Danish regulator wins case against unlicensed bingo operator

Spillemyndigheden found the association had been offering bingo and banko games to members.

Denmark.- The Danish gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden has won a court case against an association that provided bingo and banko without a licence. After inspecting its premises in 2019, the regulator found the unnamed association in Odense had offered daily games to its members for several years.

State-owned Danske Spil has a monopoly on bingo in Denmark, with non-profit lottery games for good causes being the only exceptions. The court in Odense agreed with Spillemyndigheden that the offering had breached gambling laws and issued a DKK15,000 (€2,014) fine plus court costs.

Danish gambling revenue for 2022

Last month, Spillemyndigheden reported that Danish gambling revenue grew by 7.5 per cent in 2022, reaching DKK6.70bn (€910.1m). Online gaming revenue rose by 2.1 per cent to DKK2.88bn while sports betting revenue fell by 3.6 per cent to DKK2.32bn.

Despite the Qatar World Cup, sports betting revenue in December was the lowest in 14 months and down 35 per cent year-on-year. Slot machine revenue was DKK1.15bn with December’s figure of DKK99.2m representing a year-on-year increase of 44.5 per cent.

In December, Spillemyndigheden updated its responsible gambling rules to ban reactivation bonuses for lapsed players. It says such incentives are an irresponsible marketing practice. The guidance states: “A player’s inactivity may not be a selection criterion when awarding promotional offers. Bonuses may therefore not be given on the basis of a player’s inactivity.”