Safe Online Casino Ireland

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For centuries, it’s been illegal to operate a casino in Ireland. Members-only clubs have been the exception, due to loopholes in the Gambling and Lotteries Act that club owners were able to exploit.

This didn’t change until 2013, when the country decided it wanted to enter the 21^st century. The short version is that licensed casinos are now allowed to operate in Ireland. We cover the longer version later on.

However, if you’re anxious to start playing now, we have a list of our recommended Ireland casino sites below. Each one is a high-quality, Irish-friendly casino. Choose any one from the list, and you can be playing your favorite games in less than 10 minutes.

The online casino legislation in the Republic of Ireland Currently, the multibillion-euro gambling industry in Ireland is managed by the Minister of State, and even though there are talks about setting up an independent regulator, there were no real steps made in that direction. A Casino Regulation Committee was set up as early as 2006. While there are hundreds of top safe and secure options that meet our stringent requirements, our top recommended safe casinos in Ireland with great reputation include: Dream Vegas – 50 free spins plus 100% matching bonus up to €400 with minimum €20 deposit accepted.

We don’t recommend you join just any online casino. Each casino site we recommend not only has to accept players from Ireland but also meet our incredibly high standards.

There’s so much we look for in a casino. Here are some examples.

• Are they licensed? What jurisdictions are they licensed through?
• What’s their reputation like? Have they done any shady stuff?
• What banking options do they accept? What are their banking limits and fees?
• What promotions can you claim? Do they have a VIP program?
• What games can you play? What stakes can you play them for?
• What software providers do they work with? How well does their software work? Do you need to download anything? Can you play from your mobile device?

We dig deep into every casino we review. Only the casino sites we’d play at ourselves are recommended to our readers in tables like the one above.

The bottom line – when you join an online casino in the table above, you know you’re joining a safe and high-quality place for Irish gamblers to play their favorite games.

For the longest time, casinos were illegal in Ireland. Only sports and race betting were allowed.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There were loopholes in Ireland’s gaming laws (Gambling and Lotteries Act) that several establishments exploited. They created “members-only” clubs that offered casino games.

Irish gamblers needing a fix could also find Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in betting shops all over Ireland. These machines offered casino games such as slots and roulette. They have been criticized, though, for being too addictive and costly.

There have been criticisms about the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956, too. People were able to gamble in members-only clubs anyway. Not only that, but the state was unable to collect revenue from these clubs.

So, despite the addictive nature of FOBTs, the increasing numbers of people with gambling problems, and the state having the 3^rd-highest average gaming loss in the world, Ireland decided it was time to update their archaic gaming laws.

The solution? The Gambling Control Bill.

The Gambling Control Bill passed in 2013. It replaces all existing arrangements for betting, gaming, bingo, and lotteries in Ireland. The exception is the National Lottery.

This bill extends to online gambling, too. The bill provides the infrastructure needed to regulate the industry. This includes protecting the public from underage and problem gambling. It also provides provisions for licensing and taxation.

As of 2018, the industry is more or less self-governing. At first, the bill stated that they would establish a gaming regulator. That’s changed, though.

The bill will be amended to recommend that an independent statutory authority be established instead. This authority will oversee many aspects of the gaming industry. This includes advertising, sponsorships, problem gambling treatment access, and more.

It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.

The bottom line – casino gaming and gambling in general have progressed more in the last decade or two than the last century. It’s flourishing online and off in a time where online gambling is still in its infancy.

It’s a great time to be a gambler in Ireland.

We get lots of questions from our Irish readers about online casinos. The questions range from choosing a casino to banking options to playing games on mobile devices.

Instead of answering everyone individually, we thought it’d make more sense to include all the questions/answers here in a FAQ format. You’ll find the most common questions we receive and our answers below.

5 FAQs About Choosing an Online Casino Site

This is tough to answer because it often comes down to the individual. Casino sites are different from each other in the following areas:

• Games
• Promotions
• Banking options and limits
• Terms and conditions
• Stakes

It goes beyond this, too. Some online casinos are better for small-stakes players than high-stakes players. Some casinos offer live dealer games, while others don’t. Some casinos have stronger table game and video poker sections than others do.

The list goes on and on. All these variables mean that some casinos will be better for one kind of player than another based on what each player wants/needs.

Our list of recommended casinos above is a good place to start if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. You can also pick a casino based on a specific game or deposit method you want to play or use. We have several pages on GamblingSites.com where we recommend casinos based on specific desires.

