Gambling in Switzerland loses customers

The number of people gambling regularly in Switzerland dropped again in 2017, a study by the Swiss Institute for Addiction and Health Research has recently revealed.

Switzerland.- Research by the Inter-Cantonal Lotteries and Betting Commission (Comlot) and the Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission (ESBK) shows bad news. Gambling in Switzerland seems to be losing appealing as frequent customers dropped again in 2017.

The Swiss Institute for Addiction and Health Research (ISGF) carried out the study and compared data with previous reports.

According to the study, only 16.4% of respondents gambled at least once a month. In 2012 that figure was at 16.9% and in 2007 at 18%.

Switzerland blocks websites

The Swiss Lottery and Betting Board has released the first blacklist of foreign gambling sites. This blocking of over 60 foreign websites comes after a change on the local law on online gambling.

Back in June, approximately 73% of voters approved the reform on the Swiss gambling law, even though there were strong arguments claiming that the law was government censorship, swissinfo.ch reported. The piece came into effect in January but the blocking started in August.

Currently, Swiss gamblers can only bet online with local casinos and lotteries that pay taxes in the country. The local market also requires operators to implement measures in order to protect people from addiction.

Telecommunication service providers through domain name server (DNS) will automatically ban the sites featured on the list published on Tuesday. The regulator said that those foreign sites that voluntarily withdraw from the local market will be exempt from a block.