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Games of chance have been on earth since the dawn of human history and there is no way governments could eradicate them. The last witness standing to this statement is the Russian government who revealed that a part of the North Korean Embassy in Moscow has been illegally used as a casino. Since Russia banned casinos in major cities back in 2009, the casino industry went underground and gamblers can indulge their habit illegally. Officials stated that especially foreign embassies snatched the opportunity to earn extra foreign currency to fund ailing economies of their home countries and the Korean Embassy is just the tip of the iceberg. Embassies have one vested advantage – special territorial rights that apply on their properties, thus making it impossible for the police to intervene.

Picked up in an Independent Newspapers article, we came across something that really surprised us. Jonathan Parke Senior Lecturer at The University of Salford in the UK – Centre for Gambling Studies, has advised that Britain build casinos along the lines of which South Africa has perfected. These are not so much gambling centres as entertainment venues and hotels. People visit these venues for a wide variety of reasons, not only gambling. They house cinemas, theatres, restaurants and cafes, as well as show bars, shops, casinos and betting shops. There is entertainment for children and adults as well as conferencing, live music venues and even private zoological gardens.

This variety of entertainment has more people visiting casinos for a range of entertainment offerings to socialise and not only gamble. They may eat dinner at a restaurant, catch a show and possibly have a flutter on the tables or slots late at night. It is Parke's opinion that these types of surroundings are less of a draw-card for problem gambling than the corner and High Street betting shops found everywhere throughout the UK. Even the gaming machines in shops in the UK, with small stakes and limited payouts offer less entertainment distractions, thereby making them more tempting to keep feeding in coins in an attempt to win a jackpot.

Some time ago there were attempts to open casinos in an entertainment type complex, however this was vetoed by British Parliament. Called a "Super-Casino" it was decided to allow only one in the country, but this never really got off the ground properly. Sun International group is a very good example of one of the South African entertainment/hotel/casino complex companies, which at one time wished to expand into the UK. However obviously did not get this going, so took their investments to Nigeria and Chile instead.

Jonathan Parke is prominent in Britain in that he has been responsible for the development of the first UK education programme for industry stakeholders/counsellors in respect of problem gambling. This programme trains people in the area of social responsibility with regard to the psychology of gambling.

In expressing similar concerns to Parke – Peter Collins of the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP) of SA felt that the sale of lottery tickets in shops had the same problem gambling effect to that of UK High Street betting shops. In that they were more easily accessible in an informal setting to larger numbers of people; because lottery tickets are inexpensive in comparison with an outing to a casino, and more regularly purchased by people in poorer communities, who are considered to be more vulnerable to problem gambling.

The NRGP SA is a non-profit, public-private sector organization which is funded by public grants for special projects and private voluntary donations from the South African gambling industry across the board. The NRGP also maintains that the structure of casinos in South Africa is such that it poses no larger risk in respect of problem gambling because it is a highly regulated industry. However forms of illegal gambling that are popular in this country, pose a greater risk.