Swedish regulator revokes Svenska Spel licence at restaurant casino
The Swedish Gaming Inspectorate has pulled Svenska Spel’s licence to operate gaming machines at a restaurant casino in Sundsvall.
Sweden.- The national gaming regulator, Spelinspektionen, has revoked state-owned operator Svenska Spel’s licence to run gaming machines at Lucky Bar in Sundsvall, in Västernorrland.
The regulator said police in the county had made 92 reports involving the restaurant casino between January and September 2020, some of which involved accusations of threats and violence.
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Spelinspektionen gave notice to Svenska Spel in January and granted it the opportunity to comment on the incidents. The operator said the restaurant casino’s staff had handled matters correctly and that an observation in February approved the venue.
Sweden’s “restaurant casinos”
Under Swedish gambling regulations, venues that are not casinos can host slot machines as long as they ensure “a state of good order in the place where the game is to be conducted.”
Spelinspektionen said that given the number of police reports in a single year and how close to each other the reports of disorder were, Lucky Bar could not be considered to be in “a state of good order”.
Swedish regulator takes action over offshore gaming sites
Meanwhile, Spelinspektionen has issued cease-and-desist orders against Curaçao-licensed Betmaster and Reinvent, the operator behind Bongo, after finding that they were targeting Swedish customers without a licence.
The regulator said both operators had directed marketing at Swedish customers on their websites and had information available in Swedish.
Bongo also offered withdrawals, deposits and prizes in Swedish Kronor, it said, while both sites allowed Swedish customers to create accounts.
See also: Swedish gaming regulator fines Bet365 over bets on football friendly
The action takes the total number of sites blocked by Spelinspektionen to 19. Operators may be fined unless they leave the market, and if they persist the regulator may involve the police.
