The Swedish government has recently announced that it would be putting a limit on how much punters could spend in online casinos throughout the coronavirus outbreak shutdown;as isolated individuals increasingly turn to such sites for entertainment, says a report on Reuters.

New restrictions in place for football and other organized sports have seen these sports and other businesses being temporarily placed on hold to curtail the spread of the new coronavirus. This means that many Swedes now spend more time at home. Government officials insist that the use of online slot machines and casino games has rocketed as a result of this.

Subsequently, the government announced its plan to limit the amount that punters can transfer into online casino accounts to 5,000 Swedish crowns ($495) a week. Losses on online slot machines would also be subjected to similar restrictions, says a report on The Guardian.

"What we are seeing at the moment is a dangerous cocktail of different conditions that could increase the risk of problem gambling and gambling addiction," Social Security Minister ArdalanShekarabi told reporters, quoted on the Guardian.

"Isolated individuals, with major worries about their jobs and finances, represent a dangerously fertile nursery for an increase in gambling problems."
According to the new government rules, players will also have to set a time limit for their activities. There would also be a 100 crowns limit set to the number of bonuses. This means that online casinos will not be permitted to give players more than an additional 100 crowns in bonuses to play with.Authorities will also be given more tools to ban illegal gambling sites.

The Guardian further reports that after the government announced these measures which are set to be implemented on June 1 and last the rest of the year, shares in online casino firms witnessed a decline. For instance, shares in online casino firm Kindred were down 2.5%.

Sweden is not the only market to try to protect its citizens from being exploited by online gambling operators during the shutdown. According to Calvinayre, in March 2020, Spain’s online gambling operators were told to restrict their marketing efforts to avoid taking advantage of problem gamblers on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain’s government officials, say that this move is imperative, “to prevent bookmakers from doing business with people’s concern and anxiety.”

Belgium and Latvia have also acted to limit online gambling that has risen under coronavirus lockdowns. The Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) recently announced that customers of locally licensed gambling sites would be limited to €500 in weekly deposits per player across all licensed sites; citizens could apply to have this limit reduced if they wanted.

Latvia’s parliament has also recently approved amendments to the nation’s gambling laws to limit its citizens’ ability to access to internationally licensed online gambling operators or gamble with illegal gambling sites. Latvia’s banks are to report any customer found trying to gamble through illegal sites and citizens caught are to be fined up to €350 per incident by the government.