Recently, The Berlin Arcade Law (The Berliner Spielhallengesetz) came into force. This law establishes minimum distances between gaming halls; and, between these and the schools. In addition, the regulation restricts opening hours and the number of devices per location.
The new law states that no gaming establishment may be located within 500 meters of another, and that none may be within 200 meters of a school or youth facility. Consequently, the rule will cause hundreds of gaming halls to close and only 120 will be able to survive.
Likewise, the opening hours are limited between 11 am and 3 am; And, it will not be possible to have more than eight devices per gaming hall. Consequently, there will be a maximum of 960 legal gaming machines in operation in the German capital.
In this regard, Thomas Breitkopf, president of the federal association of machine operators, said: "The extinction of the legal offer is a warm rain for the flourishing of the black market."
On the other hand, Manfred Stoffers, Management Board member at Gauselmann Group:
“The gaming halls will die of a senseless death, as this will not bring the improved player protection promised by Berlin legislators, but instead the exact opposite.”
“They are professional coin-op machine merchants who have created jobs that are subject to compulsory social security contributions and thought that their investment in Berlin was an investment in their future. Blustering politician-bashing is, however, just as senseless as the death of the arcades.”
Finally, and with reference to the betting shops in Berlin, it will be from October 1 when the minimum distances come into force, which, as in the case of gaming halls, are 200 meters from schools, facilities for children and youth, as well as sports venues. In addition, the distance of 500 meters between betting shops must be respected and if they are from the same company this increases to 2 km.
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