# Question: Is gambling allowed in Dubai?



## Faz90

Many people say that Dubai is just like Las Vegas in lots of ways. I know that Dubai is Islamic but it is liberal for an Arabian city. I am curious to know if gambling is allowed in Dubai.


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## DUBAI

Its forbidden, even the internet sites are blocked.

although their is a local version of russian roulette, called the Shaik Zayed Road


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## DubaiCanadian

You can place a bet of US$136 at Duty Free at the Airport, you then have a 1 in 1,000 chance to win a very luxurious car...


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## Faz90

I don't want to gamble. I was just curious whether it was allowed or not. I am glad that it is forbidden. It prevents society from decaying, and it proves that people don't know what they are saying when they compare Dubai to Las Vegas.


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## smussuw

It is supposed to be forbidden but as DubaiCanadian has said we have an indirect gambleing like paying 100 AED to buy a ticket to win a mercedes and those sort of stuff.

We dont have people who are obssesed about those stuff


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## DubaiCanadian

smussuw said:


> It is supposed to be forbidden but as DubaiCanadian has said we have an indirect gambleing like paying 100 AED to buy a ticket to win a mercedes and those sort of stuff.


Thank you for agreeing with me this time


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## smussuw

^ I am always unbiased 


I am stating a fact here.

You dont want me to tell u my view about those stuff though. :rofl:


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## dubaiflo

DUBAI said:


> Its forbidden, even the internet sites are blocked.
> 
> although their is a local version of russian roulette, called the Shaik Zayed Road


 :hahaha: :rofl: that made my day.


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## Faz90

smussuw said:


> We dont have people who are obssesed about those stuff


I hate gambling. Thank you all for giving me relief. 

I am not happy that alcohol is allowed.


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## smussuw

Faz90 said:


> I hate gambling. Thank you all for giving me relief.
> 
> I am not happy that alcohol is allowed.


Am not happy with that either.

But look at the bright side. It is illegal to be drunk outdoors. It is also illegal to sell alcohol in shops. It is only legal in hotels and bars.


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## Faz90

Good. I don't want Dubai to get any worse with allowing these lifestyles.


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## smussuw

^ If we were lucky with more democracy it will be much better on those things.


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## Faz90

That is if only the citizens voted, and not the expatriots.


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## smussuw

^ Who said that expats will be able to vote?

Beside most of the expats are muslim.


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## Faz90

Many are Indians and Filipinos, and they're Hindus and Christians


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## smussuw

True but most are muslims. Beside as I said expats will not be able to vote.


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## Faz90

This has nothing to do with voting but i read that only 50% of people in Dubai are Muslim.


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## smussuw

I dont have a number really. I dont have any problem with having non muslims as long as they follow our rules.


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## Faz90

I think Dubai will remain Islamic as long as its under Muslim rule, such as the adhan being heard 5 times a day.


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## smussuw

It was always Islamic and will stay.

No one is arguing with that

Beside u cannot minimize that Islamic values into the athan u know. People do fast, pray and give charity.

Most of the females cover all their bodies and their hair.


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## Faz90

I was talking about Muslim rule, not how religious the people are. The law decides if the adhan can be heard. I don't want this to become an argument.

Anyway I would love to go to Dubai one day, especially when Burj Dubai is completed. I think most people who hate Dubai are jealous that it is going so far, and it defies common racist steriotypes of Arabs, such as everyone being a terrorist or being primitive.


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## ragga

Faz90 said:


> I was talking about Muslim rule, not how religious the people are. The law decides if the adhan can be heard. I don't want this to become an argument.
> 
> Anyway I would love to go to Dubai one day, especially when Burj Dubai is completed. I think most people who hate Dubai are jealous that it is going so far, and it defies common racist steriotypes of Arabs, such as everyone being a terrorist or being primitive.


Me and you should go on a tour in the united states and educate people about dubai... i agree with your thoughts 500% thats EXACTLY how the thinking is for people who dont like dubai... ESPECIALLY if they havent been there. you summed it up.


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## juiced

the comments at skyscraperpage.com are a good example of that


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## BigDreamer

I think dubai must have larger presence in the world media and popular culture, i hope that once BD and other huge projects complete it would attract more media attention an maybe we'll see dubai being featured in big budget movies and prime time tv.

however that requires dubai/UAE to be even more open, and try to "commercialize" their culture, jst like how the Japanese did it in the 60s and 70s. NOTE: that doesnt necessarily mean to abandon its islamic based values, jst try to pakage them and sell them to the world, many parts of the world are very unfamiliar with islam and consider it rather odd.


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## DUBAI

I heard that by 2010 there will be more christians in dubai than muslims if current trends continiue, and this includes the fact that most europeans are secular and dont go to church ever [i dont count the people who go for easter and christmas, as thi is tradition and not religion].

Scary demographical change going on in dubai.

anyhow, no religious discussion, but if democracy comes after 2010 i cant see it being possible to only give locals voting rights, power in the city will shift.

even today, this is the first time i have been going to shopping malls and supermarkets i see more europeans than arabs.

the times they are a changing...


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## Dubai_Boy

DUBAI true , i have noticed that too  but i honestly am not concerned about it , why should i be ?

I plan on marrying a european or american , they have rather small families and thats something i like  so i guess the more expats we have in the country the bigger the chance i find me a wife


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## smussuw

DUBAI said:


> if democracy comes after 2010 i cant see it being possible to only give locals voting rights, power in the city will shift.


