Monthly Archives: September 2017

Schleswig-Holstein vote dooms Germany’s new gambling treaty

Germany’s latest gambling treaty appears dead in the water after two state parliaments decided not to sign on.

In March, the leaders of Germany’s 16 länder approved the country’s new State Treaty on Gambling, which was to take effect on January 1, 2018. But the treaty required the unanimous approval of each state’s legislature, and legislators in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein voted on Friday to opt out of the treaty.

Schleswig-Holstein’s vote wasn’t unexpected, as the state’s newly elected government announced in June that it planned to revive the state’s previous gambling legislation, which, unlike the federal treaty, was cool with operators offering online casino and poker in addition to sports betting. Friday’s vote wasn’t even close, with only the Social Democratic Party members voting in favor of the federal treaty.

Schleswig-Holstein had also announced in June that it would team with the state governments in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse on a new regulatory scheme based on the original Schleswig-Holstein licensing regime that it hoped the rest of the states would eventually join.

No bidders yet for Primorye gaming zone land auction

Russia’s far east gaming zone outside Vladivostok appears to be having difficulty attracting bids on its undeveloped land plots.

In late August, the state-owned Development Corporation of the Primorsky Territory announced that it was extending the August 28 deadline for companies to submit applications to participate in the auction of subleases in the Primorye gaming zone. The delay was reportedly due to potential investors’ request for more time to get their paperwork in order.

The new deadline for applications was set for September 28 (this Thursday), but a Primorsky Krai Development spokesperson told GGRAsia on Monday that the firm had yet to receive any formal applications. The spokesperson claimed that “our headquarters are staying in touch with investors and companies,” including a Russian firm that is reportedly considering participating in the auction.

At present, there is only one functioning casino in Primorye – Lawrence Ho’s Tigre de Cristal – and the company has claimed that Russian laws requiring customers to first change their foreign currency into rubles before buying casino chips is one of the factors that puts off some high rollers from being willing to pick Primorye as a preferred gaming destination.