A rogue casino is a casino that takes advantage of their players. They could do any of the following:

• Rig their games so that they’re no longer random/fair
• Take deposits with no intent of paying players their winnings
• Retroactively change their terms so that they can break their own rules
• Force players to take a bonus so that they don’t have to pay them their winnings

And so on.

To a lesser end, you could say predatory terms and slow pays are signs of a rogue casino, too. That’s not always the case, though it’s more often than not a sign of a rogue casino in progress.

We don’t recommend rogue casinos here at GamblingSites.com. So it’s unlikely you’ll end up at one unless a casino goes rogue later on.

It happens – we’re not psychics!

Just keep your ears to the ground, and you should be able to avoid the bad neighborhoods online.

We can write thousands of words on this topic and on the topic of rogue casinos, but we already have. There are several guides on our site that will describe how to tell the best from the worst sites in more detail.

We can give you the TL;DR version here, though. Here’s a quick rundown of what you want to look for in each casino you consider joining.

• They are licensed
• They have a positive reputation with preferably NO history of rogue behavior
• They have reasonable terms and conditions. This includes bonus terms, cash-out limits, etc.
• Their support is responsive and helpful
• Give them bonus points if they’re publicly traded

If a casino can check every single one of these boxes, they’re plenty safe. They may not be a great casino, but at least you know it’s unlikely that they’ll steal your money or information.

Safety-wise, we go through the same steps outlined in the last question. Safety is the most important thing to us, so we make sure each casino is licensed, has a positive reputation, and so on.

There’s more to check out, though. For example, we also look at the casino’s games and software.

Since our recommendations are for our Irish readers, we try to make sure the casino sites we recommend are well-rounded. That means they have a large selection of games that includes options such as slots, table games, video poker machines, and a live casino.

This applies to the casino’s offers, too, which is something we also look at and rate during our review/rating process.

Ultimately, we try to make sure each casino will appeal to the masses instead of any particular kind of player. From here, it would make sense for you to read our reviews if there’s something in particular you’re looking for. That way, you can find a casino that’s a good fit for you.

This depends on a few variables. For example, how large is your bankroll, and do you want to divide it across several casinos? What games do you want to play? How important is earning VIP perks to you?

We recommend you join as few casinos as possible. You’ll earn loyalty perks faster that way.

That said, we don’t want you to do that at the expense of your enjoyment. If you need to join multiple casinos to access all the games, variants, and offers you want, by all means, join them all.

You’ll have to play this by ear to see what works best for you. There’s no harm in joining a few casinos to see which ones are the best fit. You can always cash out of the ones that don’t work and redeposit your funds into your favorites.

5 FAQs About Bonuses and VIP Programs

Yes. This depends on the casino, but you should have access to all the same types of promotions players in other countries are offered. That includes welcome bonuses, reload bonuses, free bets, free spins, rebates, and more.

Keep in mind that the specific offers you’re able to claim may be different, though. They can be a different size, larger match, more/less spins, etc.

It’s pretty simple. These welcome bonuses are given to you when you make your first deposit. Sometimes these are limited to your very first deposit. Other times, they’re multi-deposit offers.

Here’s an example of both.

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Say Paddy Power is offering a 100% bonus up to $100 on your first deposit. They will give you $1 for every $1 you deposit (a 100% match) up to a max of $100. Deposit $25, and you’ll get $25. Deposit $99, and you’ll get $99. Deposit $125, and you’ll get $100.

Now let’s say they’re offering a 100% match bonus up to $100 on each of your first 3 deposits. You can make your first, second, and third deposits and receive as much as $100 each time.

Here’s what that might look like.

• Deposit $25, and you’ll get $25 for a total of $50
• Deposit $87, and you’ll get $87 for a total of $174
• Deposit $150, and you’ll get $100 for a total of $250

All in all, you’ll have $474 between your deposits and bonus money.

These are only examples – bonuses come in all shapes, sizes, and with different terms. But this is generally how they work.

Bonuses, spins, rebates, and so on come with a catch. They’re not given to you for free – otherwise, people would immediately cash them out, and the casino would lose their shirts.

To combat this, the casino asks that you wager your deposit or your deposit and bonus so many times before you’re allowed to cash out.

For example, say you claimed a 100% match bonus up to $100. You claimed the entire amount. This offer has a 35x playthrough on the deposit only.

This means that you’d need to wager $3,500 ($100*35) before you could cash out. If you cashed out too soon, the casino would void your bonus and quite possibly any money you won with it.

