Netherlands Gambling Authority to assist municipalities in checking slot machine compliance in catering venues

The Danish Gambling Authority is careful to state that this is not an all-inclusive ruling - one game's loot box system may play out differently than that of another. The core issue is whether or not money can be earned through a game of chance that requires you to spend money in the first place. The Danish Gambling Authority was established to oversee the gambling activities in the country. The organization belongs to the category of independent state agencies that act in accordance with the orders of the Ministry of Taxation. Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gambling regulator, has identified a number of skin gambling sites operating illegally in the country and began working with proper authorities to cease operation in Denmark. The Spillemyndigheden has now contacted Denmark’s Internet Service Providers (ISP) and requested that access to these Counter-Strike skin gambling sites be blocked for not possessing. Google allows ads promoting the following gambling-related products as long as the advertiser is registered with the Spanish gambling authority and provides the relevant valid licenses: Gambling-related promotional products such as gambling-related vouchers, bonus codes, etc.

The Netherlands Gambling Authority has developed a new approach to assist municipalities in ensuring that slot machines in catering facilities comply with regulations to protect minors.

Slot machines in venues that also cater to minors must be clearly separated from the remainder of the establishment’s interior. Spot checks carried out in late 2018 found that this rule was not always respected, especially in venues with layouts that had changed over time.

EGBA, MGA dismiss need for emergency gambling measures during pandemic

Both the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) claim that there is currently no evidence to indicate that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has led to a notable increase in problematic gambling behavior.

Yanica Sant, head of EU affairs and policy at the MGA:

“B2C sports betting operators registered a significant decrease in generated revenue, which was to be expected in light of the fact that most sporting events were cancelled or postponed. On the other hand, B2C operators that offer online casino games registered a slight increase in gaming revenue. While an increase was expected, as more people were spending time inside their homes, the increase in revenue generated by remote casino games turned out to be less than what could have been expected. In fact, just over a third of operators registered an increase in revenue, while a third actually registered a decrease.”

Maarten Haijer, Secretary-General, EGBA:

“The data available shows there has actually been a significant decline in online gambling during the coronavirus lockdowns – mainly due to the cancellation of major sports. According to the respective national authorities, in Belgium there has been a 38% decline in traffic to licensed gambling websites, in Denmark there has been a 60% drop in online gambling and in Sweden, there was a 6% decrease in online gambling. The UK authority also found that 67% of citizens have not gambled during the coronavirus and, of those that had, three quarters had not spent more time or money on online gambling.”

Swedish regulator maintains criticism of weekly deposit limits

Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has warned the government that it may be difficult to meet the 2 July deadline to implement the weekly casino deposit limits that were proposed last month by Minister of Health Ardalan Shekarabi.

Spelinspektionen said that applying the deposit limits exclusively to casino games would pose significant challenges. The regulator also reiterated its position that the proposed rules would only have a marginal effect on player protection, while potentially benefitting unlicensed operators.

Sharing the regulator’s criticism of the announced deposit limits, nine CEOs of Swedish-licensed operators proposed a seven-point alternative plan to make gambling safer in Sweden.

Upcoming events

The following events and webinars may be of interest to members of the GiH community.

Events

Due to current events, most events that were to take place before the summer have been postponed. However, the following events are still on track to take place later in the year.

• The 2020 Gaming in Holland Conference has now been scheduled on September 22, one day prior to iGB Live in the Amsterdam RAI. Combine two events with one visit!
• The Gaming in Germany Conference has now been scheduled to take place on October 19, 2020 in Berlin – one day prior to iGB Berlin 2020. More details to follow soon. Save the date!
• Betting on Sports America, the largest dedicated sports betting trade show in the world, returns to Meadowlands, New Jersey from 1 – 3 December.
• The World Gaming Executive Summit will return to Barcelona from 7 – 9 December. Key themes on the agenda include AI, the future of land-based gaming, CSR, sustainable marketing, regulation updates, fantasy sports, and emerging marketing opportunities.

Webinars

• Tune in on Thursday, June 11 at 17:00 CET for the next installment of the IMGL webinar series. Tomorrow’s episode will focus on market developments and the importance of sports data.

Dutch Lower House to debate secondary legislation Remote Gaming Act

Last week, the Permanent Committee for Justice and Security of the Dutch Lower House decided to schedule a plenary debate on the response by the Ministry of Justice to questions on the Remote Gaming Act’s secondary legislation.

This debate has been scheduled for next week. A specific date and time have yet to be announced.

The fact that there will be a plenary debate indicates that the Lower House will table one or more motions on the Remote Gaming Act’s secondary legislation.

At this point, it appears not unlikely that the Lower House will support a brief delay in the implementation of the Remote Gaming Act. Unfortunately, we won’t know for certain until next week.

Other news

The Danish Online Gambling Association (DOGA) is the third national online gambling association, along with the associations in the Netherlands (Speel Verantwoord) and Belgium (BAGO), to endorseEGBA’s new code of conduct for responsible advertising.

