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How a recent ban on gambling in Albania is impacting the country

At Albania's betting shops, people could gamble on everything from soccer to the gender of the next royal baby.

This picture taken on December 19, 2018, shows a man removing a sign from a betting establishment in downtown Tirana, Albania.
This picture taken on December 19, 2018, shows a man removing a sign from a betting establishment in downtown Tirana, Albania.
GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP/Getty Images

Betting shops – stores on shopping streets where you can go bet on a horse or sometimes a basketball game or whether the next royal baby’s going to be a boy or a girl – are a common feature in many European towns. But one small European country has banned all gambling: Albania. So what prompted the ban, and how is that playing out?

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