Sweden’s regulator Spelinspektionen has banned ASG 360 Services, the company behind the GG.bet brand, from operating in the country for offering unlicensed online gambling activities.
A Spelinspektionen investigation, the details of which were published yesterday (13 March), found GG.bet was illegally targeting players in Sweden. ASG 360, which is based in Cyprus, does not hold a Swedish gambling licence.
The regulator said the operator holds a gambling licence in Curaçao, licensed to ASG 360’s parent company, River Entertainment BV.
Setting out its case, Spelinspektionen said Swedish players were able to register, deposit and play without any geoblocking mechanisms in place.
It said GG.bet offers Swedish currency as an option for gambling, as well as the use of Swedish-language affiliates to help promote the website. This is stipulated within the gambling law and prohibited, although there is a loophole in place which does not penalise unlicensed operators for targeting players in English and using foreign currency like euros.
In addition, Spelinspektionen said ASG 360 was responsible for several other mirror websites using a variation of the GG.bet brand. However, it is unclear how many were also active in Sweden at the time of the investigation.
All this, the regulator said, was regarded as illegal gambling. It reached out to ASG 360 but the operator did not provide a response over the matter.
In its ruling, Spelinspektionen set out how it determines whether unlicensed operators are targeting Swedish players. This requires it to check against a number of factors.
If Swedish consumers cannot register for an account on a site, it cannot be seen as targeting players in the country. Therefore, the Swedish Gambling Act would not be applicable.
However, as the regulator’s investigation found, users could freely sign up with GG.bet and access its games.
Other contributing factors included offering an SEK currency option and marketing the site using Swedish language.
As such, Spelinspektionen issued an immediate ban to ASG 360 and its GG.bet websites.
“We consider that, in the interests of consumer protection and to guarantee gaming safety, it is important the decision is complied with immediately,” Spelinspektionen said. “The decision shall therefore apply immediately.”
GG.bet among Sweden’s most popular illegal sites
The ruling follows Q4 2024 data provided by ATG this week (13 March) which showed GG.bet was one of the most popular illegal sites in Sweden during the period.
ATG placed GG.bet as the fifth most popular site operating without a licence in the country in Q4. In total, it drew 76,124 visitors within the three-month period, with traffic having risen in both Q3 and Q4.
Luckyjungle.com, which only entered Sweden in Q3 2023, drew the most traffic in Q4 with 147,284 visits.
Of the 20 largest unlicensed gambling sites, 17 use platform providers also used by licensed operators. In addition, two were on Spelinspektionen’s banned list of unlicensed operators, with this now at three after the addition of GG.bet.