Grand Theft Auto Online‘s highly-anticipated Diamond Casino update recently went live but players in over 50 countries are barred from purchasing chips due to gambling laws in their respective countries.
Reddit user ThatFlameThough contacted Rockstar Support when he found the gambling-related content locked out for him, and was told that he’s out of luck due to his region. User SlapshotTommy has compiled a list of countries where the Diamond Casino has been blocked, which you can find below along with comments:
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Afghanistan
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Algeria
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American Samoa
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Argentina
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Azerbaijan
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Bahamas
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Bhutan
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Belarus
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Brunei
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Cambodia – gambling is illegal for natives, but land-based gambling is legal for foreign visitors
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Cayman Islands – land-based gambling is illegal, and online local casinos are banned, whereas foreign slots are not
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China
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Costa Rica
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Cuba
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Cyprus – online sports betting OK with a license
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Czech Republic – majority of online gambling is illegal (except online lottery and online sports betting)
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Ecuador
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Greece – some online gambling is illegal
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Iceland – online casino gambling and online poker illegal – offline gambling is legal
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Indonesia
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Iran
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Iraq
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Israel
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Jordan
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Kuwait
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Lebanon
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Libya
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Liechtenstein
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Luxembourg – illegal online other than sports betting and online lottery
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Maldives
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Mali – only legal for foreign visitors
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Mauritania
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Malta – gambling services need a license from the government, this is up to R* to apply for
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Malaysia – note: seems to work for some and not for others. No clear reasons why so far.
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Montenegro
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North Korea
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Oman
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Pakistan
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Paraguay
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Peru
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Poland – everything but online sports betting is illegal
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Portugal – gambling services need a license from the government, this is up to R* to apply for
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Qatar
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Saudi Arabia
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Somalia
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South Africa – online gambling is illegal
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South Korea
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Sri Lanka
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Sudan
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Syria
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Thailand – everything but Horse Racing and the Government Lotto
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Tuvalu
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United Arab Emirates
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Vietnam
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Venezuela
Rockstar has yet to provide a comment but don’t expect anything to change. Players in the aforementioned countries have resorted to using VPN but that can land them in trouble with the authorities as well as the developer.
Worth noting that although gambling is illegal in places like Hawaii and Utah, the update is available nationwide in the United States.
For more on GTA Online, check out our previous coverage.
