Entain secures first German online poker licence
London-listed operator secures a number of licences in the central European nation, including the first two permits for online poker
Entain has received approval from the State Administrative Office of Saxony-Anhalt for five licences in Germany, including two to operate online poker via its bwin and Ladbrokes brands.
The other three licences allow the aforementioned brands and Sportingbet to offer igaming services in Germany.
The licences will last for five years and are in addition to Entain’s sports betting licence that it has under each of these brands.
Robert Hoskin, chief governance officer at Entain, commented: “We’re delighted to now have our licences for gaming and poker services in the regulated German market, enabling us to offer and market them to our customers.
“It is an important and welcome step towards achieving the goal of a fully regulated online betting and gaming market in Germany. Only through such regulation and its enforcement will we avoid the reality of customers going to the black market where there are none of the safeguards that reputable operators such as Entain guarantee.”
This move comes days after Catena Media CEO Michael Daly fears that stringent regulations could hamper the progress of the German market.
Daly said: “I think our teams in Germany have been doing a good job with our products, and I’m happy with the growth in our traffic. The challenge we have seen to date is the number of operators, and the marketing spend, and also the conversions.
“We are sending traffic to a number of operators and the conversion rates are not very healthy from our perspective. They are having trouble with some of the new rules and regulations and so the market still hasn’t stabilised into a churning engine,” he added.
German regulations include a €1 stake limit for online slots and a 5.3% turnover tax on slots and poker, which could affect Entain later down the line.
Several operators have already pulled out of the region, including Kindred Group and Swedish operator Betsson, who has decided against using its sports betting licence and has decided to apply for only one slots licence instead of three.
Regulation in Germany falls under the remit of the country’s first-ever national regulator Glücksspielbehörde, which officially begins operations in 2023 but has already taken action against Lottoland in October in an effort to remove the operator from the region.