Is Online Gambling Legal In Germany
Posted : admin On 4/8/2022Germany hascome one important step closer to legalizing and regulating online gambling andpoker. This comes as the heads of Germany’s sixteen states have reportedly reachedan agreement to legalize online casino games and poker beginning July 1st,2021.
According to local media, Germany’s heads of state have agreed to the regulations that will govern online gambling and poker. The agreement must now be ratified by state parliaments and the European Commission in order to take effect.
The German state of Schleswig-Holsteinis planning to make online gaming operations a little simpler. The first move has been announced, with the state requesting an extension foriGaming businesses with expired licenses. As a whole, online gambling in Germany has had a complicated history until about three years ago. The industry was mainly unregulated until 2008 when a federal ban was imposed on online gambling operations with the German Interstate Treaty. The only exception were wagers on horse racing.
Strict Regulations Incoming
Germany’s plan to proceedwith regulation does not involve opening the flood gates to unlimited onlinegambling on demand. German lawmakers have agreed to implement regulations that willimpose significant restrictions on how online gambling is conducted in Germany.
Under the new state treaty,online gambling operators would be able to offer their services to playersacross the country for the first time ever under a completely regulated environment.Regulators seek to strike a balance between offering a regulated alternative toplayers while not subjecting the country to out of control gambling.
Lawmakers in Germany have flip-flopped on internet casino gambling. Back in 2008, they declared that all forms of online gambling are prohibited. By 2016, the EU clarified that Germany cannot punish foreign gambling sites from accepting German bettors. Now, Germany is blocking banks from processing online casino payments. Online gambling is mostly outlawed in Germany. Germany’s relationship with online gambling has been in a grey area for quite a long time. It was largely illegal, except for about 20-something operators who had permission. There were not many legal gambling sites in Germany, and the process of obtaining a license was extremely hard and complicated.
German lawmakers describethe new treaty as a “limited” form of gambling that would serve as a suitablealternative to the rampant online gambling that already occurs via unregulatedoffshore operators.
Some of the keyrestrictions within the proposal include:
- Deposit Limits: Players are to be restrictedto depositing no more than €1,000 per month across all licensed operators.
- Maximum Slot Wagers: Online slots are tobe limited to a €1 per spin wager limit and no autoplay function.
- Advertising Restrictions: Ads for onlinepoker and casino games would be prohibited between 6 AM and 9 PM.
- In-Play Betting Limits: One of the morerestrictive proposals related to sports betting would limit in-play betting towagers on the outcomes of the end result or next scoring play. Furthermore,this would only be allowed for low-scoring games such as football and hockey. In-playbetting on high-scoring games such as tennis and basketball would berestricted.
German Gambling Plan Met with Mixed Reactions
German media associationVAUNET, which represents roughly 150 media outlets, has come out stronglyagainst the proposed advertising restrictions.
As Affiliate Insider reported, VAUNET Chairman Matthias Kirschenhofer explained the advertising restriction would simultaneously hurt broadcasters and harm the government’s ability to channel players away from unlicensed offshore operators:
Advertising is the financing basis for private broadcasters and an instrument that steers legal games in the gaming market, the regulatory goal of our Federal States.
On the other hand,gambling opponents find the advertising restrictions to be too lax. Addictionresearch Tobias Hayer of the University of Bremen said he is afraid that liberalizingthe market will expand the reach of gambling and result in more problemgambling.
Here’s what he told Zeit Online:
I think it is absolutely not a good idea that, for example, Bundesliga football clubs with the logo of a betting provider on their jerseys are walking around or that betting providers are the primary sponsors of a club.
Speaking on therestrictions imposed on in-play betting, German Sports Betting Associationpresident Mathias Dahm expressed concerns that the restrictions would lead to puntersseeking black market alternatives. Under the proposed restrictions, he says,licensed operators would only be able to provide 25-30% of today’s total volumefor live betting. Dahms estimates these restrictions will result in €3-€4billion in lost sales.
Controversy aside, the German gambling industry could use the stability of a new gambling treaty after years of back-and-forth going back to 2008. Lawmakers have attempted to license some forms of online gambling, block others and generally create a strong sense of uncertainty that has provided fodder for offshore gambling operators. A stable regulatory regime moves Germany one step closer to channeling players to regulated providers.
Online gambling is mostly outlawed in Germany. We say
“mostly” because Germany is one of those places where it’s
definitely illegal to host a gaming site, but the legality of
just placing bets online is unclear. A certain interpretation of
German law could classify the act of placing a bet online as
illegal, but the authorities appear to have no interest in
reading or enforcing the law in that manner.
One thing we can tell you for certain is that online gambling
is popular in Germany. More importantly, not a single German has
ever gotten in trouble placing a bet over the internet. The
legal battles in that country mostly revolve around the right of
operators to offer their services to the public.
Where to Play Online
Any Germans reading this should look to gambling sites based
out of the country. Current national law doesn’t allow for the
licensing of casino sites, so people resort to foreign
operators. Companies based outside of Germany aren’t beholden
to German law and can therefore accept wagers from anyone inside
the country.
The main thing to remember when dealing with foreign
operators is that you have no legal recourse under German law if
something happens to your money. It’s best to stick with
gambling sites that are licensed by reputable jurisdictions such
as the UK or the Isle of Man. Equally important is the
reputation of each site in terms of paying players and hosting
honest games.
Stick with the places recommended here to ensure your safety
and get paid when you win. These are some of the biggest names
in the global gaming market, and they are as legit as any
brick-and-mortar casino in Germany.
German Law is in a State of Flux
The difficulty in analyzing the German market is that the
laws have experienced a great deal of turbulence in recent
times. Adding to the confusion is the ability of each state to
regulate gambling how it sees fit.
Germany is a mix of wide-reaching national laws and more
limited state laws. Some forms of betting are allowed in some
states while others are banned in others. It’s also apparent
that incoming governors are not afraid to completely reverse
gaming laws enacted by their predecessors.
Up until 2008, online gambling was unregulated in Germany.
The laws at the time didn’t address the internet in any way.
Things changed when the Interstate Treaty on Gambling (ISTG) was
passed in 2008. This effectively banned all forms of online
gambling other than sports betting and horse racing offered by
state-owned entities.
All 16 states initially joined the treaty. The state of
Schleswig-Holstein opted out in 2012 and even issued licenses to
about 3 dozen operators, including PokerStars and 888. It would
not last for long. The move was reversed just a year later when
the state government was voted out of office and the new
governor took over.
The good news for the operators that went through the trouble
of getting licensed is their 6-year licenses remain in effect.
All operators who earned licenses are able to provide real money
casino games and poker to players inside the state of
Schleswig-Holstein until 2018.
As things stand now, online gambling is largely outlawed
across Germany with the exception of the two dozen or so operators
who have licenses to operate in Schleswig-Holstein. There are no
other legal gaming sites in Germany, and there’s no way to
obtain a license to offer games.
Is Online Gambling Legal In Germany Today
German gaming laws violate EU rules regarding free trade and
competition. The EU has chastised Germany for its harsh stance
on gambling, but Germany seems destined to keep things as they
are for the time being. In the meantime, we would like to point
you to any of the safe and reputable gaming sites mentioned on
this site.