About this app
How to play Helloween
Participants broadly accepted the principle that gambling information should be transparent and accessible, but many reported difficulty interpreting or using it effectively in practice.
Technical data such as odds and rules were often obscured by delivery timing that came too late to influence decisions.
This sense of understanding was also described as something that needed to be maintained continuously, rather than achieved only once and then relied upon.
What is Helloween?
The DIA worked directly with class 4 gambling operators (commonly known as pokies trusts), and discovered ‘widespread issues’ such as cases where money that should have been available for community grants was instead spent on society expenses, such as the purchase of additional gaming machines.
Vicki Scott, the DIA’s director of gambling, said the investigation had delivered significant results, while stressing that work to improve compliance and ensure communities received their share of gambling proceeds would continue.
“Most operators have worked constructively with us to address historical issues and improve their practices,” Scott said.
About Helloween
The GMI, know locally as EEE, is described as a “residual payment to guarantee and legal minimum income for all residents”.
Anyone residing in Cyprus, with income not high enough to support their basic needs, is eligible for the benefit.
Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.
