In Germany, online casino gaming and online sports betting are legal. This includes online casino games such as roulette, blackjack or poker as well as video slots, lottery games and bingo.
Furthermore, online sports betting and horse racing betting is legal in Germany. Some forms of online gambling and betting are illegal, however, which are outlined in the “German Gambling Regulations” section.
In 2021, the new Interstate Treaty on Gambling (ISTG) or “Glücksspielstaatsvertrag” was established to regulate online gambling and online sports betting across all 16 German states.
Two years later, in 2023, a new regulator was established, the “Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehöre der Länder” (GGL), which has granted nearly 50 gambling licences thus far.
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Prior to establishing the ISTG, a previous Interstate Treaty had come into effect on the 1<sup>st</sup> January 2008 and banned all forms of online gambling and betting. The only exception had been made for betting on horse racing.
This complete ban, however, violated European rules, which allowed freedom of services across country borders. This meant, gambling operators from outside Germany should have been allowed to offer their services within Germany as well.
Consequently, the European Gaming & Betting Association asked the European Commission to take action against the stringent German laws.
Ultimately, Germany had to liberalise their approach. The first state to establish a gambling bill and allowing online gambling was Schleswig-Holstein, which granted licences to operators since 2012.
Other operators with European licences offered their gambling products in other states as well. Whilst unregulated, they were not strictly speaking violating the law as they stilladhered to European laws.
German authorities considered these operators illegal, however, and continued to take action against unlicensed online betting and gambling sites.
As a member of the European Union, Germany had to ensure the freedom of trade and services across borders. If a non-German online casino wanted to offer their services in Germany, laws and regulations had to be established to allow for this to be possible.
It took German lawmakers over a decade to finally establish rules and regulations and issue gambling and sports betting licences to all operators that applied for them and complied with the rule catalogue set out.
The Gambling College was established, which included members from all 16 states, that decided on the Interstate Treaty and formed the GGL as well.
Whilst Germany now has some of the strictest gambling laws in the EU, they do comply with European laws and any operator that wants to offer gambling products in Germany can apply to the GGL to receive a licence.
The Interstate Treaty of Gambling 2021 legalises the following gambling and betting products:
Operators who want to offer these types of gambling, need a separate licence for each one of them.
These licences are issued by the GGL. Any operator that does supply such a licence is considered illegal in Germany.
Users can verify whether they are using a licensed site or whether an operator is properly licensed via the GGL directly, where a “White List” GGL White List is available for download. Note that it is currently only available in German.
Operators that are whitelisted and widely considered to be the Best Betting Sites in Germany are discussed separately.
The most important rules an online casino or sports betting operator needs to follow are:
Licensing violations will result in the GGL revoking licences. Additionally, fines will be imposed and even prison sentences are possible.
Another important regulation is the prohibition of gambling ads between 06:00 and 21:00 in German media. Advertisers are not allowed to cater to minors or depict them in their advertising.
German online gambling laws put the utmost importance on player protection.
Q: Is online gambling legal in Germany?
A: Yes, most forms of gambling are legal and very well regulated in Germany. Only live casino games, progressive jackpots and live sports betting are not allowed.
Q: Is there a deposit limit for gamblers?
A: Yes, there is. Anyone gambling in Germany at licensed operators cannot deposit more than a combined €1,000 across all operators. If someone has a betting account at more than one operator, they can only deposit a total of €1,000 in their accounts.
Q: What is the stake limit on online slots?
A: The stake limit is €1 per spin.
Q: How does the ID verification work at a German online casino?
A: Once you sign up for a new account at an online casino or sports betting site with aGerman licence, you will need to get your ID verified through an authorised service. Usually, a video ident service must be used by the operator to ensure all customers are of legal age and no regulations are violated.
https://www.idnow.io/blog/online-gambling-germany-regulations/#:~:text=Online%20gambling%20in%20Germany%3A%20Regulations%2C%20restrictions%2C%20and%20ramifications.,indeed%20as%20of%20July%202021 . https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/germany https://www.taylorwessing.com/en/insights-and-events/insights/2023/09/german-gambling-law https://www.online-gambling.com/germany https://www.gluecksspiel-behoerde.de/de/erlaubnisfaehigesgluecksspiel/whitelist
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