The green field is ordered.

About a year and a half ago, Ronald Benter and Benjamin Schwanke found an empty office in Halle that they were supposed to fill with life.

Now the two board members of the Joint Gaming Authority of the Federal States (GGL) believe they are fully operational.

On January 1, 2023, the GGL took over the last competencies from the individual state authorities, which were previously responsible for the supervisory and enforcement tasks in the gaming sector.

Gregory Bruner

Editor in Business.

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In an initial press conference on Tuesday, Benter and Schwanke presented the structure of the authority and also reported the first results.

At the turn of the year, 75 employees worked for GGL.

The primary task of the authority is to combat illegal online gambling.

To this end, it is authorized to impose fines of up to 500,000 euros, to block payment flows and - as a new instrument - to block access from Germany to the websites of illegal providers.

So far there have been 60 prohibition procedures, 30 criminal charges and six network blockages by the authority.

The so-called IP block is mainly aimed at foreign providers, says board member Schwanke.

"Success is limited with classic administrative means such as fines." Although there are reactions from abroad to such measures, the best effect is to prevent payments by players and, in the future, to block IP addresses.

One stop for licensing

The authority also bundles the supervision of permits for the organization of gambling and betting offers.

Previously, this task was distributed all over Germany.

For example, the state administration office of Saxony-Anhalt was responsible for virtual slot machine games and the Darmstadt regional council for sports and horse betting.

The granting of permits and the supervision of compliance with the requirements for all types of online gambling now come from a single source.

Building on this, the GGL is preparing to become the central point of contact for advice on gambling addiction and addiction prevention.

Digital monitoring systems, which forward data on players from regulated users to the authority, play a central role here.

"However, the system is still being set up at the moment," the board members indicate.

Models for addiction prevention under construction

We are currently discussing with experts which signs could point to a burgeoning gambling addiction.

As an example, Schwanke uses the panic button, which must be integrated into the websites of regulated providers and with which players can be blocked for a certain period of time.

Whether you should get in touch after a player has pressed the button three times in a week or only after the tenth time is up for discussion, among other things.

The establishment of the authority became necessary when the State Treaty on Gambling came into force in 2021. It permitted the organization of online slot machines in Germany for the first time.

Away from the regulated market, there is a wide range of unlicensed and therefore actually illegal providers who advertise their games in Germany.

The business is to be dug up with legal offers regulated in Germany.