The latest revision of a new German law to regulate gambling has been approved by 15 of the 16 German Länder. The law would ban all online poker and casinos, and would restrict online sports betting to a limited number of operators. The existing law that governs gambling expires in March 2012.
According to Reuters, the law still requires the approval of the European Commission to proceed. Although one proponent stated that the approval of Brussels was “expected,” it has been shot down in the past for its anti-competitive nature on license restrictions.
The lone dissenter, Schleswig-Holstein, has its own plans, having already passed its own online gambling law back in September. The federal state’s act heralded as “the most modern European gambling law,” permits online poker, and has no restrictions on the number of licenses that may be issued. There is clear indication that Schleswig-Holstein expects its licensees to accept customers from other federal states in Germany.
