West End fined over unlicensed gambling machines in Denmark

The business was found to be operating machines without the required licence.

Denmark.- West End has agreed to pay a penalty of DKK 6,928 (around €930) after being found to have breached Danish gambling laws by hosting unlicensed machines. The Danish gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden issued the fine following an investigation into the company’s operations.

The infraction took place at West End’s venue at Brårupgade 6 in the town of Skive. The regulator said that gambling machines were available without the required licence between January 27 and 31 of this year. It noted that under Danish law, specifically section 59(1) in conjunction with section 3(1) of the Gambling Act, all gambling providers must hold a valid licence before offering access to gaming machines. Non-compliance can lead to financial penalties or other regulatory actions.

West End acknowledged the breach and accepted the penalty.

Spillemyndigheden has been stepping up its action against unlicensed gambling in the online sphere too. In June, the court at Frederiksberg approved the regulator’s request for blocking orders against 178 gambling websites – the biggest round of blocking orders secured by the regulator since it started taking this kind of enforcement action in 2012.

Previously, the regulator conducted only one case a year in court to have the sites closed, but since 2024 cases have been brought before the court twice annually. In total, 616 illegal gambling sites have ben blocked since 2012.

Meanwhile, the minister for taxation, Rasmus Stoklund, has raised the prospect of new gambling reforms in Denmark amid concerns about problem gambling. This could include potential advertising restrictions.Stoklund criticised aggressive marketing during televised sports events, and suggested that Denmark could introduce a ‘whistle-to-whistle ban’ on gambling advertising during sports. This would likely be similar to the ban introduced voluntarily in the UK and recently proposed in France by the ANJ.