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Stuttgart (AP) - With the jingling coins and flickering colors in the arcade on the corner, it could soon be over.
Because with the new State Gambling Treaty, which the Baden-Württemberg state parliament approved with a large majority on Wednesday evening, not only previously illegal games of chance on the Internet such as online poker or online casinos are permitted under certain conditions.
Hurdles are also being set up for gambling halls, which, according to the industry, may be too high for many of them.
The vending machine association warns of the loss of thousands of jobs, and it also opens the door to illegal gambling in back rooms and shisha bars.
The machine industry in Baden-Württemberg is threatened with deforestation, warned the spokesman for the German machine industry, Georg Stecker, on Wednesday.
Up to 8,000 of the total of 10,000 jobs in the industry are in danger because, among other things, they cannot maintain the required air line distance of 500 meters between two gambling halls and between gambling halls and youth facilities.
Around 80 percent of the arcades would have to be closed by June 30th because they violated the new regulations.
That is why there is a risk of vacancies in the city centers, and the municipalities would also lose hundreds of millions of euros in annual tax revenues.
Dirk Fischer, board member of the Automaten-Verband Baden-Württemberg, even spoke of the contract as a “guillotine of legal games on offer”.
He called for a multi-year evaluation of the new rules with grandfathering for the existing providers during this period.
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The industry expressly does not defend itself against regulation and strict youth and player protection, stressed Stecker.
“But in the digital age, minimum distances between arcades are absurd.
We need regulation based on quality, not with a folding rule. "
What is important is what happens inside the arcades, not outside.
He also warned of the consequences of a reduced legal offer.
"Otherwise the black market has a free run."
That shows the wild growth in Berlin.
There, the number of illegal gambling dens in back rooms or shisha bars has increased tenfold.
The new State Treaty must be ratified by at least 13 of the 16 state parliaments before it can come into force on July 1, 2021.
The law stipulates that transitional provisions in the previous regulations should expire on June 30, 2021 for many companies.
The minimum distance, which has been known for years and is not strictly required, should then be observed.
The offering of online games of chance was previously prohibited in large parts of Germany.
Schleswig-Holstein was the only federal state to issue licenses for this.
Also because of the boom in previously unregulated games of chance on the Internet, the federal states agreed on a new State Treaty on Gambling in March, which also regulates online games of chance.
In addition, a new central gaming authority based in Saxony-Anhalt is to check the offers on the Internet from January 1, 2023 and issue approvals.
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According to the contract, online providers can obtain a license if they follow certain rules, among other things.
In the future, gamblers with self-or third-party blocking will be recorded in a lock file.
The contract also provides for restrictions on, for example, advertising for online gambling.
No advertising for virtual slot machine games, online poker and casino games is allowed on the radio or on the internet every day between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
For players, an individual monthly and "cross-provider" deposit limit should be set, which may not exceed 1000 euros per month.
A broad alliance of associations, on the other hand, had accused the countries of drastic deficits in player protection.
Economic interests and state income from gambling represented understandable motives, and the opponents had criticized, among other things.
But they should not take place at the expense of individual fates and the common good.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Association of Cities had spoken out in favor of postponing the entry into force of the law until at least the end of 2022.
The umbrella association of Baden-Württemberg municipalities, on the other hand, supports political will, but calls for a move away from blanket bans.
"Examples from practice show that the general minimum distance can be a hindrance in individual cases when implementing the urban entertainment concept," said a city council spokeswoman.
Municipalities should be allowed to set a smaller or larger distance if there is a public need or special local conditions for their area or parts of it.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210203-99-292276 / 2
Draft State Treaty
Printed matter on the Law on the State Treaty on Gambling