North Macedonia: Greeks gamblers once again went “all in” at the casinos of Gevgeli

North Macedonia is once again an “all time classic” for Greek gamblers who combine a visit to the casinos with cheap shopping, with more than 90,000 crossing the border in the month of December alone.

With a quick glance one can easily distinguish the countless Greek license plates, the majority of which can be traced to Kilkis, Halkidiki, Thessaloniki and even Larissa.

As the website ThessToday.gr reports, on New Year’s Eve and on New Year’s Day at least 5,000 people tried their luck at the roulettes and at the poker tables, but also at the – admittedly tempting – raffles with prizes worth thousands of euros.

Pre-memoranda times in terms of vehicular traffic

A customs source explained to ThessToday.gr that during the pandemic with the restrictive measures, the daily crossing from Greece to North Macedonia amounted to 2,500-3,000 vehicles.

This number seems to have been surpassed long ago, with this year estimated to rival pre-memoranda times.

On the one hand, casinos with free food are sucking what’s left of Northern Greece’s shrinking economy, and on the other, low gas prices are a magnet for thousands of citizens looking for cheap solutions until inflation returns to normal levels.