In a shocking turn of events the Finance Ministry of Austria revealed that they have plans to restrict online poker, poker in land based casinos, electronic lotteries and new slots created by machine operators. This announcement has come as a massive shock to gamblers in Austria as this means that there is no room for growth or innovation within the Austria Gambling Market.
This move has been finalized due to the Austria new tax reform which is set out to have income being spent elsewhere within the country. All poker halls, pubs with poker tables and casinos that offer an array of different poker games will be forced to remove them. As for the electronic lotteries & slots by the WINWIN, they’ll only be able to offer their existing titles and no longer be able to offer new ones to casinos around Austria. This’ll surely have this company die or minimalize by 80% of what it once was.
These new laws are going to be implemented as of January, 2017. This means that within this time period new products can be made which is why WINWIN is working hard on new slots and electronic lottery games. These new laws go against the European Commission and the European Court of Justice current gambling laws. Their dispute has been long running and it’s suspected that when 2017 comes around they’ll enact their power of the country so that citizens who like to gamble can still do so.
We’ll keep you posted on any changes with Austria’s gambling reform!