Danish Gambling Watchdog Gets Approval To Ban Online Gambling Sites
Offshore gaming operators in Denmark have been sent a strong message after Spillemyndigheden – the gambling watchdog in Denmark decided to block as many as 25 online gambling sites.
The gambling regulator had to approach the Copenhagen City Court to get final approval for rolling out the ban. Once the court approved the decision, the gambling regulator sent out a notice to telecom providers in the country with the list of the 25 gambling sites that needed to be blocked.
The list of banned sites include 10 online casinos and 15 skin betting sites. It is interesting to see that skin betting sites have also been banned as it takes a lot more work and effort for the gambling regulator to gather sufficient proof to roll out an official ban.
Sites That Have Been Banned
Some of the online casinos that have been blocked belong to popular brands such as Equinox Dynamic and Game Tech Group. Here are the names of the online casinos that will no longer be able to operate in Denmark: La Fiesta Casino, 1xBet, Orientxpresscasino, Nordic Casino, Cashpot Casino, Ramses Casino, Casino Napoli and Mr James Casino.
Skin betting sites have been targeted because they have a reputation for targeting children and getting them to gamble in an unconventional way by luring them to buy virtual items while playing their different games. These games ask players to use virtual currencies to buy weapons and armour that will help them go to the next level.
Denmark Cracks Down On Skin Betting
A number of countries such as Belgium and the UK have turned their attention to these games and their use of ‘loot boxes’ which help them make money. Denmark has followed suit and has now cracked the whip sending out a strong message.
In a statement, Birgitten Sand, Director of Spillemyndigheden said
We will continue our efforts to tackle illegal gambling and look carefully for the skin betting sites, especially, since they often involve children playing computer games that can suddenly evolve into gambling. Therefore, we are also looking at other methods to get rid of these illegal pages, while simultaneously continuing to monitor unlicensed betting and gaming sites targeting Denmark.
The gambling regulator said it will continue to spend both time and resources going forward to identify and block offshore casinos and skin betting sites who continue to target players in Denmark.
Carolyn DuttonAuthor
Carolyn is our legislation expert, with a background in law she is able to cover the current state of gambling around the world