Due to the liberalization of online bingo from 1 January 2018, the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA) is currently working on an update to its certification program.

An updated version will be published later this week. The DGA knows that a number of interested parties are awaiting the updated requirements, so these will be specified here.

The requirements in the certification program will reflect the requirements in the executive order. Here are the most significant:

• Only online bingo with 75, 80 or 90 numbers/symbols is allowed.
• Bingo cards for games with 75 numbers/symbols must have five times five squares.
• Bingo cards for games with 80 numbers/symbols must have four times four squares.
• Bingo cards for games with 90 numbers/symbols must have three times nine squares.
• The sale of bingo cards cannot start until 30 minutes before the game starts.
• There must be at least three seconds between the draw/presentation of each number/symbol
• The player cannot select numbers/symbols for the bingo card themselves or make changes to their bingo cards. The players are however allowed to select bingo cards between a number of bingo cards randomly generated by the gambling system.
• Both manual and automatic marking of drawn numbers/symbols must be possible.
• The game must end when the first player has a full bingo card.

The specification above is with reservation for the content in the final executive order, which will come into force on 1 January 2018.

The DGA is aware of and appreciate the fact that it will be very difficult to have games tested and inspected before the end of the year. The DGA must, however, point out that whether or not a bingo game is tested, it must comply with requirements in the coming executive order.

The regulated gambling market in Denmark reached a 9.3 percent revenue rise during the third quarter and achieved record figures.

The regulated gambling market reported record revenue from both online and land-based companies in Denmark and reached US$237 million during the third quarter. Said figure was up 9.3 percent from the same period last year and 2.4 percent from the second quarter and was driven by overall sports betting revenue’s US$91.5 million.

Sports betting was up 9 percent year-on-year and recorded 50.5 percent of its wagers through mobile channels. The rest was divided in land-based wagering (33.4 percent) and desktop online revenue (16.1 percent).

Local regulated online casino revenue posted US$72.35 million and was up 20 percent year on year but was weaker than second quarter’s US$72.67 million. Slots drove the numbers with two thirds of the total figure, while roulette reported 15 percent and blackjack 12 percent.

Online poker revenue was down 6.4 percent to US$5 million and dropped by the fourth straight quarter. Meanwhile, land-based casinos kept their revenue steady at US$15.07 million, just like last year.

Yggdrasil Gaming has agreed a deal with Danske Spil to go live via the GVC platform, further extending its reach in Denmark.

Yggdrasil games will be available on Danske Spil during Q1 2018, and will also go live on GVC brand bwin.dk at the same time as part of the agreement.

The operators will enjoy access to popular Yggdrasil titles including recent blockbuster release Vikings Go Berzerk, as well as its collection of in-game promotional tools, BOOST™ and social sharing tool, BRAG™.

Yggdrasil CEO Fredrik Elmqvist, said: “Our first entry into Denmark has been marked with significant interest in Yggdrasil content from operators looking to improve their gaming portfolios.

This latest deal to go live on Danske Spil and bwin.dk via GVC brings our games to players with two of Denmark’s most popular brands.”

GVC Chief Product Officer Liron Snir, said: “Yggdrasil games are already enjoyed by players across the Nordics and beyond, so it is fantastic to bring them to our customer’s in Denmark’s regulated market.

Denmark is an extremely competitive market, so Yggdrasil’s high-quality titles and industry-first promotional tools will give both our brands and our B2B partners a powerful edge.”

Danske Licens Spil Head of Product Søren Schneider, said: “Danske Spil is always looking to better serve our player base, and we are certain that Yggdrasil games will prove extremely popular.

Yggdrasil is a well-respected name within gaming, and it is a pleasure to work alongside them to strengthen the Danske Spil offering.”

Yggdrasil recently announced its intention to enter Denmark and set to go live in the coming months.