That gaming is legal in the Czech Republic, as in many other European countries, is positive because driving an industry like this one underground is the best possible way to ensure corruption. And, as with prostitution or drugs, making it illegal would do little to stamp it out.

The post-1989 state has chosen to handle this particular vice with a policy of realpolitik, accepting gambling as not just inevitable but as the source of handy revenue streams for an inefficient government that's in the habit of hemorrhaging money.

Whether that's the best choice for society when seen from a moral framework is an open question. What's certain is that if casinos and herna bars (those smoky pubs featuring one-armed bandits and men with glazed eyes unceasingly pumping coins into them) are allowed to proliferate as they have been, Prague's reputation for sleaze will worsen.

With the Czech capital already known the world over for its sex industry and easy, round-the-clock access to cheap alcohol, making its image worse would be no small achievement. But it seems that the gambling industry is ready to get us there in short order.

It's encouraging to hear that Petr Vrzáň, the new director of the Finance Ministry's gambling regulation arm, the State Supervision of Gaming and Lotteries, is committed to cleaning up this industry — even if the crackdown comes 15 years too late.

Stepping up enforcement of the Czech rules governing casinos, known collectively as the lottery law, is also clearly a good move, as is expanding the team of full-time inspectors. Hiring five full-time staff to handle licensing and collect fees is a better idea still — particularly in light of the government's share, which was 5.6 billion Kč last year, with state and municipal budgets scoring 2.3 billion Kč of that. (It's doubtful, of course, that all taxable gambling was really reported.)

Another 2.3 billion Kč in gambling fees went, by law, to support sports, cultural and other social programs last year, a 10 percent jump over the previous year. That's all good news to politicians struggling to rein in budget deficits and burgeoning costs of health care and pensions that are only expected to grow in future years.

But the history of the lottery law, which Parliament has stalled on updating for eight years, does not inspire confidence. And ministers have kept reforms to deal with modern gambling technology from even reaching the floor of the Chamber of Deputies.

Meanwhile, other areas of gambling regulation remain a confused mess: No one is able to explain why Vrzáň's office is empowered to police casinos but only limited aspects of the far more common herna bars. Indeed, many owners are already thinking that if the new casino rules are not to their liking, they may simply remove their card tables and roulette wheels and leave only slot machines, making them exempt from the feds.

And gambling operators are able under current law to choose the sports teams that their fees to the state will fund, which seems an open invitation to conflicts of interest. Sports betting is a cornerstone of the industry and corruption scandals in Italy this year have shown how easily well-monied gambling organizations can influence the performance of teams on which huge bets ride.