Make sure you pay attention to rollover terms because they can range from reasonable to predatory. You don’t want your money locked up somewhere because you committed to a 5- or 6-figure playthrough.

Maybe. It depends on the casino site.

Most table games and video poker machines are hit or miss when it comes to bonuses. This is because these games have such a low house edge and/or are easily exploitable. The casino can take a huge hit financially.

What they do to balance this out is require players to fulfill a higher playthrough. This is usually 2x-20x the default playthrough. Using the 35x example above, this could mean that you’d need to wager anywhere from 70x to 700x.

Using our $100 example, this would mean wagering anywhere from $7,000 to $140,000 depending on the playthrough and if you need to roll over the deposit or the deposit AND bonus.

Is it worth it, then, to accept the bonus?

On the low end, yeah, maybe. On the high end? No way!

You’ll have to decide that for yourself, though.

This depends on the casino.

If it’s a general program – one that’s available to everyone – you’re usually signed up automatically once you create your account or once you make your first money bet.

If it’s an exclusive program, then that means it’s reserved for high spenders. If you think you’re playing or spending enough, most casinos encourage you to reach out to them. In other cases, the online casinos will monitor your play and will reach out to you if they think you’re a good fit.

4 FAQs About Casino Banking

This depends on the casino. Each one accepts different payment methods. That said, you can usually find casinos that accept the following options.

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• Visa
• Mastercard
• Trustly
• Neteller
• Skrill
• Bank transfer
• Klarna
• Giropay
• Zimpler
• Paysafecard
• iDeal
• Maestro
• Pay By Phone
• Sofort
• Qiwi
• Instadebit
• WebMoney
• Euteller

Few, if any, casino sites will accept all of these options. Your best bet is to decide which options you’d prefer to use. Then try to find a casino that accepts them.

Yes. Like everything else, banking limits vary from casino to casino.

A lot of international casinos have no limits on deposits. If there are limits, they’re usually in the 5-figure range. Some of the lesser popular options will be in the 4-figure range. Again, this really depends on the casino and the banking method you’re using.

Most casino sites will have limits on how much you can cash out at one time. Smaller online casinos will limit you to $2,000-$5,000 per day/week, while at the larger casinos, you can usually cash out a bit more. The absolute max you can cash out varies so much that it makes more sense to read the reviews or reach out to the casino for information.

You’re going to love this…but it depends. Shocker, right?!

Technically, most online casinos should pay progressive jackpots in full because they don’t pay the jackpots out of pocket – the software providers do. And most of the higher-quality casinos do pay progressives in full. They just ask that you wait up to 30 days so that they can verify the win.

Other casinos pay progressive jackpots out in installments. The shortest timeline we’ve seen is the entire balance in 10 months. But then we’ve seen others where the max you can receive is $10,000-$30,000 per month. You’ll receive these payments until the balance is paid in full, which can take years if you happen to win a 7-figure jackpot.

While a score that large is unlikely to happen, it’s still a good idea to check the casino’s terms and conditions to see how they treat large wins. You might not win a million bucks, but you could very well win $50,000 or $100,000. It’s important to know how the casino will handle wins of all sizes.

Some casinos charge fees. Others don’t.

Most casinos don’t charge fees on deposits. The biggest exception you’ll see is if you don’t roll your deposit over 1-3 times. Many casinos state in their terms that they reserve the right to charge you fees then.

It’s the reverse for cash-outs – most casino sites will charge you a fee. This varies from a couple of percentage points (usually on credit/debit cards or e-wallets) to as much as $75 for a bank wire.

6 FAQs About Casino Software and Games

You should be able to play any of the following games.

Slots

This includes 3-reel classic slots and 5-reel video slots. You’ll find slots with all sorts of features, including bonus rounds, wilds, free spins, and more

Table Games

This include options such as blackjack, roulette, Caribbean Stud, Casino Hold’em, War, Pai Gow Poker, craps, Three Card Poker, and more

Video Poker

This includes titles such as Joker Poker, Tens or Better, Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and more

Live Casino

This includes live games such as blackjack, roulette, Casino Hold’em, and baccarat

Many casinos also have scratch cards and arcade games you can play.

Keep in mind that the exact games you can play will vary from casino to casino. A big factor involved in what games are available is the software providers the casino works with.

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No. Most casinos will have a play or practice money version of their games. You can usually play this version for as long as you want.

There are some exceptions. Some casino sites don’t have play money versions. Even if they do, live casino games are hardly ever available for practice. You can’t play for progressive jackpots on play money games, either.

