Online Casino, casinos

The world of online gaming is constantly evolving and more and more countries are following in the footsteps of Great Britain, which has for a long time accepted online gaming websites on its "virtual territory". Spain and Italy have more or less opened their markets to foreign operators and France will legalise sports betting sites, horse racing and poker in 2010. France dragged its feet for many years and ended up giving in to pressure from the European Commission, which ordered it to cease the monopoly of the Francaise des Jeux and the PMU. The most recent country on the list of those  who wish to allow their citizens to play online is Switzerland. The Federal Council recently announced that it wishes to grant the casino licences under concession. In fact, the Federal council has eased the law on Casinos and wants to grant the licences for online casinos to the operators present in Switzerland and who would be subject to taxation.  Just like the Francaise des Jeux, which is keeping its monoply for scratch cards and draws, such as the Lottery and Euro Millions, the situation will be the same for our Swiss neighbours, and the Lotterie Romande and Swisslos will keep the monopoly in these areas.

The government wishes to grant between five and ten licences under concession and these online casino sites won't be able to accept only Swiss players. The Federal Commission of Gaming Institutions ( La commission federale des maisons de jeu CFMJ) also wishes to forbid the Swiss from playing on online casino sites apart from those which are legal. If Swiss players were limited to playing only in Swiss virtual casinos, the online casino slot machines could generate not less than 114 million euros. On the other hand, if the Swiss weren't limited to playing in Swiss virtual casinos but could play in all the online casinos available on the web, the revenue would fall to between 75 to 91 million euros. The online casinos will be subject to a tax of 15%, which would allow the state to take 17 million euros for the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance (L'Assurance Vieillesse et Survivants (AVS).

The arrival of legal online casinos in Switzerland hasn't been welcomed by the director of the Swiss lottery ( Lotterie romande). In fact, as is the case with its French counterpart, the Francaise des Jeux, the online casinos are  indirect competition. For instance, players could spend their budget in the online casinos instead of on draws, which would mean a loss of business for the Swiss lottery.

The world of online gaming is evolving  and whether it's online casinos, horse racing, sports betting or poker, all have become common although the image of gaming could be tainted by spam sent to the players' email addresses. For the Swiss, this decision is a small step for the government but a huge step for the world of gaming. To be continued.....

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