We were reminded recently that Ireland has got to be one of the most gambling friendly countries in the world which means that we are pretty free to do what we like without interference from government when we heard in the news about the situation in Belgium. Belgium generally is a country which is recognised as being fairly laid back but when it comes to online casinos or online gambling generally the regime is much stricter. Recently the Belgian National Lottery has gone online allowing Belgian residents to play via the internet but it is not simply a question of logging on, registering and playing After registration there is a process of identity checking and approval and only once that has been received can the Belgians play and even then there are restrictions. Once approved players can play various lotteries but also the state owned online casino but restrictions are in place to prevent excessive gambling; for example players cannot deposit more than €300 per week and the most they can have in their online casino account is €450. Winnings over €50 are automatically paid to a bank account thus preventing a build up of cash in an account and depositing by credit card is absolutely not accepted. A considerable portion of the online lottery and casino site is also dedicated to information about gambling addiction. For a country that only recently passed legislation preventing children under 16 from buying cigarettes it seems a little strange to have such controls over gambling but every country to its own..