The Copenhagen City Court has issued a DKK 500,000 (€67,000) fine to ElectraWorks Limited, the Entain subsidiary behind bwin.dk.
The ruling follows an investigation by the Consumer Ombudsman into misleading marketing campaigns that falsely advertised “risk-free” gambling opportunities between 2020 and 2022.
Defining “Risk-Free” in the Public Interest
The court found that consumers who lost their initial bets only received a “free bet token” rather than their original stake. If the subsequent free bet was won, only the net profit was paid out. One consumer reported losing a DKK 1,000 bet and receiving only DKK 15 in winnings from their “risk-free” credit.
Consumer Ombudsman Torben Jensen issued a direct warning to the sector:
“When a gambling company markets itself as allowing consumers to gamble ‘risk-free’, it goes without saying that they should not be exposed to any financial risk by placing a bet… it is undoubtedly misleading if the consumer risks losing money”.
Calculated Penalty for Multi-Year Violations
ElectraWorks Limited by Entain pleaded guilty to the charges. While the court initially considered a DKK 1 million penalty, double the marketing costs spent on the deceptive campaign, the fine was halved due to processing delays.
The ruling emphasized that the marketing was specifically problematic for targeting young people and new players, signaling a zero-tolerance approach from Danish authorities toward predatory terminology.
