Switzerland’s list of blacklisted online gambling operators is growing with most entries from Curaçao thronging it. Currently, online poker fans in the nation are left with a limited number of legal options, much to their frustration.
In January 2020, the Swiss federal gaming board (ESBK) revealed the updated list of globally licensed online gambling websites the local authorities and Internet service providers must block. 35 domains have been added to the list, totalling the number to 145 since November.
Interestingly, the new entries are mostly Curacao-licensed casinos that are Cyprus-based. Most of these operators are run-of-the-mill and pretty basic. They openly promote their services to Swiss players and offer deposit bonuses in francs.
ESBK’s blacklist depicts a rather unwholesome focus on its regulatory activities which have been twisted to persuade online gambling bigwigs to do away with their Swiss players and oblige to the country’s latest e-gambling laws.
It is to be noted that the Swiss Lottery & Betting Board (Comlot) issues its own badge of dishonour, but has failed to issue an update to its blacklist from November 2916 that included 88 domains.
The Swiss government has approved of six brick-and-mortar casinos so far and permitted them to offer online casino games, including poker. However, none of these operators offers any poker game other than video poker.
For instance, the online domain Jackpots.ch from Grand Casino Baden states that it would need a few more days to perfect everything for poker fans. But the other sites have no mention of the game. Of late, the Swiss gambling regulator is making it to the news for all the wrong reasons, especially when it comes to poker.
In 2019, Switzerland acted on an extradition request from the United States after PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg decided to visit the country. In January 2020, Scheinberg gave in to pressure and surrendered to New York authorities to settle his long-pending Black Friday criminal charges.