Greek Regulator Questions 18 Operators on VIP Players as Its Single ID Check Waits for a Law

The Hellenic Gaming Commission wants one identity check for every online player in Greece and a clear view of how operators treat their biggest customers. A bank-run version of the check was halted because no law provides for it, and nothing has yet been formally decided.

• The Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) has sent questionnaires to all 18 licensed online operators on how they recruit, keep and reward VIP and high-value customers, Greek financial site Powergame reported on 12 October
• EEEP wants a single identity check for online players, reportedly through the state's e-Gov system, because checks run by each operator let one person hold accounts under several versions of the same name
• A bank had begun running that check through e-Gov.gr, but the General Secretariat for Information Systems told the bank, the EEEP and the data protection authority in a letter that national law does not provide for it
• Nothing has been formally decided: the EEEP has published no decision, draft rule or timetable, and its own website says its single register of excluded players is still being developed
• Online operators produced about 88% of Greece's GGR growth in the first half of 2026, on EEEP figures, and the push follows a June law that strengthened the regulator

Greece's Regulator Moves on Player Identity and VIP Treatment, Without a Legal Basis Yet

Both issues were discussed at a recent meeting at the EEEP between Commission members and representatives of the licensed online operators, according to Powergame, which reported it on 12 October without giving the meeting's date. The EEEP has issued no statement on it: its press releases to 13 October and its October newsletter, published the same day, do not mention player verification or VIP customers.

Under the current system, each licensed operator verifies its own customers. Powergame describes that verification as often deficient, and gives an example: the same person can be registered on different platforms as "Giannis Papadopoulos", "Ioannis Papadopoulos" or "I. Ch. Papadopoulos". The EEEP asked for a "universal" verification of players, according to the report, but its leadership under chairman Antonis Vartholomaios told operators that the regulator lacked the expertise and resources to run it.

The operators then turned to a bank, which Powergame says works closely with most of them, to carry out the check through the state's e-Gov.gr platform. The bank started, but the General Secretariat for Information Systems of Public Administration (GSIS) wrote to the bank, the EEEP and the Hellenic Data Protection Authority that this verification breached the law, because national legislation does not provide for it. A legal basis must be created before citizens' registry data can be released, according to the report, even though private companies already use e-Gov to verify, for example, telecoms subscribers. Powergame reports, citing unnamed information, that players will soon be verified through e-Gov, but gives no timetable, and the bank is not named.

A Questionnaire on High-Value Customers

The EEEP's questionnaire asks each operator whether it runs a VIP or high-value customer (HVC) programme; its criteria for entering, staying in and leaving it; how many players are in it now and in each of the previous three years; and the amounts those players stake, together with the bonuses, rewards, gifts, invitations, hospitality and other benefits they receive, Powergame reports. These customers can play hundreds of thousands of euros a year, and in some cases millions, according to the report.

The EEEP has told operators it wants the data for statistical purposes, but market sources quoted by Powergame say its aim is closer control. The report says the EEEP and the government suspect that some companies move their VIP customers' play to other platforms not licensed in Greece, costing the state tax revenue and, at worst, enabling money laundering. No company is named, and the suspicion is reported, not shown.

The Identity Gap Is Also a Self-Exclusion Gap

Inconsistent names also weaken self-exclusion. The EEEP's own guidance says its single register of excluded players is still in development and that, until it starts, exclusion cannot be applied automatically across all licensees. A player who wants a temporary exclusion from all online gambling must apply separately to every operator where they hold an account. A shared register needs a shared identity key, and a person recorded under three spellings of the same name cannot be matched reliably. Powergame notes that a player excluded on one platform can currently play on another. That makes the GSIS letter more than a procedural hitch: until the law changes, the fix most likely to make a single register reliable is on hold.

The VIP Questions Mirror Britain's Rules, Six Years Later

The questionnaire asks about almost exactly what Great Britain's Gambling Commission regulated in September 2020, when its high-value customer guidance set minimum standards for VIP schemes, covering personal account managers, tailored bonuses and hospitality, and said licensees that cannot meet them should not run such schemes. The same issue is live in the United States, where lawmakers have pressed FanDuel over its VIP practices. Greece is at an earlier stage, gathering evidence rather than setting rules, and the concern reported in Athens is tax and channelisation as much as harm. If high-value play is leaving the licensed market, tougher rules on VIP rewards could push more of it out unless enforcement against unlicensed sites keeps pace.

Greece's Growth Is Online, So the Gaps Are Online

On the EEEP's figures for January to June 2026, online operators' GGR rose 18.7% to €647.2 million, while total market GGR rose 8.0% to €1.56 billion. Online accounted for about €102 million of the €116 million increase, or roughly 88%, and now makes up 41.5% of the market. OPAP's retail and VLT business, now part of Allwyn, grew 2.6%. Online stakes, on the EEEP's adjusted measure, reached €4.18 billion. The EEEP notes that one licence holder's figures are due to be updated. Operator-by-operator checks now stand guard over a market of that size, which is why the regulator wants one gate.

Greece has named two weaknesses, duplicate identities and loosely supervised VIP play, but has decided nothing on either. Until a law lets it verify players centrally, the identity fix stays on hold and the VIP questionnaire remains evidence gathering, not regulation.