Royal Decree 176/2023 of 14 March on the Development of Safer Gambling Environments

After a long wait, yesterday Royal Decree 176/2023, the new royal decree implementing safer gambling environments, was published in the official gazette of the state (BOE).

The Royal Decree aims to protect not only players who may have a gambling disorder, but to protect all players.

To this end, it establishes different classes of players, which we can classify as:

• Young Players: Players between 18 and 25 years old
• Intensive Players
  • Players above 25 years old: those players who have incurred weekly net losses of EUR 600 or more for three weeks in a row. i.e., EUR 1,800 within three weeks.
  • Players between 18 and 25 years old: the weekly net losses are equal to or greater than EUR 200 per week for three weeks in a row. i.e., EUR 800 within three weeks.
• At risk players: There are no fixed criteria to categorise a player as an at-risk player. However, DGOJ will develop a mechanism for detecting risky behaviors that shall be used by all operators within 2 years of the entry into force of this Royal Decree.
• Average Players: Players who do not show any risky behaviour at the moment. However, further measures have been put in place for all players that have been deemed necessary to protect them.

Among the measures that should be implemented to all players, is to make available to them a monthly summary of their activity and to carry out an individualised assessment before classifying a customer as a privileged customer or VIP player.

In addition, more specific measures are established for each group of players. For example, young players cannot fall under the category of VIP players, furthermore, operators shall send a specific message upon registration that also includes the risk associated with young players. On the other hand, for intensive players, the use of credit cards will be prohibited. Also, intensive players shall receive a a specific message on the following day that they meet such conditions, and shall receive a summary of their activity on a monthly basis.

These are just some of the measures established in the new Royal Decree, which contains other measures and the development of the role of a safe gambling officer, as well as implementing restrictions on the presentation of results while the player is gambling...

Depending on the measure, they should be implemented by operators within 6 to 12 months of the publication of the Royal Decree.