Illegal gambling popular in Switzerland

In Switzerland, offering online gambling without a country's own license is illegal. This regulation has been in effect since 2019, when the country introduced a new one gambling law. However, this does not seem to be a deterrent for casino operators, because despite the ban, many customers still play on portals based abroad.

On the legal situation in Switzerland

Since the Gaming Act was introduced in Switzerland in 2019, a lot has changed. Especially for the providers of games of chance, Switzerland is a difficult place, because almost all online casinos are illegal there. Legally speaking, only terrestrial casinos are allowed to offer table and slot games on the Internet as well. Only the operators of the casinos in Baden, Lucerne, Pfäffikon, Davos, Interlaken, Bern, Meyrin and Lugano, ab4 casino have been granted a license. Despite all this, other providers also operate on the market. However, these are illegal.

Online casinos very successful

However, the legal basis apparently cannot prevent gambling fans from also using the actually illegal portals. Already at the beginning of this year, the Swiss Addiction Research Center presented its new Swiss Addiction Panorama 2022. It revealed that the risk of addiction from online gambling is growing. And the figures clearly prove this: online casinos in Switzerland are said to have turned over up to 200 million Swiss francs, these figures are based on estimates by the Swiss Casino Association.

Casinos achieve good turnovers

Of course, these figures are difficult to verify. After all, the figures from the illegal offers can not be measured exactly. After all, however, the revenues of terrestrial casinos in Switzerland are also convincing, because according to Marc Friedrich, the managing director of the Swiss Casino Association, they have turned over 635 million Swiss francs in 2021. According to the association, however, the trend is clear, as online offerings continue to increase.