Switzerland will next week implement one of Europe's strictest gambling laws, essentially blocking foreign-based companies from the Swiss market and forcing the country's online gamblers to use domestic sites, Bern said on Monday.
Swiss voters overwhelmingly approved on Sunday blocking foreign-based betting sites in a high-stakes referendum on a new gambling law designed to prevent addiction, but which opponents said amounted
to internet censorship.
Swiss voters will decide on Sunday whether to back a new gambling law designed to prevent addiction and allow some online betting, or reject what opponents say amounts to internet censorship.
Online casinos and low-stakes private poker tournaments could be legalized under a new bill proposed by the federal government which would also make winnings from all gambling, including the lottery, exempt from tax.
A real estate salesman who gambled away and otherwise spent several million francs obtained from client deposits and through other fraudulent means was jailed for five years by a Lausanne court on Wednesday.
Switzerland’s largest casino is officially opening on Thursday in Zurich with hoopla, including Las Vegas showgirls and concerts by impersonators of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and Louis Armstrong, among others.
A Swiss floor layer who won €43 million at an Austrian casino last year only to be denied the prize has reached an out-of-court settlement for a reported €1 million.
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">A gang of Russian scammers may have tampered with slot machines in casinos across Switzerland, according to reports.</span></p>
