The German state, or Land, of Schleswig-Holstein issued its first online gambling licenses last week, allowing a dozen operators to offer casino games on the internet, including poker.
The licensees include several familiar names as well as some that are not quite as well known: Ladbrokes, 888 Holdings, Betfair, bet365 (through subsidiary REEL Germany Limited), PokerStars (through subsidiary ElectraWorks), bwin.party, Bet-at-home, Mybet, Cashpoint, Online Casino Germany, Tipico, and Skill On Net.
These companies are free to host a bevy of casino games on their sites, which is an important detail considering how it contrasts with the rest of the country. A year ago, the new State Treaty on Online Gaming was ratified and in July of this year, it was adopted by 15 of the 16 German Länder. Schleswig-Holstein was the lone dissenter. That gambling treaty runs almost completely opposite to Schleswig-Holstein’s laws, permitting only online sports betting and not online casino gaming or online poker. The national treaty also limits the number of licensees, while there are no such restrictions put on the number of licensees in Schleswig-Holstein. The dozen licenses awarded last week brings the total in Schleswig-Holstein to 27, with the rest being sportsbook licenses.
Making matters even more interesting is the fact that in June, the new ruling coalition in Schleswig-Holstein proclaimed that it will attempt to repeal the Land’s Gambling Act and sign on to the national Treaty. It even wanted to revoke all existing licenses, though eventually backtracked on that, as it realized it could not legally do so; all licenses issued in Schleswig-Holstein are still good for six years and applications will continue to be processed.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) submitted a formal complaint to the European Commission (EC) claiming that Germany’s Treaty violates European Union law. Many online gaming firms continue to offer their services to the country’s residents, as they share the EGBA’s beliefs. The EC also agrees, but rather than coming down hard on Germany, it instead opted in March to simply give the German state governments two years to prove that their gambling laws jive with EU regulations.
In an odd turn of events, Mybet was issued a warning by Schleswig-Holstein less than 24 hours after being granted its online gambling license. Mybet CEO Mathias Dahms told the newspaper Kieler Nachrichte, “We believe that we can use the license immediately for all of Germany,” a statement that likely made the state shake its figurative head. The Land sent a letter to Mybet, telling the company that it was only allowed to offer its games to those “who are resident or ordinarily resident in Schleswig-Holstein,” not people all around Germany.