iGB Live! hosts debate over new legislation on stake limits

This week, the Online Bingo team has been attending iGB Live! in Amsterdam, a large conference where people from across the gambling industry can come together to network, discover and learn.

One of the events that we attended was a talk hosted by a panel of experts from different areas of the industry who were discussing the pros and cons of the newly introduced mandatory stake limits: €1 in Germany, €2 in Greece.

The panel was made up of four people:

* Valentina Franch, Manager and Gaming Industries Specialist from KPMG

* Yanica Sant, General Counsel at the Malta Gaming Authority

* Jovana Popovic-Canaki, Managing Director of Masterpiece Gaming, a German online casino operator

* Christel Fiorina, Director of Markets, Compliance and Player Protection at ANJ, the French regulatory body

Each of these speakers represented a different part of the industry, providing some balance to the points of view on offer. Issues discussed by the panel included player experience, black market casinos and increased risk of player harm.

The discussions revealed the wide range of issues raised by the imposition of the new stake limits, particularly for the industry in Germany.

The panel all agreed that stake limits designed to protect players need to be balanced and fair, otherwise players risk being pushed towards the black market and further into harm’s way by seeking out platforms without regulations. This is especially true with time and monetary limits.

The imposition of stake limits was also discussed in relation to responsible gambling guidelines. One idea that came through was that all responsible gambling measures should be available to players from the beginning, and that stake limits should only be imposed if these prove ineffective. The industry might do well to create a universal framework of marketing and responsible gaming measures to protect players.

In short, it seems that the new German legislative measures regarding stake limits are causing issues for both players and operators. Most operators that we spoke to during the conference have told us that they are pulling out of Germany and looking at obtaining Curaçao gaming licences instead — a licence known for imposing fewer regulatory checks. This is a potentially worrying development which could see players putting themselves at risk. Play’n GO, one of the world’s leading iGaming providers, has said it will not be working with any brands holding a Curaçao licence in spite of the German legal changes.