Slovakia blacklists first 10 online gambling operators

Slovakia’s government has published its inaugural blacklist of online gambling domains considered to be serving local punters without local approval.

On Monday, Slovakia’s finance ministry released the first 10 names on the country’s online gambling naughty list. The rogues’ gallery of domains includes familiar faces such as 888 Holdings, Bet365, Bet-at-Home, Bwin, William Hill and 1xbet, along with the Curacao-licensed Eatsleepbet.com plus the Malta-licensed LVbet.com and Kajot-casino.com.

The ministry issued a note on Monday saying it had issued warning notices to 17 online gambling operators, 10 of which ended up on the blacklist. Two other operators had withdrawn their services from Slovakia voluntarily, while five more had been given 10 days in which to wrap up their local operations before the whip comes down.

Some operators had exited the Slovakian market in recent months after the government announced it would begin enforcing its new gambling regulations, under which online sports betting licensees must pay 27% tax on their gross gaming revenue from local punters. Online casino and poker activity remains the sole responsibility of the state-owned TIPOS national lottery.