Casinos in Austria and Switzerland
Austria
In Austria, as in Germany, gambling operations are a state monopoly. All of the 12 state-run gambling casinos in Austria are operated as concessions by a single company: Casinos Austria AG. Most of the casinos in Austria are located in tourist and resort areas such as Bregenz, Kitzbühel, Salzburg and Baden, but also in Vienna and Graz.
In Austria, as in Germany, gambling operations are a state monopoly. All of the 12 state-run gambling casinos in Austria are operated as concessions by a single company: Casinos Austria AG. Most of the casinos in Austria are located in tourist and resort areas such as Bregenz, Kitzbühel, Salzburg and Baden, but also in Vienna and Graz.
Only a day after its 2010 ruling against Germany, the European Court of Justice also ruled against Austria in a similar case. The court criticized the Alpine republic for its gambling monopoly and its failure to open up casino operations to competitive bidding. Casinos Austria AG was licensed to run all of Austria’s casinos without any competitive bids. It also has gambling interests in 17 countries and on cruise ships through its Casinos Austria International (CAI) subsidiary. Once a cash cow, CAI has lost money in recent years. Casinos Austria AG also holds a 68 percent interest in the Austrian lottery.
In response to the financial difficulties faced by its casinos, the Austrian government reduced the casino tax (die Spielbankabgabe) from 48 percent to 30 percent in 2010.
Switzerland
Although it had gambling casinos in the 1800s and up until 1928, Switzerland banned casinos and wagers over five Swiss francs until 1992. At first only slot machine halls (Kursäle) were permitted. It took eight years for the Swiss cantons and the federal government to draw up laws that finally authorized real gambling casinos in 2000. After losing revenue to neighboring countries that had casinos (Austria, Italy, France), the Swiss established two kinds of casinos: A-casinos and B-casinos.
Although it had gambling casinos in the 1800s and up until 1928, Switzerland banned casinos and wagers over five Swiss francs until 1992. At first only slot machine halls (Kursäle) were permitted. It took eight years for the Swiss cantons and the federal government to draw up laws that finally authorized real gambling casinos in 2000. After losing revenue to neighboring countries that had casinos (Austria, Italy, France), the Swiss established two kinds of casinos: A-casinos and B-casinos.
An A-casino is licensed to offer a full range of table games and slot machines. An A-casino can also network its slots within the casino and with other A-casinos in order to provide super jackpots. Usually called a Grand Casino, A-casinos are found in Baden, Basel, Bern, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux and St. Gallen.
B-casinos are licensed for no more than three types of table games (with lower betting limits than A-casinos) and no more than 150 slot machines. B-casinos are found in Davos and St. Moritz (both where one might expect A-casinos!), Fribourg, Geneva (Casino du Lac), Locarno, Pfäffikon-Zürichsee, Schaffhausen, Zermatt and other locations.
