Germany’s slot hall associations used a parliamentary evening in Düsseldorf on 14 October 2026 to press North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) lawmakers on NRW slot halls and illegal gambling. Die Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft (DAW) and the Deutscher Automaten-Verband (DAV) argued that enforcement alone will not shrink the black market without a stronger legal offer.
The event was hosted by DAW spokesman Georg Stecker and DAV board member Thomas Plöger, according to the DAW’s report on the evening. Guests included state MPs Angela Erwin, regional chair of the CDU-affiliated business group MIT NRW, and Gregor Golland, deputy leader of the CDU group in the NRW parliament.
Stecker’s two pillars
Stecker told guests that the growing illegal market needs decisive political action, and that controls only work alongside a legal offer that matches player demand.
Effectively combating illegal gambling requires two equally strong pillars: consistent enforcement and a competitive legal offer. Controls and sanctions are indispensable. On their own, however, they will not push back the black market in the long term. What is decisive is that legal slot machine gaming is strengthened again so that it can fulfil its statutory channelling mandate. Only a sufficiently available legal offer that meets demand is able to steer consumers’ existing demand into orderly, monitored and controlled channels.
Georg Stecker, Spokesman of the Executive Board, Die Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft (DAW) (translated from German)
On NRW specifically, Stecker called for the state to rethink how it defines a concession, so that players are steered to venues where they can play under protection.
Christof Sommer, Managing Director of the Städte- und Gemeindebund NRW, the association of the state’s towns and municipalities, said councils and operators share an interest in keeping gaming out of the illegal market.
Despite partly different tasks and interests within a complex legal situation, the slot machine industry and the municipalities share a common interest in not leaving gaming operations to illegality and in making the offers in cities and municipalities as high-quality as possible.
Christof Sommer, Managing Director, Städte- und Gemeindebund NRW (translated from German)
Pressure on family firms
Plöger described NRW’s slot sector as dominated by small and mid-sized firms, many run by the same families for generations. He listed rising operating costs, more paperwork and regulatory limits as the main pressures on them.
But rising operating costs, increasing bureaucratic requirements and regulatory restrictions present our companies with considerable challenges. We therefore need framework conditions that enable entrepreneurial activity, promote investment and also offer the next generation an economic perspective. This particularly includes practical rules for staff deployment and business succession.
Thomas Plöger, Board Member, Deutscher Automaten-Verband (DAV) (translated from German)
NRW slot halls law
NRW sets its slot hall rules in the state’s implementing act for the Interstate Treaty on Gambling (AG GlüStV NRW), last amended in June 2026 with effect from 1 July. It sets a standard minimum distance of 350 metres between halls, which can drop to 100 metres for certified venues that meet staffing and player-protection conditions.
Under section 17a of the act, up to three halls in one building can be licensed together if they have operated without interruption since 1 January 2020. Halls under that regime must be certified and staffed by trained personnel, and their joint permits expire on 31 December 2028. Since 1 July 2026, no new hall may open in a building that already houses a betting shop or casino.
Next steps
The joint permits for multi-hall buildings in NRW lapse on 31 December 2028 under section 17a. The DAW’s report on the evening did not set out a specific amendment to the concession rules or a date for one.
Source: Die Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft (DAW)
