Danish retail gambling self-exclusion ban enters force

The use of the ROFUS self-exclusion system has been extended to retail premises.

Denmark.- As of Sunday, Denmark’s gambling self-exclusion system ROFUS now applies to retail betting as well as land-based casinos and online gambling. The expansion of the initiative was made possible by the introduction of new rules that require the use of ID cards for retail betting. People already registered on the system must re-register to be covered by the expanded exclusion.

ROFUS previously blocked people from online gambling and from entering land-based casinos, but no ID checks were required to make bets at retail betting shops. The government left it up to licensed operators to decide how their cards will be presented, be it in the form of a physical card or a virtual card accessible in operators’ mobile apps, but all IDs must be linked to the gambling account through which winnings are paid.

The government said the aim of the new requirement is to improve consumer protection and reduce the risk of minors placing bets. The cards will also allow players to set deposit limits and are intended to avoid players losing access to any winnings if they lose their betting slips. 

Spillemyndigheden, the Danish gambling regulator, said: “The background for the expansion of ROFUS and the implementation of the game card is a political desire to increase consumer protection and reduce the risk of young people under the age of 18 gaining access to games in physical venues. There is also a desire to strengthen efforts to combat match-fixing and money laundering.”

There has been an increase in the number of people using ROFUS. As of March, there were 40,000 people registered.

The initiative is also intended to help prevent money laundering. Last month, Tipwin was fined DKK100,000 (€13,400) for breaches of Denmark’s anti-money laundering legislation. The gambling operator had been reported to police by Spillemyndigheden in June last year.