Iraq has a long social relationship with games of skill and chance, from backgammon in the coffee houses to a century-old horse-racing scene in Baghdad, yet formal gambling has always sat uneasily against both Islamic prohibition and the criminal ban in the 1969 Penal Code. The result is a culture where wagering survives informally and underground rather than as a legal, regulated industry.

A Short History

Baghdad’s horse-racing tradition is the clearest window into Iraqi gambling culture. The city’s equestrian club dates to the 1920s in the affluent Mansour district and, in its heyday, drew prominent society figures. The track was relocated in 1995 when Saddam Hussein decided to build a mosque on the original site, and gambling on racing was banned during his rule, part of a wider campaign to court conservative religious and tribal sentiment at a time of sanctions and unpopularity.

Racing endured. The Baghdad Equestrian Club still runs meetings, and reporting from outlets such as NPR and Fox Sports has documented crowds returning to the track even through periods of conflict, placing small bets despite the religious prohibition. In the Kurdistan Region, the Erbil International Equestrian Club held its first professional race with cash betting in December 2017, illustrating how the picture varies locally.

Gambling-adjacent games are woven into everyday social life, even where staking money is discouraged:

  • Backgammon (tawla): a fixture of Iraqi coffee houses and homes. It is played socially, though religious authorities discourage it, especially for stakes.
  • Card games and dominoes: common casual pastimes; wagering on them is considered haram.
  • Horse-race wagering: small, informal bets at the Baghdad Equestrian Club.
  • Football betting: football is the most popular sport, and Iraqis who bet typically do so on offshore sites covering local and international matches.
  • Roulette and casino games: found only in unlicensed, underground clubs, which are periodically raided.

Religion and Social Attitudes

Gambling (maisir) is explicitly prohibited in Islam, and in a Muslim-majority country this shapes both law and everyday attitudes. Even where informal wagering happens, it is generally private and low-profile. Public, organised gambling carries social stigma on top of legal risk.

Why Betting Stays Underground

The combination of a criminal ban, religious prohibition and no licensing pathway means there is no route to a legal, regulated gambling market in Iraq. What exists is informal: private games, small track bets, and offshore online betting that sits outside any Iraqi oversight or protection. Periodic crackdowns, such as the large Baghdad campaign of August 2019, reinforce that organised gambling remains firmly outside the law.

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