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Gaming firm calls Svenska Spel’s bluff

Gaming company Betsson plans to open its first outlet in Sweden at the end of May with the express purpose of challenging the Swedish gaming monopoly.

Published: 27 May 2008 12:16 CEST

And the head lawyer with Sweden’s Gaming Board promises that one of the agency’s inspectors will pay a visit on opening day.

According to a statement from Betsson, the shop will open on May 30th on Götgatan in Stockholm.

“The European Court of Justice gives us support for this venture. There is no longer a reason for us to wait for a political process which is barely moving forward. We want to drive the development of the gaming market forward for the benefit of players. I’m convinced that the monopoly’s gaming outlets are in for some tough competition ahead,” said Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall.

The Gaming Board’s lead attorney Johan Röhr doesn’t share the same perspective on the current legal framework.

“Nothing has happened and this is a judgment Betsson has made completely on its own. We will send an inspector and see what it is they’ve put up. Then we’ll see what we will do,” he told the TT news agency.

If the shop opens it will be the clearest challenge so far to Svenska Spel’s and ATG’s monopoly in Sweden.

“We can’t do terribly much ourselves. We’ll see if we file a report with the police and we can also order them to cease operations or face fines,” said Röhr.

Betsson CEO Lindwall feels however that the authorities ought to reconsider.

“I believe that there are risks for the authorities if they don’t allow this. Our judgment of the legal framework is that we can have this store and if they try to stop us on erroneous grounds, we’re going to ask for compensation at a later time,” he said.

Spain to force gamblers to set time and spending limit before playing online

Photo: PAUL ELLIS/AFP

This is the proposal in the latest draft decree of Spain’s General Directorate of Gambling which could be approved at the end of 2021 or early 2022.

Under the new rules, people who play online games such as bingo, roulette, black jack, baccarat and virtual fruit machines would have to first set how much money they intend to gamble and how long they intend to play.

Whichever of the two limits runs out first would end the gambling session.

If the law is approved, online gamblers in Spain will still be able to start another session straight afterwards, as the objective of the law is to help prevent players from losing control over what they’re spending and to give them a break to let the adrenaline rush drop and a moment to reconsider their options.

In any case, online gamblers in Spain would have a daily spending limit of €600 or €1,500 a week if the draft law is approved.

With this clause, lawmakers hope to distinguish “serious” gamblers – those who surpass the 50 percent daily limit of €300 – from those who don’t play online as regularly.

Once an online gambler was classified as “serious” (intensivo), they would not be allowed to pay for their gambling sessions with a credit card in order to prevent them from piling up debt.

Spanish authorities are particularly concerned about the increasing number of young people who are becoming addicted to gambling and betting sites, often lured in by the promise of free bets when signing up.

A 2019 report by Spain’s Federation of Rehabilitated Gamblers found that Spain has the highest rate of young gamblers (aged 14 to 21) in the EU.

READ MORE: Spain has Europe’s highest rate of teen gamblers

The pandemic, including the lockdowns, restrictions and boredom that have come with it, have only served to intensify the trend.

The average annual spending per player in Spain went from €312 in 2016 to €533 in 2020.

Under the new rules, young people would be considered “serious” gamblers if they spent 25 percent of the limits set: €150 for two days in a row, or €375 over the course of two weeks.

More than 8.5 percent of online gamblers in Spain (of the 1.5 million total of active players) do not reach the mentioned levels that signal addiction.

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