Denmark to open its online bingo and horse race betting market

The draft act will liberalise online bingo by allowing private operators to apply to offer this on a licensed basis "with the objective of channelling players away from the unregulated market into a Danish regulated market, including Danish protection of the players”.

The change for bingo has been justified by Danish authorities on the basis that "the unregulated market for online bingo is estimated to be nearly twice the size of the regulated market operated by the monopoly”, meaning that it’s "no longer considered to be the most suitable model for [achieving] the objectives underlying gambling legislation, including protecting the players by the provision of games in a reasonable, responsible and transparent manner”.

The new law will also liberalise betting on horse, dog and pigeon racing in both online and land-based channels, alongside the introduction of a special contribution to the sport of horse racing of 8% of the turnover from bets on Danish horse races.

Denmark’s regulated igaming market opened at the start of 2012, having taken on board the representations of those in the industry when it set up its regulatory framework for online sports betting, casino and poker.

It allows poker operators to tap into their international liquidities – and instituted a 20% gross gaming revenues tax for online. The approach has been widely-acknowledged as resulting in a workable and sustainable market where the majority of gamblers use licensed sites and benefit from high levels of consumer protection.

Source: GMB / iGaming Business