Creative Russians: Betting on COVID-19

While talking about creativity, it can be said that this is a perfect moment for being creative. The major thing to consider is that creativity also has some morals and some limits.

The novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, which was first discovered in Wuhan, China by the end of 2019, has now spread to the whole world. More than 150 countries have been affected by the virus outbreak. At first, it was announced as the epidemic, but on the 13th of March, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It has been almost 5 months since the virus was first classified, though the situation is getting more and more severe day by day. The countries have gone into lockdown and the major businesses, which are now considered to be non-essential are all shut down. The restaurants, bars, casinos, the main gathering places are all shut down. People who are not obliged to work during this time, are encouraged to stay home. 

Several countries have gone full lockdown, just like the UK, while others have closed the borders or certain states. The quarantine regime is all over the world and almost 90% of the population is now sitting at home and going into uncertainty, without any guarantees. 

Many major businesses have been closed and so far they do not know if they will ever come back to life or not. The virus has already affected more than half a million people all across the globe and the rest of the people are quarantined or self-isolated at homes. Millions of people have already lost their jobs and many more are yet to come. There is an economic recession and perhaps the postCovid-19 Depression will be the biggest challenge of this century. 

The wave of creativity

All non-essential venues are closed all over the world. Moreover, all events across the world are postponed or canceled. This is the completely new reality to which we are not used to. The world has basically pushed on a pause and we are still moving. It can be said that basically the whole world is in quarantine now. Everyone sits at home and lives in a strict quarantine regime, with the regulations on staying at home, commending hours and self-isolation.

At first, the best thing to do was to bet, on different sports activities. But now, the events are canceled and postpones. There is nothing else to observe, to track to watch. Despite this, people still need to penetration themselves. While watching out of the window has served as the entertainment method for some time, some companies came up with some more creative ideas.

Creative Russia

With all sports competitions in Russia suspended until April 17, certain gambling websites in the country have begun offering betting on the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. Russian gambling websites Betcity and Parimatch are both offering COVID-19 betting categories.

Betcity is offering options such as, ‘WHO announces creation of a vaccine against COVID-19 by 31 Dec 2020?’ and ‘WHO announces the end of COVID-19 pandemic before 01 Jan 2021?’ Meanwhile, Parimatch allows betting on whether Russia will impose movement restrictions for its citizens or ban public gatherings.

The most interesting is that none of the abovementioned two operators are the first ones to try to capitalize and benefit from the crisis. Several other countries, such as the Netherlands have already addressed the issue.

Earlier this month, the Netherlands Gambling Authority announced it would be taking strict action after it found illegal online gambling providers to be taking advantage of the closure of arcades and casinos by marketing their sites as “corona-free” online offerings.

The Malta Gaming Authority advised its licensees to deliver “socially responsible commercial communications with respect to COVID-19,” while the Gambling Commission reinforced that customer protection and responsible marketing are now even more essential, considering the number of housebound customers in the UK.

Earlier in March, the European Union has also set some new regulations and implemented new security measures in order to maintain the online gambling market safe and sound for the costumers. All of the European countries are urged to take customer protection a priority especially during this time.

While we are still in the middle of the crisis and basically live in uncertainty, we should expect similar surprises in the nearest future as well. Some of the countries and companies will definitely offer something more creative and entertaining.