Best Online Casinos in Germany

Recent news for online gambling & casinos in Germany

What’s recently happening in the online gambling industry in Germany?

Online gambling in Germany is illegal, with the state of Schleswig-Holstein being the only exception. This is the only state that issued online gambling licenses, but more on that later. Sports betting fans have a couple of sites where they can legally place a wager.

However, the unclear legal terms do not seem to be an obstacle as there is a vast number of foreign gambling operators that accept German players. What’s more, some of these operators have a German version of the site, as well as German-speaking customer support.

Check out our infographic about the German gambling market:

Online Gambling Regulation in Germany

History of gambling dates back to the Roman Empire. Since then, is has gained many opponents and twice as many proponents. Gambling in Germany was allowed and prohibited on several occasions up until now when online gambling is a grey area. Here’s a brief overview of the gambling legislation changes that happened over the past decade or so:

• 2008 – the Interstate Gambling Treaty was approved and all online casinos and all kinds of gambling activities were deemed illegal; Internet companies blocked the access to gambling websites
• 2010 – the EU criticizes the German gambling industry for being monopolistic
• 2012 – The Schleswig-Holstein state becomes the first and only German state to legalise online gambling and issue licenses to leading operators
• 2013 – The Schleswig-Holstein state signed the Interstate Gambling Treaty thus joining the states that banned online gambling. However, the previously issued licenses remained valid for 6 years (2012-2018)
• 2017 – German lawmakers passed a law that enables more operators to accept German players, but the EU Commission did not consider the overhaul “a viable solution”
• 2019 – The 20 licenses the Schleswig-Holstein issued in 2012 expired. During the negotiations on the Third State Treaty amendment, Schleswig-Holstein threatened to leave the Treaty unless a consensus on online gambling is achieved. Consequently, the Schleswig-Holstein licensees were granted a license extension. They are allowed to serve Schleswig-Holstein residents until June 2021. Online gambling legislation in the other German states is not on the agenda, though.

Third State Treaty Amendment

The Treaty seemed to favour sports betting and it authorised the licensing of online and offline bookmakers. The licenses expire on June 30, 2021, with the possibility of an extension until June 2014 and removal of the quota for 20 licenses only.

Every online casino works with certain software providers.

What’s next?

Despite the pressure it gets from the EU, German lawmakers are not embracing change with open arms. According to the latest surveys, as many as 70% of Germans believe it is time for a major industry overhaul, creation of a regulatory body, enactment of customer protection laws, and taxes for online operators that serve German players.

Up until now, all suggestions of this kind have been brought to a standstill, which explains why online gambling remained a grey area.