Yet another discredit to state-run gambling
monopolies in Europe, the German lottery operator, Westdeutsche Lotterie, also
known as WestLotto, was court ordered this past week to cease offering
fixed-odds sports betting, which the North Rhine Westphalia-based group was not
even properly licensed to do in the first place. A poignant case of hypocrisy,
the ruling is a slap in the face of WestLotto, who has been a notorious
persecutor against private German betting shops in the past.
Drawing attention from the European Commission,
state-run gambling monopolies in Europe have been using their monopolistic power
to stifle the increasing presence of online gambling sites which are giving
land-based operations a run for their money. Instead of using competition to
help improve services and drive down prices, state-run gambling monopolies have
been feeling threatened by the popularity of online gambling. Of course, much of
the problem goes back to the unwillingness of governments' to regulate online
gambling, and thus giving state-run operations an equal chance to benefit from
the surging demand of online gamers.
Quick to jump on the hypocrisy of WestLotto was the
private bookmaker association, Verband Europaischer Wettunternehmer, who
understandably, immediately issued a press release announcing the news of the
court order. In what started as a lawsuit against WestLotto by the city of
Cologne, the court decision stated that despite West Lotto's defense that they
had been authorized by Nordwest, which was properly licensed, to offer fixed
sports betting, they were still unlicensed in their agreement with Nordwest.
The court verdict further shamed WestLotto by
saying they held "serious reservations" about the integrity of WestLotto,
considering their defensive argument attempting to justify their obviously
unacceptable actions. In fact, the nature of the violation could possibly
warrant criminal charges, and at the very least, could impel WestLotto to take
up a far less aggressive stance in persecuting private online sports betting
operations.
