There are plenty of things that come to mind when thinking of Denmark. From being the cradle of the Viking civilization and all the way to being the first Europeans to discover North America. In between, we can’t omit the world-famous beers or that LEGO was also invented here. From a sporting perspective, Denmark gave the world the likes of Christian Eriksen, Kasper Schmeichel, Thomas Delaney or Caroline Wozniacki. Of course, when talking about Danish football icons, we must include the Laudrup brothers and Peter Schmeichel on the list. Danes’ passion for sports combined with their high standard of living created a very good environment for sports betting. Betting sites in Denmark are historically controlled by Danske Spill, the local authority that started things with a monopoly. However, since Danish punters were using other betting sites available in Denmark, the legislation was updated in 2010 to keep up with modern times.
Like many of its Scandinavian neighbours, Denmark’s gambling regulation was left in the hands of one body to take care of all gambling and betting endeavours. Established back in 1948, the state-owned Danske Spil started by offering a lottery and most of its profits were redirected either towards charity or invested in sports. The state monopoly on gambling and betting continued for many years since it seemed advantageous in terms of regulating the activities and keep the negative effects of gambling away. However, confronted with the appearance of sports betting sites in Denmark, the monopoly started to show its first cracks. Punters that were looking for more betting options and better odds started to choose the foreign football betting sites in Denmark over the local offer and it had become clear to the authorities that significant changes were due.
After various stages of consultation, the Danish Gaming Act was finally published in 2010. Coming into effect in January 2012, the Danish Gaming act marked the beginning of licensed betting sites in Denmark. The Denmark gambling commission (Spillemyndigheden) was established as the authority to issue licenses and regulate the landscape. Besides putting together the framework for the international betting sites to apply for a license and end the monopoly, this new act also meant a declaration of war against unlicensed operators. So, a series of restrictions on payment options, ISP blocks, and bans on advertisements were rolled out almost immediately and, together with the big operators getting a license, it led to effective cleansing of the betting landscape. It’s no wonder that today the Denmark gambling laws are referred to as one of the best in Europe.
Despite all the good measures taken by the local authorities to create a competitive and safe space for online betting, it looks like there are some controversial measures on the way as well. The Denmark betting tax will see a consistent hike to 28% starting from the 1st of January 2021, a measure that led to some operators already retiring from the market or considering an exit. Betsafe.dk, one of Betsson’s Danish-facing brands already closed shop on the 6th of January and the measure is believed to encourage punters to choose unlicensed operators in the long run. Since the tax increase will be offloaded to the customers via shorter odds, some punters will want to avoid that by choosing other options.
Since Danish punters expect to receive the best services, bookies that wish to become a top betting site in Denmark need to accomplish a couple of things first. First of all, offering them a Danish website and customer support is mandatory so that the entire experience feels natural and comfortable. Another thing that all betting websites Denmark must offer is support for DKK currency. Even if they also use EUR in Denmark, most punters still prefer to use krona as the main currency. Of course, offering very competitive odds on the Danish Superliga, top European football leagues, handball, hockey or basketball is another requirement that we taken into consideration when putting together the list of betting sites in Denmark.
With more and more top-calibre international betting sites getting a license to operate in Denmark, the demand for foreign betting sites isn’t that high. And despite the praises the Denmark gambling authority gets for successfully blocking illegal websites, there’s no way they can police the internet. So, punters that wish to access other bookies than the betting sites allowed in Denmark are going to have a difficult time, but it’s not impossible. You’re going to need a reliable VPN software so that you go around the DNS blocks imposed by the authorities and that’s about it. With no fines targeting punters accessing foreign betting sites, there’s virtually no risk when you do so.
Even though the Danish betting companies deliver exceptional services, sometimes the idea of a regulated bookmaker is something that punters want to avoid. An unlicensed betting site may bring bigger bonuses, higher odds or even free bookmakers bonuses that are limited or disallowed by the active legislation.
All Danish betting sites come with a wide offer of payment methods that punters can use to top up their accounts. The popular international payment options like Skrill, Neteller, Paysafe, Visa or MasterCard are also available here and it looks like credit and debit cards are favorites. However, besides the international payment options, the Danes also have some local methods like Nordea, Trustly, Euteller and the list can go on. Even though these methods are not developed in the country, all the sports betting Denmark sites offer them so that punters can deposit and withdraw their money with ease.
Although the Denmark gambling market is quite flexible in terms of bookmakers, there are no betting exchanges currently available. It’s not sure if these exchanges simply thought it’s not the right market or if there’s another reason behind that. Given the tax increase that will apply starting 2021, we won’t see any changes to this status about exchanges. However, just like they do with bookmakers, Danish punters can use a VPN to access the betting exchanges and enjoy the better odds and special betting markets offered there.
If you’re playing at a Spillemyndigheden-approved Denmark betting site, you can address the gambling authority directly regarding anything you would like to report. Otherwise, if you’re enjoying a bookmaker that doesn’t have a local license, contact the authority that issues their license. It may be the MGA, the UKGC, Curacao or Gibraltar. You should easily find contact forms for each of these regulators. And, of course, we are always here to help you with anything regarding the bookmakers that we promote. Drop us a message and we’ll do our best to make your voice heard!
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