Spillemyndigheden (Danish Gambling Authority) licence: what it covers and what it means for players

For players in Great BritainA Danish licence does not allow an operator to offer gambling to people in Great Britain. Under the Gambling Act 2005 (s.33, read with s.36(3) and (3A) as amended by the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014), providing remote gambling facilities used in Great Britain without a Gambling Commission operating licence is an offence, and s.330 makes advertising unlicensed gambling an offence. A DGA licence permits gambling to be offered in Denmark under Danish law. How to check a site.

Licence types

Online casino
Betting
Poker
Land-based casino
Gaming machines (slot machines in arcades, restaurants etc.)
Charity lotteries
Land-based bingo (liberalised 1 January 2025)
Game supplier licence (introduced 1 January 2025)
Lotteries other than charity lotteries remain a monopoly of the state-owned operator

What players get

ROFUS (Register of Voluntarily Excluded Players), created in 2012: temporary exclusion from 24 hours to 6 months, or permanent exclusion that can only be lifted after one year; covers online gambling, land-based casinos and licensed betting outlets, and, for registrations made on or after 1 October 2023, also blocks betting in physical shops (linked to a mandatory Player ID)
Players can also opt out of gambling advertising through ROFUS
Operators must handle player complaints and tell the player when a decision can be expected if it takes longer than 14 days; unresolved complaints can go to the public consumer complaints system (Mæglingsteamet for Forbrugerklager, then Forbrugerklagenævnet) or the courts. The DGA itself is not a complaints body
Gambling legislation is intended to protect money in player accounts if an operator goes bankrupt; the Eastern High Court confirmed this protection in November 2025, and the case is going to the Supreme Court
Games and systems must be certified under the DGA's certification programme (including RNG and game testing every 12 months); since 2025 game suppliers are responsible for their own certifications
StopSpillet national helpline for problem gambling, run by the DGA
Players win tax-free at Danish-licensed operators because duty has already been paid

How to check a licence

Check the Danish Gambling Authority's list of licensed gambling operators (https://www.spillemyndigheden.dk/en-us/licensed-gambling-operators; Danish: https://www.spillemyndigheden.dk/spiludbydere-med-tilladelse). Slot-machine operators and game suppliers are on separate lists. Licensed operators are legally required to display the Danish Gambling Authority's label (Spillemyndighedens mærke).

Recent changes

2024-03-05: The Maritime and Commercial Court rejected a player's claim to have his account balance ring-fenced in a gambling operator's bankruptcy; the DGA, which backed the player, said the ruling could mean the statutory model did not protect player funds as intended.
2024-07-01: Gambling Act amendment gave the DGA power to issue orders and reprimands, and requires it to publish guilty verdicts and fines for five years.
2024-07-11: The Consumer Ombudsman, the industry Gambling Advertising Board and the DGA agreed to coordinate action against illegal gambling marketing.
2025-01-01: Game supplier licences introduced and land-based bingo liberalised; an updated certification programme took effect, mandatory from 1 July 2025.
2025-10-24: Broad political agreement 'Spilpakke 1' announced: an extended whistle-to-whistle advertising ban around sports events (from 10 minutes before kick-off to 10 minutes after the final whistle), a ban on celebrities in gambling ads, regulation of influencers, more prevention and treatment, and stronger DGA powers against illegal operators.
2025-11-13: The Eastern High Court reversed the 2024 ruling and held that money in a player's account at a bankrupt operator is specially protected; the Supreme Court hearing is set for 10 March 2027.
2026-02-02: The DGA published the renewal process for online casino and betting licences expiring on 31 December 2026 (applications due by 1 September 2026).

Context

In 2025 the DGA had 334 websites with illegal gambling offers blocked through the courts, and a new agreement with the telecoms industry allows mirror sites to be blocked without a fresh court order once a court has ruled on the content.

Online casino became Denmark's largest gambling segment in 2025 (gross gaming revenue DKK 4,309 million), and 73% of all gambling took place online.

More than 60,000 people had self-excluded in ROFUS by 1 May 2025, most of them younger men.

The DGA stated in 2022 that, since liberalisation in 2012, most Danish online gambling spending had moved to Danish-licensed sites.

Game providers that cite this regulator

Hacksaw Gaming, Leander Games, Octoplay, Synot Games.

From the licences each provider lists on its own site. Supplying games (B2B) is different from running a casino (B2C).

Not yet verified

Whether the Spilpakke 1 measures (ad bans, celebrity ban, influencer rules) have been enacted and from what date; only the October 2025 political agreement was confirmed
Mandatory deposit-limit rules for Danish players (widely reported but not confirmed from a DGA page read)
Maximum licence duration for online casino/betting licences
Exact date of the 'Spillemyndighedens mærke' requirement and its expansion
The DGA's 2022 channelisation figures (page text was truncated)
Several DGA pages were intermittently blocked by a web firewall, so some news items could not be read

We could not confirm these from a primary source, so we have not stated them as fact.