by Renee Israel
Denmark has joined the growing list of European Union nations to enact
legislation to regulate online gambling, and as such has published a list of
operators who have been awarded its first batch of online gaming licenses.
In fact, a total of 38 operators managed to procure Danish online gaming
licenses, among them several major online gambling names including 888,
PokerStars, Unibet, PKR, Betfair and bwin.party.
Malta registered companies account for as many as twenty of the licenses,
followed by nine from Denmark, while the UK, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man make
up the registered nationalities of the other Denmark gambling license awardees.
A total of 55 licenses have been granted and these will give rise to about
two hundred domain names from which these online poker sites will operate.
The licenses were announced just ahead of the Danish online gaming
legislation which will come into force on January 1, 2012 to regulate will
regulate online gambling in Denmark. The legislation was approved earlier this
by the Danish parliament and the European Commission.
Denmark Gambling Laws Mean Tax Revenues
As mentioned earlier, Denmark is following the lead of other European
countries like France and Spain to regulate online gambling because this could
turn out to be a major source of revenue for the government. The legislation has
levied a flat tax of 20% of gross revenues on the operators.
Expressing the hope that this move would benefit both the operators and the
society at large, Thor Möger Pedersen, Danish minister of taxation said, 'From
January the gambling market will be orderly and we will ensure that holders of a
betting and online casino license 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.'
This feeling of optimism was echoed by the industry. Denmark native and
PokerStars pro, Theo Jorgensen said in a PokerStars press release that the
Danish regulation was an important milestone for the worldwide development and
respect of poker. He added that he was looking forward to playing on the site
and competing against other players from around the world.
With the awarding of the licenses, the Danish government also issued a
warning to operators who do not have license by stating that "The orderly market
means, among other things, that all gambling operators without a license from 1
January 2012 risk that their website or payments will be blocked."
Denmark will most likely follow the example of the US where the Department of
Justice cracked down and shut the websites of three major online poker rooms -
Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker - in April this year.
