Latvia’s online casino blacklist grows again

Back in August this year Latvia’s gambling regulator, the Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspection (“IAUI”), published a blacklist of gambling websites not permitted to operate within Latvia.

The usual approach with online casino blacklists seems to be the top-down shotgun method…pick the biggest names in the industry to begin with as a strong signal of intent, and then over time continue adding smaller operators to the list.

IAUI have followed the blacklist handbook pretty well. The initial list included  Betfair.com, 888.com, Bet365.com, Bwin.com, Pokerstars.eu, Unibet.com,  Betway.com, Fulltilt, Betsafe.com, Expekt.com, Spinpalace.com, Pokerstars.com and Williamhill.com.

The list has been updated eleven times since August and now covers a fair chunk of the industry – eight pdf pages worth.

As we know Latvia is pretty much live dealer central, home to some of the biggest, best and most popular dealer studios with games served to players all over the world. Just not to Latvian gamblers wanting to place a bet. Not that the blacklist has had any impact on this fact. Playtech and Evolution Gaming live tables have never been made available to Latvian punters, irrespective of operator intent.