Five gambling operators have signed an agreement to improve the responsible gaming standards in Latvia. The five operators are Paf (Pafbet in Latvia), Betsafe, Optibet, 11.lv and Feniksscasino.

“Among other things, we will introduce facilities for self-tests, deposit limits, the closing of specific game categories, proactive information on responsible gaming and a whole host of other measures. It will be a clear improvement on what the gambling law in Latvia requires,” Rihards Streikis, Paf’s manager in Latvia said.

“Paf’s licensed brand in Latvia, Pafbet, may currently have a small part of the market but we have the most developed responsible gaming. We are an example for the other operators,” Rihards Streikis said.

SYNOT Games has signed a deal with 11.lv, the leading online casino in Latvia. As per the deal, the customers of 11.lv can play SYNOT Games’ hot and infernal Hell Mania, classic fruity slot Respin Joker and many more.

“We are excited to expand our portfolio in the Baltic area and bring our games through such a strong partner as 11.lv on this market,” Ivan Kodaj, CEO of SYNOT Games said.

“We are very pleased to release SYNOT Games content to our customers. We believe in providing our players with the biggest possible choice of Latvia certified casino content and letting them choose what games they prefer. We are confident that SYNOT Games will quickly acquire their place in our customers’ list of preferences. We have seen content with land-based presence in the market gaining online traction quite fast,” Janis Tregers, CEO and Founder of 11.lv said.

Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers has supported the Finance Ministry’s proposed Law amendments on Lotteries and Gambling Fee and Tax, providing for an increase in gambling tax next year.

The existing tax for gambling machines is EUR 4164. In 2020, it will be EUR 6000. The law amendments will also increase the gambling tax rate for roulette, cards and dice games from EUR 23400 to EUR 28080.

It is also planned to change gambling tax revenue division between the state and municipal budgets, providing gambling tax revenue – 90% for the state budget and 10% to budgets of municipalities in which gambling is organised. The current ratio is 75% for the state budget and 25% for municipal budgets.

Raising the tax rate by 44% or EUR 6000 per gambling machines, it is expected the number of gambling machine numbers to decline by 5% – from 8680 to 8247 per year.