Yesterday, the federal gambling regulator of Switzerland, Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission (ESBK), revealed that it has added another 35 websites to the illegal gambling companies’ blacklist.
On January 28th, the ESBK announced the latest updates to its list of globally licensed online gambling companies that would have to be blocked by the local Internet service providers. As mentioned above, another 35 gambling domains have been added to the list, which has grown to a total of 145 unlawful gambling websites. This is how the legal options for Swiss online poker lovers have been reduced even more, with the gambling blacklist growing further.
The latest updates made by the Swiss gambling regulatory body to the blacklist requiring from local Internet service providers to block illegal gambling domains have been made in October and November 2019.
The newest entries to the list are mostly online casino domains that are related to gambling operators that do not hold the necessary license to offer their services in Switzerland. Most of them are associated with operators that hold licenses in Curacao or Cyprus but openly promote their services to local gamblers.
Some of the new domains that have been among the latest additions to the Swiss gambling regulator’s blacklist include Magik.casino, Eclipsecasino.com, Winorama.com, Bitstarz.com, Euromooncasino.com, Luckyredcasino.com, etc. The latest additions to the watchdog’s blacklist join some of the largest online gambling brands on a global scale that have also been banned from being accessed by Swiss customers, such as bet365, Interwetten, Pinnacle, bet-at-home, and Intertops.
A Total of 145 Illegal Gambling Websites Blocked by ESBK So Far
In September 2019, both the Swiss gambling watchdog and the Inter-Cantonal Lotteries and Betting Commission (Comlot) published lists of companies that were not allowed to operate in the country. These blacklists are regularly updated, with new domains being periodically added.
Under the Geldspielgesetz’ article 86, the ESBK is allowed to require from local Internet service providers to block local customers’ access to online gambling platforms that do not own operating licenses under the country’s legislation but are still accessible in Switzerland, using so-called “domain name server lock”.
On the other hand, Comlot also issues some restrictions on online gambling businesses. Still, the regulatory body has yet to update its blacklist that was first announced on November 26th and contained 88 domains.
The constantly growing blacklist of illegal online gambling domains suggests that the strategy of the local gambling regulator to impose stricter measures to unlawful gambling services has been pretty much successful. The crackdown measures have followed the passage of Switzerland’s new online gambling legislation.
For the time being, there are six brick-and-mortar casino operators that are legally approved by Swiss regulatory authorities and are allowed to offer online casino and poker services. Still, these websites offer no other poker product but video poker.
