legislation hit the radar in the Czech Republic in 2014 when the country's finance minister, Andrej Babiš, introduced proposals for the stated purpose of raising taxes on online gaming in hopes that it would curb the social harms he believed this activity created for its 10.5 million residents. Those residents are believed to currently wager online $6 billion per year.