DGA reveals more than 30,000 Danes have self-excluded from gambling

Recent figures published by the Danish Gaming Authority (DGA) show that a total of 30,451 players have chosen to self-exclude from gambling since the optional restriction was first introduced in 2012.

Back then, Danes were among some of the first players to be given the option to voluntarily ban themselves from all forms of online gambling or gambling at land-based casinos, but the DGA has since enhanced the scheme further by establishing the register of self-excluded players (ROFUS) in 2021.

ROFUS is an initiative to combat problem gambling that enables Danish players to self-exclude either permanently or temporarily for a period of between 24 hours and six months. Since its creation, all previous self-exclusions have been retrospectively added to ROFUS to create its year-on-year figures.

The findings from ROFUS illustrate that there has been a steady increase in the number of players who have self-excluded every year since the option became available.

This rise is most pronounced from 2016 onwards, with more than 4,000 additional registrations each year. This can possibly be attributed to the DGA’s increased focus on marketing self-exclusion to players and gambling operators in the country making the option more prominent on their websites.

Of the players who have registered with ROFUS, 76% are men, and this trend has been almost constant since the initiative was introduced. In particular, young men from the ages of 20-29 and 30-39 are taking advantage of self-exclusion, with these two groups making up 48% of all registrations.

With player protection being a key issue in Denmark and one of the DGA’s most important tasks, it became compulsory for all gambling operators to refer to ROFUS in their marketing in January 2020.