Danish Gaming Authority blocked 79 illegal gambling sites

Every year, the Danish Gambling Authority blocks websites that offer gambling products and services to Danes without a licence. The blocks are an important part of the Danish Gambling Authority's work to protect the players and at the same time ensure a fair and legal gambling market in Denmark.  

In 2024, the Danish Gambling Authority has blocked the access to a total of 162 illegal websites that offer gambling to Danes. This is the highest number of blocks in a year so far. Since 2012, a total of 438 websites have been blocked so that they cannot be accessed via a Danish telecommunications provider.  

The decision to block websites is made by the courts, and the Danish Gambling Authority has been in court twice this year to have illegal gambling sites blocked. In February, 83 pages were blocked.

Illegal sites are DNS blocked

The Danish Gambling Authority's option to block access to the illegal sites is done via a so-called DNS block. This means that the connection between the player and the gambling provider's website is blocked by the player’s telecommunications provider. If the user tries to access a blocked website, they are greeted by a page stating that the site is illegal and blocked by the Danish Gambling Authority.  

-     We know that some players will try to bypass the DNS blocks, says Director of the Danish Gambling Authority, Anders Dorph. - Therefore, it is very important to us that the information you come across is clear and makes the players aware that they are trying to access a site without a licence. These sites do not have the same level of consumer protection and it can be very risky for a player to use them.

Sites without a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority do not necessarily meet the same requirements as sites with a licence, and therefore players do not get the same consumer protection and security on the illegal sites.  

It is, for example, impossible to play on a site with a licence if you are under 18 or if you are registered with ROFUS (Register of Voluntarily Excluded Players).  

New types of illegal sites

The blocked sites offer different types of gambling such as online casino, online betting and skin betting. 

In the latest block, three of the 79 sites contained a new type of skin betting. Here, players can, among other things, use "Robux" as stakes as well as win Robux which is the virtual currency in the computer game Roblox. 
-    We pay particular attention to this new type of site, says Anders Dorph. - Roblox is a game that is very popular among children and young people under the age of 18. Our children should not be introduced to gambling when they play video games, so I am very pleased that we have blocked access to these sites.

Several telecom providers have blocked 

When the Danish Gambling Authority assesses that a website offers gambling illegally without a licence, the Danish Gambling Authority asks the gambling provider to stop the illegal offering. If they do not stop the offer, the telecommunications providers are asked to block their customers' access to the websites. If this does not happen, the Danish Gambling Authority will proceed with the case and ask the district court to order the Danish telecommunications providers to block the websites. 

In the past, only telecommunications providers with membership of the Teleindustrien have been involved in the Danish Gambling Authority's blocking processes. 

In this round of blocking, however, three telecommunications providers who are not members of the Teleindustrien have also blocked access to the illegal sites.   

All three telecommunications providers have blocked access to websites with illegal gambling offerings that were part of this blocking process as well as websites covered by previous rulings. 

-    We are very happy that three more telecommunications providers have closed access, says Anders Dorph. - This ensures that even more players are protected from being able to access the illegal sites.

Look for the label

If you want to be sure that you are gambling on a site with a licence, you can look for the Danish Gambling Authority's round label. It is mandatory by law to use the labeling system when you have a licence to offer gambling products and services in Denmark. 

FACTS:

When is a game illegal in Denmark?

It is illegal to offer gambling in Denmark or target the Danish market without a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority. 
A game is considered aimed at Denmark if one or more of the following elements are present:

• Danish language
• Danish currency
• Payment card that only works in Denmark
• Danish customer service
• Connection via Steam (digital distribution platform for computer games)
• The composition of the game offer means that it targets Danish players, for example by offering bets on sports events in lower national ranks