The United Arab Emirates this week launched its national lottery, becoming the only country from the Arabian Peninsula to do so.
Tickets for the UAE Lottery went on sale on Tuesday with the promise of a 100 million dirham (US$27.2 million) first prize and are available via the lottery website. The inaugural draw will take place on December 14.
Open to All
A number of small lotteries and raffles previously existed in a legal grey area in the UAE, including the Abu Dhabi Big Ticket, Mahooz, and the Emirates Draw.
These mainly targeted the country’s large non-Muslim expatriate community. But the UAE Lottery is the country’s first federally licensed lottery, and it’s open to all residents irrespective of nationality.
That’s perhaps surprising because Muslims are forbidden to gamble by the Quran, which describes games of chance as a “grave sin” and “abominations of Satan’s handiwork.”
The UAE is a country where globalist capitalism and ostentation rubs along incongruously with a legal system partly based on Shariah law and strict adherence to Islamic teachings.
It’s also a wealthy authoritarian petrostate that realizes one day its oil will run out and it must diversify its economy.
While any form of gambling beyond the lottery remains strictly illegal, the government is entertaining the idea of opening itself up to foreign casino operators.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, there are casinos in Morrocco, Egypt, and Lebanon, but these are largely small, foreigner-only facilities.
Wynn Al Marjan Island
In September 2023, the UAE government formed the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) in response to Wynn Resorts’ stated ambition to build a hotel casino in the country.
In July, the GCGRA awarded the lottery contract to Abu Dhabi-based The Game LLC, perhaps to test the waters as it mulls loosening its gambling laws to an extent that would be unprecedented for the region.
Wynn Resorts is making a $5.1 billion bet that the UAE will legalize casino gambling, and its Wynn Al Marjan Island, slated to open in 2027, is expected to be the first integrated resort in the Middle East.
With the amount of wealth in the UAE, the country could be expected to one day eclipse Singapore in gambling revenues, whether locals are allowed in or not.
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