The battle between national governments and the online betting industry has been well documented over the last 20 years. Throughout its existence online, sportsbooks and poker sites across the world have had a difficult time remaining afloat, because many countries refuse to allow their citizens to wager online instead of casinos. However, one country that has allowed its citizens the opportunity not only to use bookie software but choose who they use is Denmark.

Since the middle of the 1990s, the Danish government has embraced the online gambling industry with open arms. With this being the case, many sportsbooks that were shut down in North America and other parts of Europe, have recently moved their offices to Denmark. In fact, earlier this week, it was announced that 38 online operators were allowed to setup shop for their NHL websites. While the government will tax them, the fees aren’t anticipated to be that high.

As a result, sites such as PokerStars, BWin, 888, Unibet and Betfair have all qualified as operators within Denmark. We point out all five of these online shops, as they were all recently shutdown in other countries and are already back up and running. The new laws introducing the 38 new operators are both intriguing and risky at the same time. On the one hand, by allowing sites such as PokerStars and Betfair to operate in their cities, Denmark can make a ton of revenue to keep their economy stable.

Conversely, Denmark accepting all of these online sportsbooks into their country is a direct contradiction to what their business allies are doing. Meaning to say, with PokerStars being shutdown in the United States in May and now returning to action in Denmark by January, it seems as though Denmark may be risking any future friendship with the United States.