The gambling regulatory body in Denmark officially confirmed that land-based casinos and retail betting shops will now be covered by the country’s self-exclusion scheme.
In a move aimed at protecting local customers from excessive gambling and making sure that underage individuals are not legally allowed to access brick-and-mortar gambling locations across the country, the Danish Government implemented a customized player identification. The announcement was made by the Danish gambling watchdog – Spillemyndigheden – which recently confirmed that the aforementioned change came into effect on October 1st, 2023.
Apart from the increased protection with the player ID, the country’s gambling regulatory body unveiled the expansion of ROFUS, its self-exclusion register, to retail gambling venues.
Late last week, Denmark’s gambling regulator announced that ROFUS will be officially extended to cover wagering via land-based locations as of October 1st, along with the implementation of the player ID. At the time, the industry watchdog further noted that new registrations set up on and after that date will likely benefit from the enhanced blocking capability that has been recently introduced.
This basically means that all users who register with the ROFUS from now on, or renew their registration, will have the chance to block betting via brick-and-mortar casinos and betting shops across the country. Apart from that, under the previous rules for protection, such users would be subject to exclusion from online games offered by gambling companies holding operating permits in Denmark and from advertising for such services.
As confirmed by Spillemyndigheden, the suspension on physical wagers now extends not only to casino venues but also to betting outlets and kiosks in order to make sure that gamblers registered with the country’s gambling self-exclusion scheme will get maximum protection.
Mandatory Player Identification Would Be Beneficial, Reports Say
A recent statement released by Denmark’s gambling regulatory body says that, in case a person was registered with ROFUS before October 1st, 2023 and their registration was not renewed, the exclusion would remain unchanged. This means that such a person would still be not allowed to access online gambling and retail casinos in the country and would not be targeted by such operators’ direct advertising.
The implementation of mandatory player identification for the physical gambling sector in the country was subject to а political agreement that dates back to November 2019. The legislative measure seeks to bolster player protection and minimize the chance of underage individuals accessing local casinos and betting shops. Furthermore, player ID has been also designed to help in the regulator’s fight against gambling-related crime, including match-fixing and money laundering.
The implementation of the new measures will undoubtedly bring benefits to local customers. However, the prevention of gambling addicts and self-excluded players from accessing land-based gambling options remains the primary objective of player ID. This justifies the extension of ROFUS to the retail casino sector.
When it comes to unlawful gambling services, in August, Spillemyndigheden announced that it blocked Danish people’s access to almost 50 illegal online gambling platforms. Since the country’s gambling market was liberalized in 2012, the local gambling regulatory body has been closely observing and blocking illegal offerings across the country. After the addition of 49 websites to the list of unlawful online gambling platforms, the overall number of blocked websites rose to 276.
