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Luxembourg plans to legaly expand gambling monopoly
The Luxembourg government is planning new laws that could give the National Lottery and casinos full control over all gambling activities in the country.
The issue was raised in the parliament by Socialist MP Dan Biancalana, who called for more control over gambling machines and new measures to prevent addiction. Health Minister Martine Deprez said there has been a rise in the number of people seeking help for gambling problems. Specifically, while 2020 recorded 35 inquiries, 2024 hit the number of 100. Most of the support seekers were men. So, the budget for addiction support services has more than doubled since 2020.
Currently, Luxembourg has only one legal casino, Casino 2000 in Mondorf-les-Bains, run by a joint venture between Partouche Group and Luxembourg Casino. However, illegal gambling never stays in the shadows. Many cafes across the country still host illegal gaming machines. But under the new proposal, this scenario would be completely changed. All other types of gaming machines, including skill-based ones, would be banned.
The government is also studying whether to give Casino 2000 an exclusive license to run online casino games and is still reviewing issues such as online monitoring and geo-blocking.
Justice Minister Elisabeth Margue stated:
“According to European case law, you can create such a monopoly, but then you must protect your citizens. There are also questions around geo-blocking. We are examining these issues internally with all concerned parties to determine what can be done, what must be done, and how far we should go if we proceed. These are complex questions, and discussions are ongoing.”
Last month, Luxembourg’s National Lottery reported a data breach affecting its sports betting website. Player names, addresses, and bank details were accessed, but without any credit card data or passwords being stolen. Urgent security measures have since been put in place.
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