Casino Davos has been ordered to pay a fine of CHF 970,000 after technical failures enabled self-excluded players to access its online gambling platform, with the Swiss Federal Administrative Court rejecting the operator’s appeal.
Two software glitches in March and October 2023 allowed banned players to gamble on the online platform or receive advertisements. The casino promptly reported each incident to the Swiss Federal Gaming Board.
The board imposed a sanction equal to 3% of its GGR for 2023, amounting to approximately CHF 970,000.
The Federal Administrative Court upheld the fine as justified, noting that two incidents occurred within a short period and that the malfunctions persisted for several days.
It also emphasised that the protection of players from the dangers of gambling, as set out in the Gambling Act, is a fundamental principle of the law.
The court also took into account that Casino Davos had already been fined by the Gaming Commission in December 2020 for breaching the ban on advertising to excluded individuals.
The operator is not alone in facing regulatory scrutiny in Switzerland. A separate long-running dispute involving Loterie Romande over the transparency of lottery terminal locations is set to continue after the Federal Supreme Court dismissed its appeal.
The case, ongoing for nearly seven years, follows a request from Swiss Radio and Television for a full list of video lottery terminals and their exact locations.
In another development, reports last month suggested that Loterie Romande and Swisslos may have delayed the publication of test purchase results from last year.
The tests involved minors attempting to place sports bets to assess how easily underage users could access betting services.
Since 7 January 2025, Switzerland and Liechtenstein have enforced an agreement that bans individuals barred from casinos in one country from gambling in the other, strengthening protections against gambling addiction
