Grannies play illegal blackjack
Granny Blackjack

Cyprus doesn’t tolerate gambling and will even send a police anti-terrorist unit to prevent gamblers from pursuing their hobbies.

In a recent report by casino gambling news, truly shocking yet true news appear.

Cypriot anti-terrorist police unit has been sent to bust an illegal Black Jack Tournament taking place in a village near Limassol. As prescribed by local regulations, Cyprus doesn’t allow even the tiniest displays of gambling for money.

Well-armed police forces entered a private house, deterring well over 40 blackjack gamblers from continuing the local blackjack championships. The gamblers, as the local sources indicate, have been quite aggressive and attempted to prevent the police from grabbing laid-out cards and cash. While the bust has been highly successful in terms of numbers arrested, only 100 Euro ($130) were seized.

This was the entire tournament cash pull and the gamblers happened to be elderly grannies, aged 60-98 years of age. In fact, it was a tournament ran by a local senior citizens club, albeit illegally. The club claims that they run table card games, especially those involving card counting system, in order to keep the grannies mentally alert. Also, small stakes betting motivates the elderly ladies to play some advanced blackjack or poker.

In avoid further humiliation of the police, the grannies have been released from jail following a negative news report of police brutality.

While Cyprus may send a tough message to gamblers, it is estimated that well over a billion dollars is spent annually by Cypriots gambling at online casinos. Many gamblers also travel to the northern Cyprus, controlled by Turkey, where gambling is legal. Some of the arrested grandmothers threatened to walk barefooted to the north Cyprus border in order to raise awareness of the strict Cyprus gambling laws.

Meanwhile, as rumored, more local senior citizen clubs in Cyprus are seeking to run their own underground blackjack competitions. The winners will compete in a national blackjack tournament for a title of ”Illegal Gambling Queen.” The minimum age of sixty is required to participate.

At the same time, the elderly men are seeking to run their own competitions. To distinguish themselves from women, many of whom are their own wives, the Cyprus grandpas will run underground poker championships with a minimum age of sixty-five.

The proposal has also been made to have the women’s blackjack winner compete against men’s poker winner at a third table card game, known for ages as baccarat.