This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Reports DENMARK


Meanwhile under the new proposed regulations Danske Spil will still have its monopoly within the lottery, horse and greyhound racing market.


Organised racing has been happening in Denmark since 1820 and there are currently eight trotting tracks. These lanes attract between 350,000 and 400,000 spectators per year. Two of the major horse racing tracks are located in Copenhagen and are a huge tourist attraction.


Danske Spil has an agreement with ATG (Swedish provider of horse racing) so players have access also to Swedish racing. The government wants to keep the racing under the monopoly fearing if it was an open market more ‘professional’ players would be attracted to play on foreign racing games rather than the Danish horseracing and its revenue would be reduced.


A draft bill for the new legislation was submitted to the European Commission in July last year. Initially although the draft text of the law was notified to the European Commission and made public the Danish government later invoked the confidentiality procedure.


However the draft law was finally published on February 12 and if all goes to plan via Parliament it will come into force on January 1 2011. It can be viewed in full at: www.skm.dk/public/dokumenter/hoerings svar/spil.pdf (in Danish only).


It includes the following provisions:


• The provision of the lottery licence is still given to one company, Danske Spil, for an indefinite period of time.


• Horse and greyhound racing betting licence is also given to one company (Danske Spil)


• Betting permits are offered for a period of five years these cannot offer horse/dog/pigeon racing and lotteries. Only land based betting.


• Online casinos maybe authorised for the provision of combination bets and roulette and AWP permits offered for up to five years.


• Permits for games providers can be given to Danish or foreign EU companies


• The Gaming Authority will ensure compliance with the law regarding regulations and licensing conditions and can revoke any licences.


• The Ministry of Taxation will set the fees for costs associated with the administration of licensing and permit holders etc.


• A tax rate of 20 per cent of the GGR for betting and online casino games.


In a bid to stop non-licensed companies entering and operating within the Danish online gaming market the government is proposing to introduce a system of ISP and financial transaction blocking and a marketing ban for non-licensed operators.


This is aimed at preventing non licensed operators from attracting Danish customers and a prohibition for non Danish residents to participate in Danish licensed game.


Online poker over the last few years has become increasingly popular and is the most popular online game played at the moment in Denmark.


Because poker cannot really be played in a closed network with just Danish players, it is now authorised to offer poker via an open network even though operators are controlled by Danish law and must pay tax on that game.


Danske Spil has also recently partnered with online gaming provider Party Gaming to prepare for upcoming competition. The two companies signed a five year agreement in January this year.


Meanwhile UK based wagering operation, Ladbrokes, has already indicated that it would be prepared to submit to regulations


A draft bill for the


newlegislationwas submitted to the European


Commission in July last year. Initially although the draft


text of the lawwas notified to the European


Commission and made public the


Danish government later invoked the confidentiality procedure.


if the Danish market opens to the online gaming industry.


However it is thought new licences offered by the government could prove too expensive for some with notoriously high taxes on players’ winnings derived from online poker and casinos.


For example, the 2008 World Series of Poker champion was taxed at a 45 per cent rate for the first $4m he won and then a whopping 75% for the remainder of the money leaving him just US$2.5m from total winnings of US$9.1m.


The problem is prizes won via EU licensed operator sites are not taxed however prizes won on non-EU operator sites are taxed with the income tax rate – around 50 per cent.


It is thought non-EU companies who want to offer online poker will have to jump through hoops to get on the government’s exclusive non-tax list permitting players to remain untaxed on certain sites.


Hollywood Poker is one such site which has a no-tax status whilst Danske Spil’s upcoming poker venture will have the same privilege.


Land based poker tournaments have been permitted under the new draft legislation since January this year. It means that individuals, companies and associations can now apply for authorisation to arrange public poker tournaments for up to a two year period, enabling them to host tournaments for up to five times a week.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92