Licensed gambling operators are going toe-to-toe with Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling regulator in a dispute over online casino deposits. Earlier this week Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling regulator, filed an appeal asking a judge to overturn an earlier decision that let casino players circumvent pandemic-related deposit limits. It’s a dispute that will ultimately ride on whether the spirit, or the letter, of the law will stand.
The dispute centers around a loophole in Swedish gambling laws that allows casino players to circumvent a 5000 SK ($538 USD) monthly limit by setting a higher limit for sports betting. Once the money had been deposited, the player could lower their limits down to the acceptable casino limit, but would still be able to play casino games with the sports betting money.
Gambling regulators got wise to this workaround and slapped several operators, including Kindred, with an injunction and fine to keep them from continuing the practice. The operators successfully appealed the ruling and continued allowing players to circumvent the deposit limits. In that case, the judge said that the rules were really only about deposit limits and not about how much money the player actually had in his or her account.
This week, the Spelinspektionen fired back at the judge’s ruling by appealing it in a Swedish administrative court. They pointed out that any operator could do a workaround of the deposit limits by simply offering another product alongside it.
The case is now in the hands of a judge who must decide whether the spirit of the law, hard deposit limits for locked down players, or the letter of the law, will stand.