Illegal gambling
When are gambling activities provided illegally?
Gambling is illegally provided (is provided against gambling regulations) if the gambling activity is provided without the required licence from the Danish Gambling Authority and if the gambling operator aims its gambling products at the Danish market.
The Danish Gambling Authority supervises the Danish gambling market to ensure that gambling is not provided against the regulations of the Danish Act on Gambling.
A licence to provide gambling in Denmark is required if; the participants must pay a stake (money or similar of an monetary value), the participants have a chance of winning (all kinds of prizes of an monetary value), the gambling activity has an element of chance.
Gambling provided in Denmark
A gambling activity which fulfills the above-mentioned requirements, and which is provided through the Internet, is considered provided in Denmark if:
- The website is in Danish
- Danish currency is an option
- The website has a Danish customer service
- The customer can choose payment methods which would normally only work in Denmark like e.g. Dankort
- The operator of the website directs his marketing towards Denmark
Gambling activities are also considered provided in Denmark if the games on the website in question are directed towards Denmark in other ways. This relies on a very specific assessment, which will be made on the basis of whether the licence holders’ combination of gambling activities makes it more attractive for Danish players to play there.
Regarding skin betting, the court ruled on 6 February 2018 that websites that use Steam as a login are deemed to be targeting Denmark with their supply.
If you discover illegal gambling activities
If you find examples of illegal gambling e.g. a gambling activity or a gambling website provided without a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority, you can contact the Danish Gambling Authority regardless of whether you are a player or a business owner.
The Danish Gambling Authority would like to hear from you if you find problems in a gambling operator’s marketing. If we proceed with the enquiry, we are not at liberty to keep you informed of the process, as the Danish Gambling Authority cannot comment on specific cases.
Illegal advertising
Gambling operators who do not have a licence to provide gambling in Denmark are not allowed to advertise their supply of gambling. The media, e.g. newspapers, radio and broadcasting networks, and magazines may therefore not contain advertisements from gambling operators who do not have a licence.
Sponsorships are covered by the prohibition of advertising. A sponsorship is typically an economic contribution to an activity, event, or the like devised with the intent to promote the sales of the gambling operator’s products. The gambling operator often expects a quid pro quo service such as positive coverage, publicity, and the like.
What happens to the report?
One of the Danish Gambling Authority’s most important tasks is to protect the legal gambling market, i.e. the gambling operators who have received a licence. Therefore, we are always interested in hearing whether a gambling operator without a licence advertises for or provides gambling.
Your report will be included in our regular supervision of the gambling market where we can investigate further whether a gambling operator without a licence has advertised for or provided gambling.
Gambling operators who provide gambling without a licence will receive a petition from the Danish Gambling Authority to terminate the illegal supply of games. In the end we will be able to take the matter to the district court in order to have the website in question blocked and/or report the gambling operator in question to the police.
Media who advertise gambling or gambling operators without a licence will receive a petition from the Danish Gambling Authority to stop the illegal advertising. If the media does not stop the illegal advertising, the media will be reported to police.