Most casinos nowadays offer either a native app for phones/tablets, or they have an instant-play casino that you can access from your mobile web browser. The latter is more common.

The games you can play from your mobile device vary wildly from casino to casino. Some mobile casinos will have their entire desktop library available to you, while others will have a few dozen games.

Another factor is the specific device you’re using. If you have a newer-gen Apple or Android device, you should be fine. Blackberry and Windows devices are hit or miss.

Yes. All online casinos will have a minimum and maximum table stakes.

On the low end, slots start at $0.01, video poker starts at $0.01-$0.05, table games start at $1, and live games start at $0.50.

It varies too much on the upper end. That said, $250 is common for slots, $100 for video poker, $250-$500 for table games, and you can find live dealer games as high as $10,000 for blackjack and $75,000 for roulette.

If you’re a high-stakes player, we recommend you read our casino reviews and/or read our high-stakes casino page. Most casinos don’t offer nosebleed stakes on their animated games, so you might have a hard time finding one on your own.

Yes. Most modern casinos don’t require you to download software anymore. What they have instead is an instant-play casino that you access from your browser. All you need then is a web browser and Flash installed on your computer.

Yes. You’ll either need to be connected to Wi-Fi or LTE/3G/4G. We recommend Wi-Fi when possible, as casino games can quickly eat through your data allowance (unless you have unlimited data).

It’s a great time to be a gambler in Ireland. A couple decades ago, you could only bet on sports or races. The exception was if you were able to join one of those members-only clubs that exploited loopholes found in the state’s archaic gaming laws.

Nowadays, you can or soon will be able to play whatever casino game you fancy, thanks to the laws passed within the last decade. You can play offline, online, or both.

Lots of people would love to be in your position, so don’t squander it. You can get started right now. Scroll up to the top of this page and choose an Irish-friendly casino site from our top-list table. You’ll be playing your favorite game before you know it.

How do keep yourself safe online? And how do you find a safe online casino that won’t cheat on you? It’s a question every online gambler should ask. We don’t want to scare you in this safe casino gambling guide. The days of out-and-out scam sites aren’t dead and gone, but there is enough licensing and regulation to allow most players to spend their entire online casino life safely away from such dangers. There’s a lot you can do to help keep yourself safe though, and this safe online casino guide will help you. We will also show you the top safe online casinos in Europe! (As we write this, the UK is still in the EU, so we will mention the laws and regulations in that jurisdiction, though no-one is sure what is going to happen with Brexit yet.)

What is the EU?

This might seem like a bit of a beginner’s question, but many people think of the EU as a geographic area without taking too much account of what membership actually means. The EU is a borderless free-trade area of 28 (including the UK for now) nations. The Treaty of Rome set out four freedoms at the heart of the EU: freedom of movement for people, goods, services, and capital. These principles are continued in the single market.

That means that you can expect to enjoy similar commercial services across the EU and that companies should be able to expect to set up businesses in an EU country if they come from another EU country. However, there is not a single gambling law or a gambling body for the EU. “EU countries are autonomous in the way they organise their gambling services, as long as they comply with the fundamental freedoms established under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU,” says the body itself.

The EU’s documents talk of a patchy picture across the bloc, with a number of countries allowing internet gambling on a number of different legislative frameworks. Some have a state-run gambling monopoly, and this is currently allowed (the direction of travel in the EU is towards more “market liberalisation” so this may not last forever). Other countries have a gambling market of private operators. The word from above is: “Under EU law, no particular system is favoured over the others.” As long as those systems meet EU law then that’s fine. We are not a law blog, and you can go and search out more detail on this if it’s something that interests you.

The EU Commission says that it is supporting countries as they try to modernise online gaming. In EU (and international capitalist terms) modernise always means removing regulation. They are also helping administrations to work together across borders: this is good news for everyone, as it’s not great if a company that is outlawed somewhere for behaving badly should be able to set up in another jurisdiction. Where the Commission does try to enforce standardisation it is in protection for minors and vulnerable people. A European Committee for Standardisation is working to develop a voluntary standard on reporting so that supervision of services is broadly similar.

There is also interest in the gambling sector from the EU is so far as it relates to money laundering; match-fixing (with regards to Live sports betting); general consumer protection rules; and rules relating to the digital single market.

What is a Safe Online Casino?

