Summarized in one sentence: Switzerland legalizes online Gambling and the reality will be a ban for foreign operators. So, all foreign-based betting sites will be blocked. The law will take effect next year and can be considered as the strictest in Europe, allowing only casinos and gaming companies certified in Switzerland to operate in the country, including online gambling. It enables Swiss companies for the first time to offer online gambling, but will basically block foreign-based companies from the market. The Parliament decided to block the access to foreign online gaming providers on a technical level. The technical measure being discussed is the implementation of IP-Blocking by Internet Access Providers. This issue was heavily disputed given that the proposed technical blocking measure strongly interferes with personal rights and restricts the rights of individuals to freely access the internet.
Swiss gamblers spend around 250 million Swiss francs annually on unregulated betting sites abroad. The currently 21 facilities have either an A-type unrestricted Grand Casino licence or a B-type licence, which has a limited choice of games, bets and profits. Switzerland has one of the highest casino densities in the world. More than 50% the Swiss citizens take part in the country’s national lottery on a regular basis.
Who will be able to apply for an online gambling concession? Only holders of a licence for a land based casino will qualify to apply for an online gambling concession. Likely Swiss casino operators will rent their licenses out or start joint ventures with foreign online operators, like in some US states and Belgium. Most online, mobile casinos in Switzerland are smaller casinos. It's more interesting for them to rent it out to a party like Unibet etc. Experts suppose that ca. 30 licenses should also be enough for a small country like Switzerland.
Beyond horse racing and the lottery, like most other European countries the Swiss are a nation of deeply passionate football supporters and bettors.
Besides sportsbooks, poker is the most popular online and mobile among players in Switzerland. The annual Swiss Open Poker Championship has been running since 2006, usually in the brick Grand Casino Bern or the brick Gran Casino Baden. This event attracts not only the best Swiss players, but the top talent from all over Europe.
Swiss players are not allowed to bet on local casino websites. So they must use foreign online gambling websites in order to play. There is a great variety of such websites for the players to choose from. Swiss banks normally do not have any problems when moving funds to and from online casinos to players’ gambling accounts.
• All money games shall be exempted from taxation. One argument was that the net profit arising out of a night spent at the casino shall not be determined and that therefore, it is practically impossible to tax such gains. Another argument was that it would lead to unequal treatment by treating gains arising from lottery and sport betting differently than those arising from casinos.
• Another issue is about land based casinos in Davos and St. Moritz. Probably they receive a special treatment with regard to taxes and charges, as so-called 'mountain casinos'. A measure with regard to aim at strengthen the touristic attractiveness as well as the region’s economy. This issue needs further discussion in the Council of States.
• We constructed a list with mobile casinos allowed for Swiss players: until at present.
