Sanctions and reporting of illegal supply of gambling

When is it illegal to provide gambling services?

• The gambling activity is provided without a required licence from the Danish Gambling Authority 
• The gambling operator targets the Danish market with its supply of gambling 

Which gambling activities require a licence?

The Danish Gambling Authority supervises the Danish gambling market to ensure that gambling is not provided against the rules of the Act on Gambling. 

A licence to provide gambling in Denmark is required if:

• The participants must pay a stake (money or similar of an economic value)
• The participants have a chance of winning (all kinds of prizes of an economic 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 seen to be provided in Denmark if:

• The website is in Danish 
• A Danish currency can be chosen
• 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

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. 

Specific rules on pyramid schemes

It is not allowed to provide pyramid schemes in Denmark. This follows from the Act on Gambling section 24. The characteristics of pyramid schemes are that:

• Participation requires money as stakes or other stakes of an economic value 
• The participants are made to believe that there is a possibility of a financial gain 
• The financial gain mainly derives from the payment of stakes from the participants who one by one enters the arrangement

Read more about pyramid schemes on the Danish Tax Agency’s website

Reporting illegal provision of gambling or illegal advertising 

If you as a licence holder discover illegal supply of gambling on the Internet or advertising for illegal supply of gambling, please contact the Danish Gambling Authority. You can report it to us by using our contact form or call us on tel. no. +45 72 38 79 13. 

It would be very helpful to us if your report includes the domain name/name of the medium/address of the operator including the date of when you saw the advertisement. We would also appreciate it if you attach documentation of the illegal offer or advertisement. 

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 for gambling or gambling operators without a licence will receive a petition from us to stop the illegal advertising. If the media does not stop the illegal advertising, the media will be reported to police.