ArmeniaNow.com
25 June 2004
Drams and Drama: Armenians bet EuroCup is a cash championship
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
Football fever means gambling fever in Armenia, as EuroCup 2004 brings
out the bettors in numbers that would defy impressions of a country
suffering economic hardship.
“In the streets of Yerevan people talk only about money won or lost as a
result of betting,” says 46-year-old engineer Albert Arakelyan “They say
people win from $20,000 to $50,000. I have no idea whether I should believe
or not as I myself have hardly won $40 and then on a bet that was a little
less than that sum.”
Throughout the capital, storefronts that might once have been cafes or shops
have been turned into gambling parlors since June 12, when the first round
of European Championship play began. Punters are invited to risk their drams
at places called “Toto”, “Eurofootball”, “Vivaro” or “Parimatch”.
“It took a little time (almost three years) for this new phenomenon to
successfully find a place in lives of Armenians, especially within the last
time period,” says the manager of one of the Vivaro parlors. “And then when
they are opened and begin functioning it means that it is done exactly at
the proper time and people need them.”
During every football match gambling parlors turn into small football fields
with passionate fans and game-addicts. Ten to 15 minutes before a match
begins (which, here, means midnight) people queue to get to a person who
registers their bets. After that heavy smoke of cigarettes begins gently
curling in the air and throughout the hall the smell of beer mixes with the
smoke and the noise of hope riding on the feet of foreigners.
Vardan Sargsyan, 31, says he prefers watching matches at gambling parlors
with his friends, because at home there’s a struggle for the TV with women
and children of the house.
“Of course, I make my bets but I don’t bet for money. I like watching
matches. And when you bet you get all excited in watching matches,” he says.
This EuroCup season (it occurs every four years), Armenians have also
discovered on-line betting ().
Artur Lazarian, manager of an Internet club in Echmiadsin, says 40 visitors
a day come to check their winnings and loses in cyberspace.
Plenty of places for betting on football
“Many of them visit the club many times a day. And often when they see they
lost they begin to curse, forgetting where they are,” Lazarian says.
Though emphatically a male-dominated environment, a few brave Armenian women
have cracked the gender boundaries of football gambling.
Lianna Manukyan, 25, says she was infected with football fever by her
husband, Ashot. They make bets together and are fairly successful.
“It is easy money. You win without spending, of course, it is necessary to
make bets constantly,” she says.
Football gamblers are offered a variety of betting opportunities, including:
Which side would win, which side would score, in what minute a team would
score, who would score the goal, would there be a penalty kick, would there
be yellow card . . . Every bet has its odds.
Anahit Margaryan, 40, complains that under age children, including her 13
year old son, become involved in football wagering.
A note “bets are not taken from those under age of 18” is attached in every
such gambling parlor. However, the reality is different.
Anahit’s son, Vahe, says if parents give him 100 drams (about 2 cents) he
together with his friends runs to make bets.
“Sometimes we win, and go to eat ice cream,” he says.