On January 1, 2012 the new Danish Gambling Act came into force. With this act the Danish market of games is legalized, as the monopoly of Danske Spil A/S (Danish Gaming A/S) is repealed in certain respects. Particularly, it is interesting that a license to offer betting and to run online casinos may now be granted to commercial applicants. E.g. a license can be offered to online poker games where the Danish players can play against poker players from other countries in an open network. The games in the poker networks must observe the Danish legislation, must be controlled by the Danish Gambling Authority, and the game suppliers must pay duties of the part of the gross gaming earnings relating to the games of the Danish customers.

License to provide games

Betting and online casino games are only subject to gambling legislation in case the players pay stakes or entry fees, and upon payment of their stakes or entry fees have the chance of winning a prize. Activities including neither betting on the result of an event nor coincidental elements are not covered by the law.

Criteria for licenses

A license for betting and online casino service can both be offered to individuals and companies and demands that certain specific criteria are met. In order for a company to obtain license it is requested that members of the management and the board of directors meet the same conditions as an individual. This memorandum does not aim at covering all the criteria, but some of the more relevant must be mentioned:

  • License can only be granted to individuals of 21 years or more.
  • The applicant must not be convicted for a criminal offence giving justice to an obvious risk of abuse of the access to work with games.
  • License can only be granted to applicants who are supposed to conduct games in an economical and sensible way.

Fees

To file an application to provide betting or online casino you will have to pay a fee of DKK 250,000 and for an application for a combined betting and online casino licence, the fee is DKK 350,000. In addition to this, dependent on the expected turnover, you must pay a fee of DKK 50,000 – DKK 1,500,000 for the issuance of the permit. The fees are stated at 2011-level.

As of January 26, 2012 The Danish Gambling Authority has 39 licence-holders registered.

Mr Niels Christian Døcker