Entain’s ElectraWorks Limited, which is behind the website bwin.dk, must pay a fine of 500,000 kroner for misleading danish consumers.

The company had marketed a campaign in which it was stated that people could play risk-free, even though there was a financial risk associated with placing a bet on the website.

ElectraWorks marketed a campaign with the wording “Risk-free play up to DKK 1000” and “Risk-free play up to DKK 500” in the period from October 2020 to December 2022.

However, it was clear from the terms of the campaign that if the consumer lost the bet, he was awarded a “Freebet” that could be used to place a new bet. If this new bet was won, only the net winnings would be paid to the consumer.

The Consumer Ombudsman reported ElectraWorks Limited to the police in May 2024 after receiving a complaint from a consumer.

The consumer had seen an advertisement for the campaign “Risk-free play up to DKK 1000” and chose to place a bet of DKK 1000 on the website bwin.dk, which he lost. He received a “Freebet” equal to 1000 DKK, and he used this “Freebet” for a new bet, which he won, but it was only the difference of 15 DKK that he could get paid out as winnings.

During the case, the company chose to plead guilty to the violation.

The Copenhagen City Court imposed a fine of 500,000 DKK on the gambling company for misleading marketing in the “Risk-free gambling” campaign.

The fine was set based on double the marketing costs that, according to the company, had been used to market the campaign.

The Copenhagen City Court’s judgment regarding the sentencing states:”(…) the court [finds] after an overall assessment and taking into account the seriousness of the violation – including that the illegal marketing has been going on for several years, and that the marketing of games is aimed at, among others, young people and with the aim of introducing new customers to games, which calls for a special degree of caution – that the fine should be set at DKK 1,000,000 as a starting point.”

However, the court chose to reduce the fine by half due to the long case processing time both at the court and prior to the case being forwarded to the court.