My first consideration is about the seizure itself. Were the regulars in these places wrong? Yes, of course, because the serious moment we are experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic places us in the responsibility of maintaining social isolation. We should not go to cinemas, theaters, bars, restaurants and even beaches. This goes for casinos or bingos.
If they were regulated activities, these houses would certainly be closed, respecting the decrees to interrupt non-essential activities. They would keep their doors closed as has been done by virtually all non-core trade points.
I wonder why that porn-deputy who went out recording the blitz in the clandestine casino where Gabigol was found does not go to the periphery of the camera in his hand to record the fights that happen practically every night in Sao Paulo and require the police to close these parties, strewn with drinks, crowded, and with practically all the regulars without masks. Because it doesn’t matter. It is cooler to look for a classy place to call attention and not to the public health problem that Brazil is experiencing.
Should the Flamengo player and the singer be punished or stoned for going to a clandestine casino? Of course, not ... They were wrong to go to a crowded place. If they had gone to a restaurant behind closed doors or to a night club, they would also be wrong and should be criticized for not respecting social isolation. Full stop.
The second consideration makes me think of the various lottery modalities explored by Caixa Econômica Federal, just to mention the central government, which can be considered as games of chance. They are, in fact, permitted by law. So, in my opinion, gambling is not prohibited, as long as it is officially exploited.
The classic concept of gambling says that the result of winning or losing does not depend on the skill of the player, but on the question of the probabilities of correct or incorrect hunches, whether in Mega-Sena, Quina, Lotofácil and many other models. Unlike what happens with betting on turf, sports betting, and poker, for example, where the bettor's knowledge of horses, football teams or his mental ability to understand the next step in a poker hand can lead him to victory.
Even in casinos, some games depend on the mental skill of the player, as is the case with blackjack, while on machines the success does not depend on studies or knowledge, but on the luck of closing one or several lines and even winning a jackpot.
For all these reasons, I understand that Brazil needs to study itself again and remove the mask of hypocrisy, often fostered by pseudomoralists, and stop thinking that gambling is harmful to the country. Nothing like that. Gambling, even clandestine, generates thousands of jobs, consumption, and income. Only the government does not see this money in the form of taxes and the formalization of jobs.
And the “legal” game of chance, from Caixa Loterias, once again to quote the permitted federal entity, has plenty of reasons to be proud. Mega-Sena, for example, has just turned 25 and has already paid R$ 27.5 billion in prizes since its launch. In 2020 alone, more than R$ 8 billion were transferred to different areas, such as education, health, culture, sports, safety, and security. Last year, Caixa Lotteries registered record numbers, with a collection of R$ 17.1 billion in bets.
On April 30, Brazil will turn 75 without gambling, when they were banned by President Eurico Gaspar Dutra, encouraged by his very religious wife, who forced him to claim that the activity was not in keeping with morals and religion. But it wasn't just that. Political fights against several opponents, including Getúlio Vargas, who regulated the betting sector, were covered up by the “moral and religious decision of the Brazilian people,” as stated in his decree ending the activity. Can you imagine, considering the numbers of Caixa Loterias, how much the country failed to collect over this period? This analysis has been done by many experts and involved with the possibility that the activities will return to legality.
We have published in GMB numerous articles on the issue of collection with all types of gambling verticals, which could inject up to R$ 50 billion in the economy, in addition to generating more than 700 thousand direct jobs, as defended by Senator Angelo Coronel, rapporteur of Bill 2648 / 19 that provides for the legalization of the sector.
So, the moment is now, as I said in other opinion articles here at GMB. The release of gambling in Brazil is a topic that has been going on for decades and it is time for the authorities to work hard and urgently to regulate the activity once and for all, which will give a great boost to the economy, so overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
GILDO MAZZA
GMB journalist, specializing in the gambling industry for 25 years
