Is Gambling business legal in Germany?

When it comes to Germany, this country has a long yet troublesome history in terms of regulations from the side of the government. Keeping that in mind, gambler fans in Germany were often thinking: “Wo kann ich Online Casino Echtgeld 2019 spielen, ohne rechtliche Konsequenzen zu haben? Und welche Plattformen bieten das beste Spielerlebnis?” For those who are not that acquainted with the German language, you should know that dozens of German punters are curious whether playing online casinos for real money is legal, especially in terms of the exact examples of services that offer high-quality casino experience. 

So, let’s get acquainted with the nuances and specifications of the gambling business in Germany by paying attention to everything you might ever need to know.

Legal but not yet 100% legal history

Speaking of the historical roots of casinos in Germany, we should mention the complicatedness of its legal status. Simply put, all gambling activities in Germany are now strictly controlled and monitored at the highest level. 

Yet, a crucial notion exists, which encourages states to impose their own rules and regulations. Keeping that in mind, you should know that 14 of 16 German states enable gambling in one way or another. Most of the brick and mortar casinos are state-owned, which is the most obvious indicator of the legal operation of these venues. 

In terms of Germany as a whole, you should know about such a bill as the Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2012, which sets the main objectives for regulating this sphere. Although each particular province might impose its own rules, all of them should comply with the provisions of this bill in order to operate on the market.

So, from what you can see, Germany has somewhat a complicated state of affairs regarding gambling, which is intensified by these interstate and within-state laws.

What about online?

Technically, playing online slots is illegal on the territory of Germany. This notion was emphasized in 2008 when the provisions of the Interstate Treaty of Gambling banned online slots per se. 

Yet, you should be aware that the European high court made this law invalid because its details were only intensifying the state monopoly regarding gambling. So, in 2019, online slots and other types of gambling game modes are operating within a grey area, which only harms German punters. 

If to remember the exceptions to such a rule, one is to admit the operations in the Schleswig-Holstein region, which provided licenses to betting websites, online casinos, and poker platforms in 2012. In that case, you should definitely check them in order to assess your favorite games in Germany.

Any exceptions?

As we’ve partially mentioned above, the state of Schleswig-Holstein is a unique province, which has more moderate regulations when it comes to online gambling. However, these minor achievements for German punters were valid in 2012, but not now. 

From 2013, Schleswig-Holstein entered the Interstate Treaty of Gambling, eventually leading to the ban on those online platforms. Regardless of your personal enthusiasm over online casinos in Germany, it seems that no healthy alternatives exist.

Although players might play online on the websites of other European states, the consequences of such a decision include:

• having no place to complain in case of unlawful conduct
• being unable to withdraw funds from a specific platform
• being left without healthy alternatives for further gambling
• losing real money without even getting access to gameplay
• having no legal defense from all of the aforementioned cases

Keeping that in mind, we hope that the legal climate in Germany will change for the better since the current provisions in terms of making online gambling legal.

Final remarks

Having reviewed the legal provisions of gambling in Germany, we found out that nothing is expected to change in the nearest perspective. While the brick and mortar casino venues operate without any problems, online platforms were declared as being illegal in any state of Germany. 

When it comes to the Interstate Treaty of Gambling, Germany has its own roadmap for regulating, monitoring, and tracking the gambling activities. Regardless of the solution, we hope that Germany will be less picky when it comes to legalizing online casinos, especially considering the fact that brick and mortar ones work just perfectly.

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