Where does this leave you, the casino customer? And what is a safe online casino? Not really in a bad place. But you should be sure that you know how to spot a safe casino when you see one. Gambling is legislated on in almost every country in the world. That’s because there is the potential for people to get into trouble with gambling: they can get addicted and end up in financial and health trouble.

So, it is your responsibility to obey the laws in the jurisdiction where you currently are. If you’re a sovereign citizen or some other nonsense and refuse to accept any law then that’s up to you. If you ignore gambling laws you will immediately find yourself unable to get any redress – or even any withdrawals – if something goes wrong at a site you’re using.

Please don’t use VPNs to get around geographic restrictions and play from restricted countries. Please do not use fake IDs to get around age restrictions. And please don’t mess around with credit cards or other financial tricks to get around spending limits or to play when you don’t have the money to.

Play at Legal Online Casinos

You should only play at a casino that is licensed in the jurisdiction you’re in. This is the only safe way to play. Some jurisdictions accept off-shore licensing: for example, the UK for many years recognised licensing from many other countries (especially specialist off-shore licensing jurisdictions like Malta, the Channel Islands, and Cyprus). Companies set up in those countries because the licensing rules were easy to use, or the country had low tax rates – usually both. The UK has changed this rule now and you must use sites recognised and approved by the UK Gambling Commission when you’re in the UK.

Make sure you’re aware of the laws where you are. And always play at safe and legal online casinos.

Safe Online Casinos are of Good Quality

Safe casino sites will also be of good quality. Scammers may get sophisticated, but actually setting up a multi-page website hosting hundreds of working games, with Help features, an address in the real world (please check for this), loyalty clubs and the like takes a long time. It’s not worth doing if all you want to do is grab a guy, get his money, and run. The better quality a site is the safer you can feel. The first thing that is at risk is your money, so you should look for good quality payment partners too. These are almost always shown on the front page of the site, alongside any licensing information.

Most safe casino sites accept a wide variety of payment types these days. Look for logos from Visa, MasterCard, a bank transfer sign, and also a good range of electronic wallets. These are too numerous to list in full here, but a few favourites are Skrill, Neteller, and PayPal. PayPal is the most famous of these and it’s a great badge of quality. A PayPal casino has done something right. PayPal dumped all its gambling business for a number of years, probably in fear of American legislation on online gambling, and once it came back to the market it did so with care, and only with carefully selected partners.

Skrill and Neteller are equally trusted, and especially so in the gambling market, and both are regulated.

Gambling Laws in the EU States

We cannot provide you with a full overview of online gambling laws in every EU state here. Find out what the deal is where you live first. If you’re travelling you should also know what the law is where you’re travelling to if you want to play your slots while you’re away.

Online Gambling Law in France

Gambling in France is legal, but quite heavily regulated. The casinos of Monte Carlo are outside the country in a low-tax enclave that sets its own rules. Slot machines were illegal until 1988, and the year before that the legal gambling age was lowered from 21 to 18. Online gambling was legalised in France in 2010, and a new regulatory authority was introduced to join the PMU and FDJ (who regulated all offline gambling). The ARJEL is the body that regulates online gambling in France.

ARJEL issues licenses and polices them. It has a role in fighting gambling addiction, in ensuring that games are played fairly, in stamping out illegal websites; and in money laundering policing. ARJEL licenses sports betting and online poker games. ARJEL has tried to stop French players from using overseas casino sites by getting French ISPs to block sites that had no licence. The ISPs didn’t fancy this, but the courts forced them to. Currently, ARJEL is due to be dissolved in early 2020.

Online gambling companies do not like France. They don’t like the strict licensing and they don’t like the tax laws and they don’t like rules that force them to keep the gaming servers on French territory. They don’t like the fact that only Texas Hold’em games are allowed. French players love online gambling and doubled the amount of money spent on gambling almost immediately the laws allowing web gambling was allowed. Somewhere along the line, these two competing interests will come to an agreement of sorts we guess. Keep your eye on the latest developments in France. The political drift in the country is towards “liberalisation” (scrapping rules), and the country is a potentially massive market for big international gambling companies. They lobby. You see what we’re saying.

Online Gambling Laws in Germany

Germany liked internet gaming even less than France. In 2008 a law banned all online gambling expect betting on horses. This did not go down well with online gambling companies, who went to the EU Commission to ask for changes. The European Court of Justice has ruled that Germany’s monopoly gambling is too restrictive and the laws in the company are being liberalised a little. However, things did not change very quickly.

