Gambling in Switzerland dates back to times of the Roman Empire. Therefore, it’s safe to assume the country has a complicated history in many forms of gambling, including card and dice games, race betting, and so forth.
Throughout history, however, gambling has been mostly illegal. In the Middle Ages, gambling was banned based on moral and religious grounds. In the 18th century, lotteries started becoming commonplace in Switzerland. The government banned for-profit lotteries, but many continued to operate illegally.
In 1874, the Swiss government prohibited gambling houses in no unclear terms, and all the Swiss cantons respected this ruling. However, they weren’t legally obliged to, which is why the first Swiss casino was opened in 1881 – the Casino Barriere de Montreux.
In 1923, two bills were passed that placed harsh regulations in relation to casinos and lotteries: The Federal Act on Lotteries and Commercial Betting and the Federal Act on Gambling Houses. According to these bills, casinos and lotteries were only allowed in certain cantons, and a large share of operator revenues were to be used for community investments.
In 1993, the government of Switzerland was forced to create new streams of tax revenue due to rising costs of healthcare. Because of this, the casino market was liberalized. Land casinos were allowed to legally operate on a much wider scale than before.
Gambling nowadays in Switzerland
Additional bills in 1998 and 2000 further cleared up gambling laws and split gambling houses into Type-A and Type-B licensees. To prevent underage gambling, identity verification became a strict requirement for entry in a casino.
Moreover, in suspected cases of gambling addiction, patrons were instructed to ask for banking details of their customers. This was to make sure they weren’t spending above their means.
To this day, bricks and mortar casinos are legal based on these bills. In 2006, lotteries were also legalized. In 2017, The Money Gaming Act legalized online casinos as well.
Casino types