France’s online gaming revenue for Q1 2020 grew 22% year-on-year, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic from mid-March.

Sportradar will be offering Simulated Reality matches for all 51 games of the postponed UEFA Championship tournament.

UK betting shops will be allowed to reopen from June 15, but land-based casinos will have to wait until July 4.

Genting Casinos, however, appears to have decided to permanently close some venues due to the “unprecedented challenges” presented by Covid-19.

Interwetten has extended its sponsorship of German Bundesliga clubs TSG Hoffenheim and Vfl Wolfsburg.

Gambling Authority Denmark Jobs

Bulgarian lawmakers have outlined plans for the closure of all gaming halls other than a limited number of integrated casino resorts close to the country’s borders.

1. An overview of the Danish Gaming Act

The bill was part of an agreement between the Government (at that time it consisted of the Left political party and the Conservative People's Party) and the remaining political parties. During the negotiation of the bill, the Minister of Culture proposed introducing a law concerning the distribution of profits from gambling. The Minister of Finance also proposed a law concerning Danske Spil A/S. These proposals are all combined within the current gambling law.

The aim of the law is to undertake partial liberalization and modernization of the Danish gaming market. This means that licenses for the provision of betting and online casino can be achieved with a more permissive approach. The law also aims at maintaining the consumption of gaming services at a moderate level; to protect young people and other vulnerable persons from being exploited through gaming or developing a gaming addiction; to protect players by ensuring that gaming is provided in a fair, responsible and transparent manner; to ensure public order; and to prevent gaming as a means to support crime.

There must be a clear distinction between the monopolized games and the liberalized games, in order to secure the continuous provision of lottery by Danske Spil, Klasselotteriet and non-profit organizations. In this way, betting and online casino can and will be provided in a controlled and free competitive market by commercial game providers who have achieved the adequate Danish gaming provision license. However, the provision of dog or horseracing is solely reserved for Danske Spil. These races may only be organized as pool betting races.

The Danish gambling legislation unifies and simplifies the rules for the regulation and supervision of games under the authority of the Danish Ministry of Taxation. The Danish Gambling Authority, which is placed within the Danish Ministry of Taxation, is responsible for the administration and granting of licenses as well as the monitoring of the Danish gaming Market. The bill establishes safeguards against illegal game providers including preventive measures such as: payment blockage; Internet disruption; and maintaining the current ban on advertising.

The bill was adopted on 4 June 2010. The Danish Gaming Law entered into force on 1 January 2012.

1.1. Advertising

The Danish rules regarding advertising of gaming (land-based and online) are divided into two categories:

1.the general advertising rules that apply to all marketing

2.a specific set of rules that apply to gaming alone

The Danish marketing legislation is contained in the Danish Marketing Practices Law.

The provision of games is considered a sensitive area where aggressive marketing of gaming products may result in excessive consumption and (increased) dependency on gaming. With this in mind, it has therefore been necessary to impose limits on the marketing of games that go beyond the limits imposed by the provisions of the Danish Marketing Practices Law.

The Danish Gambling Authority has published a guide on the marketing of bonus offers by the provision of betting and online casino.

The Danish Gambling Authority has also published a guide in relation to the use of sales promotion measures when providing betting and online casino.

Advertising illegal gaming is considered a criminal act under Danish law and is punishable by fine or imprisonment. This applies to all parties who direct marketing towards the Danish market.

1.2. Amendments

There have only been minor amendments to the law since the legislation and the guidelines were published. These amendments have mainly been focused on the interpretation of the legislation and guidelines.

In order to register on a licence holder’s gaming site, a player has to use a player verification system based on the OCES-standard encryption, more specifically “NemID”. Furthermore, the player needs to use the NemID to log in every time the player intends to play.

In March 2014, the Danish Gambling Authority issued a public consultation regarding new and updated certification and technical documents. This includes whether changes should be made in relation to the requirement for using NemID and whether a more situational access could be used without compromising safety. The Danish Gambling Authority also considered whether an exemption should be made form the requirement to use NemID in case of a breakdown of said encryption.

In September 2014, the Danish Gambling Authority announced that the exemption regarding the platforms that in the future would support the means of digital signature vested in the executive orders will lapse after the 31st of December 2014.

DanID – Supplier of the NemID-solution – has developed a new JavaScript solution for NemID, which functions on most mobile units. This means that the licence holders will have to implement and migrate to the new JavaScript solution before the 31st of December 2014.

From the 1st of January 2015 all logins, regardless of the platform, must be supported by the means of a digital signature.

Gambling Authority Denmark Official

In December 2014, the Danish Gambling Authority announced that the minister of taxation has signed the proposed changes to the executive orders on online casino and online betting. This means that the licence holders’ dispensations to not enforce NemID, on platforms that wasn’t supportive of NemID earlier, remained at play. It also meant that the licence holders could continuously offer games via mobile units and tablets without logging in via NemID.

The changes to the executive orders were published in Lovtidende at the end of the year 2014 and came in to force by the 1st of January 2015.