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Regulation · 5 min

Sweden bans the firms behind Hellspin, Ivibet and Duel

3 Nov 2026 ·

A stack of official-looking documents with a paper clip on a pale wooden desk in soft daylight. · Bonusjungle illustration

Sweden's gambling regulator banned two companies from providing gambling in Sweden without a licence on 28 October. The companies run the brands Ivibet, Hellspin, Slotsgem and Duel. Both bans apply at once. The decisions do not say the sites are closed or blocked, and they say nothing about player balances.

Last updated: 3 Nov 2026, 16:48 CET: first published

FieldValue
StatusTwo companies banned from providing gambling in Sweden without a licence, effective immediately (decisions of 28 Oct 2026). The decisions do not say the sites are closed or blocked.
Balances and open betsNot addressed in the decisions
WithdrawalsThe decisions give no route. Use the operator's own cashier and support.
Key dates28 Oct 2026: both decisions, effective immediately. No other date is set.
FinesNone stated in the decisions
Who decidedSpelinspektionen (the Swedish Gambling Authority), under the Gambling Act (Spellagen 2018:1138)
SourceSpelinspektionen decisions 26Si2241 and 26Si2185, read 3 Nov 2026

Spelinspektionen, Sweden's gambling regulator, banned two companies from providing gambling in Sweden without a licence on 28 October 2026. Both bans apply at once.

The first decision is against Lufilight Ltd, which the regulator links to the brands Ivibet, Hellspin and Slotsgem. The second is against Immortal Snail LLC, which runs the site Duel. A ban is a regulator's decision, not a conviction. The decisions do not say the sites have been shut or blocked, and they do not mention player balances or payouts.

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What the regulator found

Both decisions rest on the same rule: in Sweden, anyone offering gambling needs a Swedish licence (Gambling Act, chapter 3, section 3). Spelinspektionen treats an online site as offering gambling in Sweden if, on an overall assessment, it is aimed at the Swedish market. The decisions say Swedish text or Swedish currency can count towards that. They also say that if Swedish consumers are not allowed to register, the law does not apply. In both cases Spelinspektionen did not find that Swedish consumers were prevented from registering. It tried a covert test purchase on each site; in both cases the purchase was not completed.

Lufilight Ltd (case 26Si2241)Immortal Snail LLC (case 26Si2185)
Brands namedIvibet, Hellspin, SlotsgemDuel
Regulator's findingsThe three brand sites redirect to mirror sites. From a Swedish IP address those sites pre-select Sweden and the +46 country code at registration. The brands are promoted on Swedish-language affiliate sites. A follow-up check found the mirrors had changed domain names but kept the same defaults and Swedish-language promotion.Swedish is offered as a language at the payment-method step, SEK can be chosen as the currency, and the site is promoted on Swedish-language websites. A follow-up check on 28 October found the IP block against Sweden had not been put in place, and that Swedish and SEK were still shown to a visitor from a Swedish IP address.
Company's responseThe company was invited to comment twice. The decision records no reply.The company replied that Swedish is an "international language", that Sweden "should be IP-blocked", that it cannot control whether payments are made in SEK, and that it would not stop offering Swedish (our translation of the decision's summary).
LicenceThe regulator says the Kahnawake register lists Lufilight Ltd as holding a licence in Kahnawake, Canada. It could not identify a company number, licence number or address.The regulator records an address in Charlestown, Nevis, and registration number L22982. The site states licence number ALSI-202411026-FI1, issued on Anjouan in the Union of the Comoros.
DecisionBanned from providing gambling in Sweden without the required licence. Effective immediately.Banned from providing gambling in Sweden without the required licence. Effective immediately.

In the Lufilight decision the regulator treats the changed domain names as a continuation of the same operation and says the redirect to other domains does not change its assessment. Each decision refers to an annex on how to appeal it. Neither states a fine.

What the decisions do not say

  • Balances and open bets: not addressed. We do not know what happens to money on an account, and we are not saying funds are safe or frozen.
  • Withdrawals: the decisions give no route and no deadline. A player with a balance has the operator's own cashier and support, and nothing else in these documents. Keeping records of your account, deposits and messages is sensible in any dispute.
  • Blocking: the decisions do not order any site to be blocked or taken down, and do not say whether any payment service has been told to stop.
  • Whether anyone will appeal: not covered by the decisions.
DateWhat happens
28 Oct 2026Both bans decided. Both apply immediately.

What it means for players in Sweden

Spelinspektionen's page on unlicensed play says it cannot require companies without a Swedish licence to follow Swedish gambling law, and that it works to keep such companies off the Swedish market. The same page says it is not illegal to play at an unlicensed company in Sweden, but players are then outside the protections of the Gambling Act, including the option to self-exclude, and may have to pay Swedish tax on winnings. It adds that problems getting a payout from a company without a Swedish licence can be hard to resolve with Swedish authorities (page published 22 Nov 2024).

Swedish licence holders are listed in Spelinspektionen's licence register. Licence holders that require registration must connect to Spelpaus.se, the national self-exclusion register, which covers registered play at licensed Swedish operators. Spelpaus is where players in Sweden can self-exclude from licensed sites.

To report a company you think is offering gambling in Sweden without a licence, Spelinspektionen takes complaints and tips through its web form. It says it cannot help players with payout problems or terms and conditions, and that it does not resolve individual disputes.

> For readers outside Sweden: Spelinspektionen's licence register, Spelpaus and complaint routes apply to Sweden only. Our Vault lists casinos for other markets. Its houses are not licensed in Sweden and are not for readers in Sweden.

Our reading

The decisions do not turn on where a company is licensed. They turn on what a site shows to someone visiting from Sweden: language, currency, a default country code and local-language promotion. Immortal Snail's reply shows the gap. The company argued that Swedish is an international language and said an IP block on Sweden was appropriate. The regulator's follow-up found that block had not been put in place. A foreign licence did not change the outcome in either case. The Duel site states an Anjouan licence; for background on how the Comoros government has described Anjouan licences, see our report on the Comoros and Anjouan.

For another Swedish enforcement case, see the court ruling on bet365's operator and its SEK 44m in fines. More news is in the news hub.

What is still unclear

  • Whether the sites remain reachable from Sweden, and whether payment providers or internet providers have been told to act.
  • What happens to player balances and pending withdrawals.
  • Whether either company will appeal.
  • Whether Spelinspektionen will take further steps.

Updates

  • 3 Nov 2026: first published.
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