Denmark has become the latest European nation to open up to online gambling. They have joined an ever growing collection of EU countries to pass legislation, which allows them to regulate online gambling.

So far, there have been 38 leading operators that have managed to gain a total of 55 Danish Online Gaming licenses including bwin.party, PKR, 888, UniBet, PokerStars, Betfair, Betsson, Cryptologic, Red Club Poker and Danske Spil. Denmark has followed in the footsteps of countries such as Spain and France who have realised the potential revenue there is to be made from this multibillion dollar industry.

More than half (20) of the companies that acquired an online gambling license from Denmark are in fact Malta-based operators. This new legislation was given the green light by both the European Commission and the Danish Parliament.

The Danish Tax Minister, Thor Möger Pedersen commented on the latest optimistic turn for online gambling saying, “From January, the gambling market will be orderly and we will ensure that holders of a betting and online casino license to operate on the Danish market will also contribute to society.”

He then went on to say, “Danes, as well as the many associations supported by the gambling market can be joyful.”

But there was also stark warning for those operators that do not have a license in order to legally operate by January 1st. These operations would be blocked by the Danish Gambling Authority. “The orderly market means, among other things, that all gambling operators without a license from 1 January 2012 risk that their website or payments will be blocked,” added the Minister.

It looks as though Denmark will take the same stance that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) took when they closed down three of the world’s most popular online poker rooms in April, which included Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

Gambling was previously allowed in Denmark that was largely unregulated and run by a state monopoly. The decision was made in 2009 to push for the online gambling sector to be completely regulated.

The proposals that were initially made by Denmark meant that there would be a flat tax of 20% which would apply to the gross gaming revenues for operators that provide online gaming services including gaming machines and other online casino games. Land based gaming halls must still suffer a 75% rate.

Many organisations have welcomed the new legislation such as the Britain’s Betfair, which is a reputable gambling group. They were one of the first to acquire a new Danish license and commented on the subject, “Denmark’s new legislation is a great example of what modern-day gambling legislation should look like across Europe.