Austrian gambling laws passed

However, that would be accompanied by strict rules governing the number of licences issued and other clamp-downs on where machines would be operated and how many would be permitted. The net effect, says the association, Automatenverband, will be a disaster for the independent operators and a free-for-all for the big companies.

Under the new law, which also increased the number of casino licences from 12 to 15, the street market will have stakes and prizes limited to a maximum 10 euros input and a top prize level of 10,000 euros. It may spell the end of the monopoly enjoyed by Casinos Austria. The three new licences will be opened for tenders from anywhere within the European Community.

The extra casino licences are part of a much larger package of revisions to the Austrian law on gambling, which also takes in the street market in the country's separate provinces.  Player protection figures strongly in the provisions agreed for the new regulations.

But at the same time, the number of amusement arcades would depend upon the local population. One arcade licence for every 200 residents - in Vienna it will be one for every 600 residents.

There must be a minimum distance between arcades and local casinos of 15 km, and in the case of Vienna 2km. No automatic start buttons will be permitted on machines, which must all be directly connected to the Ministry of Finance.

Although the ability to adopt a principle of machines in public places is now there for all of Austria - instead of just Vienna, Styria, Carinthia and Lower Austria - it is widely expected that the market will decrease because of the limitations on the population ratio and proximity of casinos.

After many years of campaigning to be permitted to operate casinos within its home country, industry giant Novomatic may now join in the tendering process. Director Franz Wohlfahrt said that the new law was "a significant improvement of legal conditions" and "a great challenge" for operators.