Danish Gambling Authority approves 38 online poker licenses

Last week the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) granted 38 online poker licenses which will take effect in January 2012 when the country’s new online gaming regulations are put in place. Among the online operators who will receive a Danish license will be PokerStars, bwin.party, 888 Poker, and PKR Poker, with upwards of 200 individual sites eventually being able to offer online poker games in the country.

Denmark is the latest European country to tackle the issue of online gaming, and while most countries have embraced the idea (it is added revenue in these hard economic times) some countries have gone the opposite way and tried to prohibit online gaming, which as we know from the US example is an exercise in futility.

Joining Denmark in expanding gambling this week was Germany, as Europe’s largest economy saw a 15 of its 16 states approve expanded online gaming, unfortunately the measure only covers online sports-betting at this time! Germany’s new online gambling regulations will see 20 licenses offered with a flat 5% tax on sports bets.

The new regulations of the Danish online poker market will see each of the 38 licensed cough-up 20% of their gross revenue; non-licensed sites risk being blocked by the Danish Government.

Here is a look at the statement released by the DGA:

1 January 2012 Denmark opens for the new gambling market, providing gambling operators the opportunity to offer betting and online casino. A total of 38 applicants have received 55 different licences to legally operate in Denmark.

The full list of approved licence holders is now published on the Danish Gambling Authority’s website.

The Minister of Taxation Thor Möger Pedersen says:

- From January the gambling market will be orderly and we will ensure that holders of a betting and online casino licence to operate on the Danish market also contribute to the society. Danes as well as the many associations supported by the gambling market can be joyful.

The orderly market means, among other things, that all gambling operators without a licence from 1 January 2012, risk that their website or payments will be blocked.

The new and open gambling market in Denmark has been underway since the Parliament’s decision in 2010.

On Tuesday next week the Danish Gambling Authority will hold an information session for the new licence holders to inform about upcoming activities on the gambling scene. Licence holders will, among other things, be briefed on how the Danish Gambling Authority will monitor the Danish gambling market and

how the Danish Gambling Authority cooperate with gambling authorities in other countries.