The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Swiss block 88 foreign online gaming sites

online poker
Swiss gamblers can bet online only with Swiss casinos Keystone / Julie Jacobson

The Swiss Lottery and Betting Board (Comlot) blocked 88 domains belonging to foreign online gaming operators in 2019, the first year that such blocks were implemented following a change in the law.

In June 2018 three-quarters of Swiss voters approved the overhaul of the country’s gambling law despite claims by opponents of government censorship. The law came into effect in January 2019, but the blocking of foreign gambling websites didn’t start until August.

Swiss gamblers can bet online, for example at poker or roulette, only with Swiss casinos and lotteries that pay tax in Switzerland and take measures to protect people from addiction. Other sites are automatically obstructed by Swiss telecommunications service providers via DNS (domain name server) blocks.

More

The law had already had an effect before it came into force, Comlot said in its annual report, published on Monday. Several “major players in the international sports betting market” had contacted the board early on and withdrawn from the Swiss market, it said.

Nevertheless, some providers had tried to reduce the effects of the access block by constantly adding new domains, it added. “This proves that certain foreign providers are prepared to break the law in order to maximise profits.”

Comlot pointed out that this behaviour also showed that the technical blocking measure was effective.

Three billion turnover

For the first time, the betting board published gambling statistics for 2019, revealing that inter-cantonal, automated or online lotteries and sports betting had generated a turnover of CHF3 billion ($3.17 billion) and a profit of CHF999 million.

Some 83% of this was accounted for by the lotteries – primarily EuroMillions and Swiss Lotto. The net profits of the lottery companies amounted to CHF630 million, which goes to the cantons and supports charitable projects.

Each of Switzerland’s 8.6 million inhabitants gambled an average of CHF351 last year. Per capita winnings came to CHF235, meaning each person lost an average of CHF116.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Porrentruy swimming pool: the town's mayor was not expecting such controversy

More

Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy

This content was published on The mayor of the Swiss town of Porrentruy, which has been in the headlines in neighbouring France after restricting access to a pool to locals after a spate of anti-social behaviour, says he has received much support in recent days.

Read more: Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy
Trained on the “Alps” supercomputer at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, the new LLM marks a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence, according to its developers.

More

Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme

This content was published on This summer researchers at Swiss universities will make available a large language model (LLM), an AI programme trained on vast amounts of data, developed on public infrastructure.

Read more: Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme
Zurich cantonal police introduce fixed online police stations

More

Zurich introduces online police station

This content was published on After a one-year test phase, Zurich's cantonal police are introducing an online police station. Demand is high and the response from the public has been positive.

Read more: Zurich introduces online police station
St. Moritz registers the summer as a brand

More

St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark

This content was published on The chic resort of St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland has registered "summer" as a trademark under the name "St Summer". The resort in canton Graubünden is launching a campaign to strengthen its summer business.

Read more: St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark
House prices rose sharply in June

More

Swiss house prices rose sharply in June

This content was published on The prices of homes and apartments in Switzerland rose again in June. In the Lake Geneva region, prices of detached houses rose sharply. Meanwhile, in Zurich and its surrounding region the opposite trend was observed.

Read more: Swiss house prices rose sharply in June
Heavy crowds expected at Swiss airports

More

Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

This content was published on Switzerland's main airports are preparing for a busy summer holiday period. A number of changes have been introduced to improve passenger flows that are expected to be well above average in July and August.

Read more: Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR