Germany’s sports betting industry lobby group is urging state governments to make ‘improvements’ to their new draft gambling treaty or forever surrender punters to black market options.

On Tuesday, the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) issued a statement urging the 16 German state governments to ‘increase the attractiveness’ of their proposed new federal gambling treaty, which aims to finally authorize online casino and poker products if/when it takes effect on July 1, 2021.

But the treaty would impose monthly caps on player deposits, limit online slots stakes to €1 per spin, severely restrict in-play sports betting, prevent customers from logging into two online gambling sites simultaneously (apparently to prevent odds-shopping), require players to hold separate accounts for each gaming vertical and prohibit third-party marketing affiliates.

DSWV president Mathias Dahms said the draft treaty was “a first step towards modern, market-compliant gaming regulation” but the treaty also features “structural undesirable developments … which will pose challenges for future gaming regulations.” Dahms warned that “a rigid set of rules … will neither help player protection nor lead to squeezing the black market.”