It will not make a huge shift. The power is already with in the locals (royal family). Voting will only give the power to a broad range of locals rather than part of them.

Beside expats shouldnt be horrified. We dont want to change the city into another taliban or Iran. We only want to add a little more religious flavour. We want also more civil right which will benifit both locals and expats.


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## DUBAI

Its very hard to allow small political changes though, i think if they give up a little, people will want more. [as i have so much fun studying, happened in russia with their liberalisation in the 80's.

Its possible, however, i think dubai is more likely to stay with the status quo. stability.


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## mohammad

The population of the UAE locals (by God's will, hopefully) would increase in comparison to the foreign population. Sooner or later, the UAE locals would outnumber the foreign population so you dont have to worry about giving foreigners "voting" rights. Not even America does that, so I doubt itll happen in the UAE. As soon as the local population increases to another 1 million residents, the country would have more locals willing to work in the private sector and take some government positions too.


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## DUBAI

lol, not even america!

as if they are the best example of democracy!

they dont even recomend their own systems to oter countries!

In the Uk all Commenwealth nationals living in the uk can vote as well as the Irish [which is weird but nice for them i think]


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## dubaiflo

i think a lot of locals are very young, so number might increase.


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## smussuw

We need a magical stick to make a balance.


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## mohammad

DUBAI said:


> lol, not even america!
> 
> as if they are the best example of democracy!
> 
> they dont even recomend their own systems to oter countries!
> 
> In the Uk all Commenwealth nationals living in the uk can vote as well as the Irish [which is weird but nice for them i think]



LOL, I was being sarcastic when I mentioned America. The reason why I used America as an example is because its people always bragged about how they have a very "democratic" life, yet if you look into the details you'd find out that its 180 degrees different. 

Anyways, the idea of not allowing foreigners to vote in UAE should always be practised. Firstly, its not their country. Secondly, its not fair for the locals who lived all their lives in the Emirates. If there was a law stating that *GCC* citizens can vote in different GCC countries, then Ill support it (since it resembles the "commonwealth" voting system, which the UK has).


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## juiced

mohammad said:


> The population of the UAE locals (by God's will, hopefully) would increase in comparison to the foreign population. Sooner or later, the UAE locals would outnumber the foreign population so you dont have to worry about giving foreigners "voting" rights. Not even America does that, so I doubt itll happen in the UAE. As soon as the local population increases to another 1 million residents, the country would have more locals willing to work in the private sector and take some government positions too.


eh?? Locals are already a minority and the massive pop growth that the authorities speak of where do you think thats coming from: mainly expats flying in to fill in those new towers. Even if you froze the number of expats allowed in today it would take decades before the local population was a majority again.
And what you said about locals willing to work in the private sector isn't as simple as increasing the local population, some dont like working in the sector because they traditionally prefer public sector jobs.


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## smussuw

I wish u were wrong juiced but this is the full truth.


We will be lucky if the locals become a majority in a decade.

Give it a century maybe


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## Faz90

Dubai's government is better than democracy. It is a good dictatorship that knows how to make its emirate a great place, unlike former Iraq and other mideastern countries. Democracy drastically slows down a government, and I don't see how Dubai will ever be a democracy.


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## Faz90

Do the locals have high birth rates like other Arab countries?


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## juiced

DUBAI said:


> lol, not even america!
> 
> as if they are the best example of democracy!
> 
> they dont even recomend their own systems to oter countries!
> 
> In the Uk all Commenwealth nationals living in the uk can vote as well as the Irish [which is weird but nice for them i think]


Thats a bit different compared to complete foreigners like Americans who arent part of the commonwealth or anything. And the Irish can vote because they are part of the EU, so the other EU countries can vote in local and other types of elections but not the national ones which is still only for UK nationals. Also an EU citizen of any country can become the mayor of London for example if they really wanted to but I think the day a Frenchman is Mayor of London will be the day of total anarchy :runaway: 
Maybe a similar system could work for the UAE where GCC nationals can vote only on the bigger issues but foreigners can vote on 'local' issues that only affect the residential area they live in??


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## smussuw

Faz90 said:


> Do the locals have high birth rates like other Arab countries?


We have a high birth rate but I guess each one needs to marry four to make a balance.

Almost 60% of the nationals are under 20.


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## mohammad

Faz90 said:


> Dubai's government is better than democracy. It is a good dictatorship that knows how to make its emirate a great place, unlike former Iraq and other mideastern countries. Democracy drastically slows down a government, and I don't see how Dubai will ever be a democracy.



Yes, the Dubai *municipality* is definitely dictatorial. In a sense it is good, but you should know that every judical system has its own shares of positives and negatives. On one hand, democracy is slow, but on the other hand democracy ensures that each local is treated equally and fairly without having one or two wealthy families controlling 'virtually' everything. For example, with democracy a rich family couldnt monopolise itself in the local market since it might affect the average citizens of the area. 

Onto Dubai, I admit that Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed has probably led one of the best *dictatorial* communities in the World. If you think about it, dictators either end up screwing their economies (e.g. Stalin) or going into a long list of wars (e.g. Saddam). So yes, I do give credit to Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed for maintaining a good dictatorial community, unlike the stereotypical examples of dictators, which we've seen in the past decades. 

However, a ruler still needs consultations. Without it, the ruler might end up doing very big mistakes. 

Anyways,
juiced: I know that the local population is small. All I said is that I hope it increases.  As for the towers, yes youre right the UAE economy does rely on foreigners. But eventually, it can cut back on its reliance on the outsiders, once the local population starts growing. 

Peace.


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