BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Pieter Paepe and Christoph de Preter, EDSON
races has been more strictly regulated. Certain bets are ‒ or can be ‒ prohibited. Betting As previously mentioned, the holder of an F1 licence can commercialise (sports) betting. Betting can be organised on sports events and non-sporting events. It is prohibited to organise betting on events or activi- ties where: • it is contrary to public order or morality; • the outcome is known; • most of the participants are less than 21 years old; or • the uncertain act has already occurred. The Gaming Commission can prohibit betting in two specific circumstances: • where the fairness of the event on which betting is organised cannot be guaranteed; and • where it considers that specific bets are prone to fraud. The Gaming Act explicitly lists which types of bets on horse races can be offered. Live betting is authorised, insofar as the uncertain act has not already occurred. Poker The Gaming Act itself does not mention poker specifi- cally. However, poker will usually qualify as a game of chance (see 3.2 Definition of Gambling for the defi- nition of a game of chance), unless it is a free poker game. Under specific conditions, two types of gaming establishments can offer poker: • casinos that operate under licence A as a class I gaming establishment; and • gaming arcades that operate under licence B as a class II gaming establishment. Bingo Bingo is a table game that may be offered in a casi- no (class I gaming establishment). In addition, bingo machines are also allowed in class III gaming estab- lishments (bars) ‒ for which C licences are required.
Bars are premises where drinks are sold to be con- sumed on the spot and where no more than two auto- matic machines are allowed (bingo and one-ball). Casino A Royal Decree of 19 July 2001 lists the games of chance that can be offered in casinos (class I gaming establishments). These games are subdivided into two categories: • table games (eg, baccarat, big wheel, blackjack, poker, chemin de fer, craps, mini punto banco, midi punto banco, maxi punto banco, French roulette, American roulette, English roulette, sic bo and bingo); and • automatic games (eg, reel slot-type games, video slot-type games, Wheel of Fortune-type games, horse races with several terminals where at least 12 players can play, keno-type games and interac- tive poker games). Casinos can therefore offer poker both as a “table game” and as an “automatic game”. They also have the right to organise one poker tournament per year, in close co-operation with the Gaming Commission. Gaming Machines As previously mentioned, casinos have the right to commercialise certain gaming machines. In addi- tion, a Royal Decree of 26 April 2004 lists the gaming machines that can be offered in gaming arcades (class II gaming establishments) and these can be divided into two categories ‒ namely, automatic games with- out players’ cards and automatic games with players’ cards. The category of automatic games without play- ers’ cards contains the following five types of games:
• blackjack; • horse bets; • dice games; • poker games; and • roulette.
Interactive poker is currently the only game of chance that class II gaming establishments can offer as an automatic game with players’ cards.
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