Casinos to be allowed to host international gambling tournaments, annual fee to be GEL 100,000

Casinos will be able to host international gambling tournaments. To this end, a new type of licensed activity, the organization of an international gambling tournament, will be added.

The relevant legislative package was submitted to parliament by Georgian Dream deputies. Its authors and initiators are Shota Berekashvili, Tornike Berekashvili, Irakli Mezurnishvili and Giorgi Barvenashvili. The package defines the rules and conditions for organizing international gambling tournaments.

A tournament organized by a casino will be considered an international gambling tournament if its prize fund is guaranteed in advance and at least 70 percent of participants are citizens of a foreign country. Tournaments may be held both at a facility organized under a casino license and outside it, on the basis of an appropriate permit.

If the tournament's prize fund exceeds GEL 3 million and the club table is used solely for holding this tournament, the organizer will be exempt from the gambling business fee established for the club table. In this case, it will be entitled to receive revenue from holding the tournament.

The annual licensing fee for organizing a tournament will be GEL 100,000. The fine for violating licensing conditions is GEL 50,000, while organizing a tournament by a person not authorized to do so will be punished with GEL 150,000.