Lithuania: No penalty for Betsafe despite infringement

Despite a clear violation of gambling laws, the Lithuanian gambling regulator has decided not to fine Betsafe. The reason given was that Betsafe had willingly cooperated in the investigation and that the offence was "insignificant". But what offence has the operator, which is part of the billion-dollar Betsson Group, been accused of?

Just a few weeks ago, we at GambleJoe reported that multi-million dollar fines had been imposed on Videoslots and Betsson. Specifically, the Finnish authorities have fined BML Group Ltd. €2.4 million. Meanwhile, the UK Gambling Authority has asked the gaming operator to pay a fine of around €2.3 million. Betsafe, which is also part of the Betsson Group, got off much more lightly in Lithuania - it did not have to pay a fine at all.

Sic Bo offered in Lithuania without a gambling licence

The gaming operator Betsafe allegedly offered the game Sic Bo in its online casino for a few days in January 2023. However, the operator did not have the necessary gambling licence from the authorities at the time. As a result, Betsafe violated the Lithuanian Gaming Act, specifically Article 16, Paragraph 5, Item 5.1.

In the summer of this year, a detailed investigation confirmed the infringement. It was also found that Betsafe had paid winnings from the unlicensed game Sic Bo to a player. This is also a violation of Lithuanian gambling law.

Why was Betsafe not fined?

Despite the fact that Betsafe offered Sic Bo in its Lithuanian online casino without a licence, the operator has escaped a fine. The Lithuanian Gaming Board cited a "minor offence" and "mitigating circumstances".

Betsafe had cooperated with the investigation from the outset and had not made any profit from the unlicensed game. In addition, the game was only available for a period of a few days. Betsafe had also shown itself to be an exemplary operator in the past and was therefore not incriminated.

Betsafe's parent company, the Betsson Group, could have easily afforded a fine from the Lithuanian authorities. After all, as recently as March this year we reported that Betsson was forecasting record revenue growth of 18% for 2022.

The fact that a gaming regulator can take much tougher action against operators for more serious breaches of the rules is demonstrated by the example of the UK Gambling Inspectorate. In April 2023, it imposed a record fine of almost €22 million on William Hill.

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