Place Your Bets

First broadcast August 2005

Listen to the programme in full

Gambling today is a two trillion dollar industry, and with the internet getting in on the game, its dynamism shows no sign of abating.

But how did the industry grow and expand to become such an important economic engine? And what are the consequences for us all as we become a planet of gamblers?

In a new four-part series for BBC World Service, James Silver investigates the boom in gambling around the globe.

Part Four: Emerging markets

Banned under the Soviet regime, Russia now has over a thousand casinos generating revenues in excess of half a billion US dollars, an expansion unprecedented in gambling history. But it's an industry that is totally unregulated and, consequently, one dominated by the mafia.

In 1996, the South African government introduced highly regulated casinos in 1996 with the optimistic expectation that the industry would enhance national reconstruction by creating jobs, contributing towards the process of Black Economic Empowerment and promoting tourism.

South Africa also prides itself on having the most advance social programmes in the world for dealing with problem gambling. But have they been effective in preventing those most vulnerable from becoming gambling addicts?