- The government of Spain is currently considering a law that would limit online gambling in the country.
- Instead of limiting the types of gambling offered or the age at which you could gamble, it would limit the amount of money you could wager.
- This is a departure from the general way in which gambling law has been administrated around the world.
MADRID - The government of Spain is considering a law that would require that all gamblers set limits for themselves before wagering. These limits will take the form of both time and money, and presumably will put the gamblers in a situation where they are being restrained by their own decisions.
The idea is that the gamblers would set the limits before the beginning of the session, and those limits would then kick in if they are reached during the session.
This could prevent gamblers from chasing losses when on tilt - a reasonable measure for those prone to it, even without the government requiring it. The law would limit the amount that anyone could be in a day or a week, even outside of the limits that would be self-imposed, which could cause problems
There are several other clauses in the law aimed at preventing people from ruining their lives with gambling.
For example, gamblers designated as serious gamblers would be unable to use credit cards to gamble.
The Spanish law is set to potentially take effect towards the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022. The existence of this proposed law raises one major question for online casino fans in the United States:
Should The United States Implement Gambling Limits?
Many states have some limits on gambling already. They do not, however, tend to take the form of direct monetary limits in this sense.
In the United States, limits are more generally applicable. Some states do not allow bettors to wager on play-by-play action, some states do not allow bets on in-state collegiate action, and all states have limits on how old one must be in order to play.
In addition, many states do not have access to online casinos, which are allowed in Spain.
Spain’s soul-searching in this area seems to have been prompted by a spike in online gambling in the country. The average spending per online gambler jumped from €312 in 2016 to €533 in 2020, according to The Local.
This is the kind of development that is far more likely to happen after online casinos are approved across much of the United States.
It is also more likely to happen on a state level than a federal one, as the individualized nature of states means that they can implement restrictions to their liking without the need for the federal government. In this way, the states could also avoid driving away bigger fish with limits on individual wager amounts.
Still, this development in Spain does seem worth keeping an eye on, and it could presage similar developments around the world.