G3-247 Report ICELAND
three types of lotteries including Flokkahappdraetti, scratch lottery and VLTs. Scratch cards sales began in 1987 and in 1993 the VLTs started up.
After sports betting was introduced in 1972 the market share of class lotteries began to decline as the lure of sports betting grew. UIL’s reaction to this was to introduce instant tickets which although were an instant success gradually declined after the VLTs entered the market.
All winnings from the university lottery are tax free. Winning percentages range from 50 per cent for some scratch ticket games to 90 per cent for VLTs and around 70 per cent for lotteries.
The sector is governed by the Law of the University of Iceland Lottery 13/1973, Amendments to the HHI 75/2006 and the Regulation of Gambling University of Iceland.
Lottery is permitted only to those over the age of 18. Under the 1973 act the university pays the treasury 20 per cent licensing fee but no higher than IKR150m whilst the remainder is used to improve university buildings and research equip- ment.
Two new buildings for the campus were planned for last year at a cost of IKR3bn of which 70 per cent is funded by the state and 30 per cent from the lottery. It is due to be completed in 2016.
It is said there are around 40,000 regular ticket
buyers of the UIL lottery and there is a ticket in 35 per cent of Icelandic households.
In addition to Islandsspil, the SIBS Lottery is a pri- vately owned association working with handi- capped and sick people. It was originally founded in 1938 with the aim of fighting tuberculosis and grew from there. It built and runs Reykjalundur, a huge rehabilitation hospital and also Mulalundur, a rehabilitation workplace.
Back in 2010 the idea of
opening a casino in Iceland was introduced by the Minister of
Industry. The idea was to site a casino at Hotel Nordica.
In 1949 the company was given a licence to run a monthly class lottery and non cash prizes which is the group’s only source of income. It has a high 85 percentage payout and non claimed prizes are rolled over and awarded in terms of goods or serv- ices.
Finally, the DAS Lottery has been operating since 1973 and again is a non cash lottery although the popularity of these types of games seems to be declining. Tickets start at IKR1,300 and are drawn every Thursday.
VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS There are no casinos in Iceland but there are VLTs
which can be operated by two companies – the University of Iceland and Islandsspil. It is said 78 per cent of Icelanders gamble and the most popu- lar activity is the Lotto followed by scratch cards then VLTs.
Basically no other party is permitted to operate slots. The logic behind it is terminology in the leg- islation which basically states that the slots are ‘fundraising’ machines (with small stakes and low prizes) whilst the lotto is not a lottery but a num- bers game
Back in 2010 the idea of opening a casino in Iceland was introduced by the Minister of Industry. The idea was to site a casino at Hotel Nordica and a formal request to legalise casinos was presented to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Industry.
The argument was the casino would be an added tourist attraction and using the Danish model it would be heavily taxed with 60 per cent of rev- enues going to the government.
The idea was presented to Parliament but the Minister of Health and the National Centre of Addiction Medicine both opposed the plan saying Iceland already had enough to offer tourists and gambling addiction was already a problem in the country and the idea disappeared into thin air.
Meanwhile the story of VLTs in Iceland dates back 5 1
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