After the end of the Corona lockdown, many people in Bavaria rediscovered the desire to play in the casino. Last year, the nine state casinos counted 542,142 visitors from the Free State, but probably also tourists, at roulette, card and dice tables or machines. This is less than in the pre-Corona year 2019 (almost 728,000), but no events took place in the first half of the year. In 2020/21, as in all areas of life, there were closures and restrictions. What is most striking is that the guests played more or were less lucky. The so-called gross gaming revenue – bets minus paid winnings, i.e. what remains in the cash register – broke the 100 million euro mark last year; In 2019 it was 86.7 million. The state lottery and casino administration announced the partly unpublished figures for 2022 at the request of the SZ.
In short: the ball rolls, the cards are revealed, for the benefit of the Free State. Maybe that was part of the renewed joie de vivre after the restrictions; maybe Bavaria’s citizens simply had enough money in their pockets that they couldn’t spend before. Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) recently presented the state investment report to the state parliament’s budget committee, including breweries, trade fairs, airports, state banks, state baths and the Bayernheim housing association. And the nine casinos in Upper Bavaria in Bad Wiessee, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Bad Reichenhall, as well as in Feuchtwangen (Middle Franconia), Bad Steben (Upper Franconia), Bad Füssing (Lower Bavaria), Bad Kissingen (Lower Franconia), Lindau (Swabia) and Bad Koetzting (Upper Palatinate).
Füracker said that state-owned companies and companies with holdings were on the up again after the pandemic and “two very, very difficult years”. And expressly emphasized the casinos that had now even achieved the highest gross gaming revenue since 2007. The minister underlined in the committee the reason for the roulette wheels being in the hands of the state. According to the Casino Act, casinos exist to “steer the population’s natural gaming instinct in an orderly and monitored manner”. Among other things, the data of the guests is recorded, employees pay attention to problematic gaming behavior, there are blocks if necessary. The State Office for Gambling Addiction in Bavaria recently counted more than 2000 bans in total in a report, most of which were applied for by those at risk of gambling addiction themselves.
In addition, the aspect of regional funding should not be neglected. Every mayor is rightly attached to his casino because it stands out as an attraction from the mass of spa towns. “All state participations in the Free State should be put to the test,” said Helmut Kaltenhauser (FDP) on the participation report, often the sense of public services is not recognizable. In the past, the Liberals have called for the privatization of casinos, and Kaltenhauser’s colleague Matthias Fischbach still says today that he would rather see the state “in the role of an independent supervisor than an active player.” In earlier debates, the deficits of the casinos often played a part, and the overall balance sheet for all locations was also in the red. The provisional final operating result for all casinos in 2022 is now EUR 18.7 million plus; more than twice as high as in 2019.
The development in the online area will be exciting
Cash cow is traditionally Bad Wiessee with 13.6 million, followed by Feuchtwangen with 6.9 and Garmisch-Partenkirchen with 3.2 million euros. These three houses attract audiences from the big cities, Munich and Nuremberg. The other health resorts are all in the red when it comes to the operating result. But significantly less than in 2019. And it should be noted that every casino has to pay immense casino taxes to the Free State and to the municipality that pushes them into the red.
Further developments in the online area will be exciting. The former gray area industry has been legalized in Germany for a number of years and at the same time somewhat regulated via licenses for online slot machines. You’re all too familiar with all the TV commercials for the digital slot machines with the spinning and clinking reels. The 2021 State Treaty on the Reorganization of the Gambling System in Germany also gives the states the opportunity to allow classic casino games such as roulette, blackjack or baccarat, where a player competes against the bank, online – either in a concession process with a limited number of providers or in the form of a state monopoly.
The state parliament has meanwhile decided that the state lottery and casino administration in Bavaria itself should become the provider for this. That would be conceivable, for example, by going live in the casinos. “For good reasons, we welcome a state monopoly regulation,” said Petra Guttenberger (CSU) in the 2022 debate, one wanted online casino games “to achieve synchronization with the casinos” – effective youth and player protection, protection against the risk of manipulation and fraud . The State Office for Gambling Addiction, on the other hand, listed the “increased and particularly easy availability” and thus new risks of addiction development or the risk of relapse. “Forms of gambling offered by the state could also be wrongly classified as more harmless and less dangerous.”