As early as 2018, the Swiss decided to exclude online casinos from their territory. But this only applied to the virtual casinos that have their place of business abroad. Nevertheless, the local casinos should be promoted and, ideally, of course, the taxes should also be kept in the country. So what happened? Foreign providers are no longer allowed to legally offer casino games in Switzerland. In return, the land-based casinos have set up their own websites with a range of games. However, recently released figures suggest that problem gambling has increased in Switzerland.

However, this increase is probably not primarily due to the Gambling Act, the network blocks and the local casino providers. Because the pandemic has played a major role in this. There were several reinforcing factors. Once upon a time, a lot of work had to be done in the home office. There it is easier to succumb to the temptation to digress or play. In some sectors it was impossible to work at all. Many Swiss were probably looking for distraction in gambling. There have been more bans in the past year and experts are predicting an increase in gambling addiction. But what is the solution in a country where gambling legislation was only reformed in 2018?

Gambling addiction in Switzerland: Gambling problems of the Swiss

A short review must be. Because back in 2018 we reported on the vote on the Gambling Act and on network blocks . At that time, the people decided to exclude foreign providers . One of the main reasons given was player protection. The Swiss preferred to see gambling in their own hands. And that's how it happened. But the protection of players and minors was not automatically increased as a result. In fact, the pandemic would have been a situation easier to control with only domestic providers. Measures were taken in advance to protect the playerscan be taken. For example, it might have made sense to introduce a temporary deposit limit. Or at least a reporting system that filters out customers who are probably playing above their means. Of course there are protective mechanisms in Switzerland. As a result, there were 10,000 new player bans in 2020 . But this is an alarming number.

A look back at the years 2019 and 2018 shows that there were only around 4,000 bans at that time. So there was a significant increase in the “Corona year”. Casinos have been temporarily closed during the pandemic. Conversely, other Swiss online casinos saw the light of day. In fact, Switzerland turns over 650 million Swiss francs a year in gambling. That's almost 595 million euros. So what happened? Land-based casinos have had to close at times. The online offer has been expanded. However, player protection has not been expanded. The result: There was an increase in player bans of more than 100 percent per year. The Swiss Addiction Foundation says that on the one hand there is a lack of reference to the amounts set and on the other hand there is no social control. It is estimated that three percent of the Swiss population is addicted to gambling. In real numbers we are talking about 200,000 Swiss with an addiction problem.

Bypass the blocking : The way to Liechtenstein is sometimes short. At least offline, a ban is therefore not necessarily an obstacle.

Where do the Swiss have to start when it comes to player protection?

In order to obtain a license in Switzerland , a number of conditions must be met in accordance with Article 8 of the Swiss Gaming Act. A security and social concept is mentioned under 2). If we jump to Chapter 5, Article 42 presents the concept in more detail. The documentation of responsibilities, the profit determination procedure and other arguments are presented there. The following is written under b): "The security concept provides in particular for measures to ensure that a control system is operated that checks and documents the stake and winning payment transactions." Because of this control mechanism, however, there were now more player bansconditions. The number of addicts is also said to have increased. In this regard, it seems advisable to work on early detection.

There is also another stumbling block. Namely the advertising in Switzerland for the CH casinos. Even during the pandemic or especially then, there was increased advertising. Online gambling was omnipresent on Swiss television.On the one hand, the foreign casinos were excluded. On the other hand, the local casinos are hardly more serious when it comes to protection, advertising and other things. This strengthens the critics that the decision to block the network was a lobby decision that promoted the state casinos. The Swiss Gambling Addiction Foundation is therefore demanding restrictions on gambling advertising and the creation of an independent panel of experts. The body could act as an interface and support the authorities, but also the providers in an advisory capacity. Gambling addiction is of course not a problem exclusive to online casinos. A billion Swiss francs were lost in lotteries and bets. The casinos came to 650 million Swiss francs.

Role model Germany? Such a statement should be delayed. The Federal Republic is currently reforming its law. But the authority will not be fully operational until 2023. And how well the player protection works afterwards remains to be seen. But with comprehensive player bans and deposit limits, the prerequisites for effective player protection are in place.