🇩🇰Denmark gambling regulation

Legal framework at a glance

Denmark’s Gambling Act (Lov om spil) was adopted in 2010, and the partly liberalised market opened on 1 January 2012. It was one of the first in the EU to combine a licensed online market for casino and betting with a retained state monopoly on lotteries, a model several other countries later followed.

Item	Position (October 2026)
Regulator	Spillemyndigheden
Online casino and poker	Licensed
Sports and horse-race betting	Licensed
Lotteries	State monopoly (Danske Lotteri Spil), with charity exceptions
Self-exclusion	ROFUS national register

The regulator

Spillemyndigheden, the Danish Gambling Authority, is based in Odense and sits under the Ministry of Taxation. It issues licences, supervises operators, runs ROFUS and the StopSpillet helpline, and pursues illegal gambling through site blocking and payment measures. It also publishes regular market statistics, including gross gaming revenue by product.

Licensing

Licences are issued separately for online casino and for betting, and land-based casinos are licensed too. Licences can be granted for up to five years, and holders must meet requirements on technical certification, anti-money laundering and responsible gambling. See gambling licensing models.

Online products — what is and isn’t legal

Online casino games, poker and sports and horse-race betting are legal through licensed operators. Lotteries remain a monopoly of Danske Lotteri Spil. From 1 January 2025, simplified rules created exceptions for small lotteries, non-profit lotteries and land-based bingo, following a cross-party agreement in March 2024.

Land-based gambling

Denmark’s land-based casinos are licensed by Spillemyndigheden and must check ROFUS at the door, as must physical betting shops. Gaming machines in arcades and restaurants are licensed separately, and the 2025 reforms allowed land-based bingo to be offered on the liberalised market. Players should note that machine gambling in restaurants and arcades has historically been less tightly linked to identity checks than online play.

Taxation

Licensed online casino and betting operators pay 28% of gross gaming revenue, a rate raised from 20% on 1 January 2021. Gaming machines in arcades and restaurants are taxed at a higher rate, and the new liberalised land-based bingo is being brought into line with that machine rate over three years. See gambling taxation compared.

Advertising and marketing rules

Gambling advertising is allowed, but the Gambling Act and the Marketing Practices Act set rules on content and bonuses. Marketing must not target minors or excluded players. Ads must include information about ROFUS and StopSpillet, and promotions are capped and subject to detailed guidance on cashback, loyalty schemes and boosted odds. Several further restrictions, such as limits around live sport and bonus advertising, have been proposed in recent years. See gambling advertising rules.

Player-protection requirements

• ID checks: players must verify identity, typically with MitID, before playing.
• Deposit limits: must be set when opening an account.
• ROFUS checks: licensees must check ROFUS before letting customers play.
• Monitoring: operators must monitor players for signs of harm and act on them.

Enforcement against unlicensed operators

Spillemyndigheden obtains court orders requiring Danish internet providers to block illegal gambling sites, and publishes the blocked domains. It also works with payment providers and pursues illegal promotion, including on social media. See payment blocking and ISP blocking.

What this means for players

Danish players have a clear way to tell legal from illegal sites: licensed operators display Spillemyndigheden’s licence mark and appear on its public list of licence holders. Licensed sites must verify your identity with MitID or equivalent, ask you to set a deposit limit when you open an account, and check ROFUS before you play. Sites without a Danish licence are blocked where possible and offer none of these protections.

If you have a dispute with a licensed operator, complain to the operator first; Spillemyndigheden can investigate breaches of the rules, but you may need separate advice to pursue an individual financial claim. Keep records of your transactions and communications. Our guides on how to check if a gambling site is licensed and how to file a complaint explain the process.

How the Danish model compares

Denmark sits between the Nordic extremes. Unlike Norway, it allows private operators to compete for online casino and betting customers. Unlike the British model, it keeps lotteries in state hands, and it combines licensing with a binding national exclusion register, a 28% GGR tax and a regulator that also runs the national helpline. Sweden and, from 2027, Finland have since adopted versions of this hybrid approach. For a side-by-side view of how registers work in each country, see national self-exclusion registers compared.

Recent developments and what to watch

• Lottery reform: the 2025 exceptions to the lottery monopoly are bedding in.
• Advertising: proposals for tighter limits, such as around live sport and bonus messaging, recur in political debate.
• Channelisation: the effect of the 28% tax rate on the share of play staying with licensed operators.

For practical help, see self-exclusion in Denmark and Danish support services.