Norwegian AWPs were generally agreed to be fairly “strong” and although it was necessary for operators to give a percentage of their profits to charity, there was certainly more than enough to go around. In fact, many of the charities themselves were the biggest operators of AWPs. A new law was proposed to tame the games and tackle problem gaming. The result was dubbed “Europe’s most boring AWP”. The charities were in uproar, concerned that their profits would be adversely affected as players shunned the new machines. So, the government softened its stance and made the games more interesting with the proviso that games would have to be connected to a monitoring system and more efforts made to deter underage players. But this never came to pass - as political pressure came to bear and it was decided that all machines should be operated by the state.The fight against the ban went on for years with operators continuing with their old machines in a legislative no-man’s land. In March this year, the EFTA court finally found in favour of the Norwegian government. And yet now, with giant Ladbrokes claiming the sports betting monopoly is unfair, the same court is finding that the government’s claims that it can control problem gaming better through its state-owned companies are unfounded. This seems a trifle unfair to me. I remember Ole Immerslund faxing me reams of correspondence with the EFTA in his efforts to fight the ban. But a few family companies compared to the might of the likes of Ladbrokes are no match is seems. Once again, it’s one rule for betting and another for machines.

Stephanie Norbury

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