Interim assessment of the new Gaming State Treaty 2021

On July 1, 2021, the new Gambling State Treaty in USA. This should legalize online gambling such as online casinos and also online poker rooms. In retrospect, this only brought the desired effect to a limited extent.

There are not really many providers to be found on the official white list of the legal offers of the online sector. So there are still no online slot machines, online poker and online casino games. Actually, the reform in the industry was very well received in both USA and on an international level. Nevertheless, industry associations and providers have criticized the strict restrictions.

Strict regulations could be doomed

For example, there is now a monthly deposit limit that applies across providers. The five-minute break now prescribed after 30 minutes of playing time or an equally long waiting time between the switch to a different website was felt than too strict. In addition, between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. can no longer be advertised for gambling. In addition, the poker opponent must now be a person, so no more computer programs may be used. Lastly recently made providers such as Bet365 or Entain that they do not calculate rapidly increasing income in the American market due to these and other strict rules. There is also a risk that the black market will benefit from these restrictions and will become more attractive for players.

Creation of the Gaming State Treaty

Already receiving approval in 13 of the 16 federal states proved to be difficult. Only in March did 13 federal states agree. Saxony-Anhalt agreed a month later. Because the future gambling authority “Common gaming authority of the federal states”-GGL for short-will be based there was of great importance. The lack of a gambling authority was primarily mentioned as a counter-argument. It was too early for a Gambling State Treaty if an authority that is so important for the matter does not yet exist. In fact, there is still no such in USA and, according to the Ministry of the Interior Saxony-Anhalt, will not be “fully able to work” until 2023. So it still takes before the GGL can accept the State Treaty and, above all, comply with the State Treaty.

In any case, this does not seem to be a difficult task at the moment. Because the White List is almost empty, there is not much to check and regulate-at least in the online sector of the gambling industry. Only in the “Sports Betting provider with Internet sales” category can be found on the White List 35 providers with license. In contrast, not a single licensed provider in the categories online poker, online casino games and virtual Slot machine listed. The list led by the Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Ministry is therefore very manageable.

State Administration Office Halle to GGL exists responsible

But the market is not very unregulated. The State Administration Office in Halle (Saale) is currently doing the tasks of the future GGl. According to the Ministry of the Interior, “the State Administration Office in Halle (Saale) […] during the transition period is responsible for granting permits”. According to § 9a I No. 3 GlüstV 2021, this authority can allow the event as “the event of online poker and virtual machine games”.

However, it is not clear that the state administrative office has already properly internalized this task. So it may be that the first licenses on online casinos are actually only granted by the GGL. However, there is no statement from the authority or the ministry.

As a general conclusion, it can be said that many restrictions have been introduced that are so far without use and rather scare it off. It apparently still takes time for the White List to fill up in the empty categories. Only then will you be able to say whether the regulations in the new State Treaty are rightly criticized or not.