Danish gambling regulator to block websites more frequently

Spillemyndigheden has gained a court order to block 49 more gambling sites.

Denmark.- The Danish gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden has received approval from Copenhagen City Court to block 49 unlicensed gambling websites. The latest order to internet service providers increases the number of gambling websites blocked in Denmark to 276.

Meanwhile, the regulator says it will increase the frequency of its blocking orders to twice a year. Until now, it has been issuing blocking orders once a year but says it want to block sites more quickly. The latest list of sites includes stake.com.

Spillemyndigheden director Anders Dorph said: “We are constantly trying to optimise our efforts against illegal gambling, and one of our latest initiatives is, among other things, to block illegal websites more often than before. This means that illegal sites will be active in Denmark for a shorter period of time, because the sites will be blocked sooner after we have identified them.”

Spillemyndigheden began issuing blocking orders after the liberalisation of gambling in Denmark in 2012. It seeks blocking orders if operators continue to offer services in Denmark after it asks them to stop. The regulator reminded Danish customers that they can access a list of the operators licensed to offer their services in the country on its website.

Spillemyndigheden has reported that gross gaming revenue in Denmark reached DKK513m (€68.8m) in June. That’s a rise of 1.1 per cent year-on-year but a drop of 13 per cent against the previous month.

Online casino GGR was DKK238m, up 8.1 per cent year-on-year but down 5.5 per cent from May. Spillemyndigheden highlighted the fact that 20.6 per cent of all online casino bets were placed on Fridays. Sports betting revenue fell 1.9 per cent to DKK154m while slots revenue fell 9 per cent year-on-year to DKK91m.

Land-based gaming revenue was level year-on-year at DKK30m, down from DKK31m in May. The daily average was DKK151,889.