Since January 2019, there has been a significant change in the law. The new gambling law doesn’t say what “games of chance” or “gambling” means. Instead, it uses the phrase “money games” as the main idea, which also describes the scope of the law:
The Gaming Act differentiates between “large-scale” and “small-scale” games based on how big they are. Lotteries, sports betting, and games of skill are large-scale games that can be automated, played across borders, or played online. Lotteries are decided by a random draw (or something similar) that anyone can participate in, or at least a considerable number of people. Sports betting is a game where you win money based on how well you guess how a sporting event will go or end. Six casino games are money games that only a small number of people can play. This does not include skill games or miniature games like betamo-casino,com .
Skill-based games payout is based on a player’s skill alone or other factors. 8 In this way, “skill tournaments” are also games of skill. The same is valid for daily fantasy sports, where skill is the most important. Since there aren’t any clear definitions, there are no laws about secondary lotteries like pool betting and spread betting.
Since e-sports are games of skill, you’ll not likely need a license. This report also said that the BASPO does not yet recognize e-sports as real sports (the Federal Office of Sports). 9 So, the Gaming Act wouldn’t apply to an e-sports competition that was considered a sport.
On the other hand, the Gaming Act does not cover “free prize contests.” Article 1(2)(e) of the Gaming Act says that short-term lotteries and skill games run by media companies to boost sales are not covered by gaming law. Even if these games are exempt, they can’t cause people to play too much, and they have to be as easy to find and play as a paid choice or a legal agreement.
According to the Gaming Act, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) cannot tell the difference between “speculative” and “hedging” financial products or gaming products as of June 22, 2007.
The Financial Markets Authority keeps an eye on ten financial products that have parts that depend on luck (FINMA).
Policy on gambling is iii.
There are a lot of rules about gambling, but most of the time, it is legal. Despite what has happened in other places recently, gambling is not against the law. But this law is balanced by the political idea that some of the money made from games of chance should be given to society, such as charities or the federal pension fund.
Control by the government and private business
In the United States, land-based gaming operators have been given the exclusive right to run their games online for the first time. Lotteries and casinos in the United States can benefit from B2C and B2B operations in other countries, acting as their business partners. Skill games are not limited in any way.
Only Swisslos and Loterie Romande, both big public lotteries, have been given licenses by the cantons (regions) to run big public lotteries. On the other hand, casinos and skill games can be privately owned.