One of the factors in this mixed picture is that the laws in the country were more about operators than players. No German has ever been prosecuted for gambling online, but the country isn’t really licensing any sites itself, so you need to look at sites that are licensed in good quality jurisdictions if you are going to gamble from German territory. The law may well change though. For a while, the state of Schleswig-Holstein went its own way and started to license sites. After a year the state reversed. However, all the licences that had been granted were good for six years.

The EU doesn’t particularly like Germany’s stance on gambling and may put more pressure on the country to liberalise its laws further. As of now, though, you should look for Schleswig-Holstein licenses or perhaps UK ones when you want to have a flutter in Germany.

Online Gambling Laws in Italy

The European Commission put the boot in on the Italian gambling market too. From 2003 the country was forced to liberalise its gambling laws in order to allow businesses from other countries to set up legitimate gambling businesses in the country. The laws required to introduce these changes started to be passed in 2006. Casino site owners celebrated around the continent. Before this, the country operated a monopolistic system with just two Italian companies allowed to take bets from Italian customers.

Italy enforced its ban with a blacklist of sites that weren’t licensed. But doing this violated EU rules on secrecy, because the Italian authorities hadn’t told anyone they were doing this. By 2009, the Italian government was further liberalising its gambling laws, and since 2010 foreign gambling companies have been able to operate in Italy if they have a licence from the Italian gambling authority – the AAMS (Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato – Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies).

This body regulates games of skill, poker, poker for cash, casino games, sports betting, horse betting, and bingo. The Italian regulators have high thresholds, including technical standards and very high standards for financial security. If a site is licensed in Italy it’s a very good sign. There are limits though, and the AAMS can only licence 200 sites.

Online Gambling Laws in Ireland

Ireland has a rich (and perhaps even problematic) gambling culture, especially when it comes to horse racing. Online gambling is sort of legal in Ireland, but while the gambling laws are quite liberal, Irish licenses aren’t specifically made available to gambling websites. That means that currently Irish customers are generally accepted in online casinos, but they are playing rather at their own risk. Using sites with high-quality regulation, for example from Malta, the Isle of Man, or Alderney) is the best way to play safely and legally from Ireland.

This will almost certainly change.

Ireland is an English-speaking country with extremely attractive tax laws. In order to operate in the EU, gambling companies often have to have an EU base. If the UK does go ahead and leave the EU a number of gambling companies with UK HQs will need to set up an EU base, and Ireland is the obvious place to do it.

Online Gambling Laws in Spain

You can gamble online from and in Spain. Gambling is fairly heavily regulated in the country, with local and national laws applying. Spain’s holiday destinations are full of gambling joints, and there are seven horse racing courses in the country. Log on and you can play lottos, bingos, casino games, poker, and betting on various sports, including (controversially) bullfighting.

Online casinos are popular with Spanish customers, and they’re growing in size, growing a massive 25% in revenue in 2019. Slots are driving this increase in gambling spending. In fact, such is the explosion in slots spending that it is possible that the country may introduce more restrictions on online casino play in the future.

Licensing In Europe

The UK is the EU’s gambling powerhouse. It has a licensing authority that is world-class and it is the biggest gambling market in the EU. Malta is tiny. But Malta is massive in internet gambling. Every gambling company in the world headed to the little Mediterranean island and set up there after the country set up one of the earliest licensing authorities in 2001.

The regulator is respected and its licenses are accepted in a lot of other jurisdictions. Malta is a low tax jurisdiction and also has corruption problems, but a Maltese gaming license is well worth having. Elsewhere, there are moves to license gambling afoot in many other jurisdictions, including in the eastern European countries that joined the EU after 2001.

Sweden is likely to go fully legal soon, and that may trigger a domino effect across the Nordic countries. Sweden currently has a monopoly system, but the country is also a massive powerhouse in the online gaming industry, producing some of the world’s best slots games and casino software. It’s an uneasy contradiction and will surely not last forever.

The Dutch are also looking at reducing their regulation.

Alderney, the tiny Channel Island has been another off-shore gambling hub. Back in 2012, the country had more gambling traffic passing through its web domains than its three biggest rivals. It has a highly regarded regulator and you can see its logo on gambling sites from around the world.

Keep Up to Date

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This picture will change, and it is your responsibility to keep on top of things. Brexit is just one factor. Politics is another. The EU would like all markets to become more liberal. Not every country wants that. The web has broken down a lot of barriers, and it has certainly made getting around national licensing restrictions very easy for players. However, we’ll reiterate the view we began this article with if you play without knowing the licensing situation in an EU country you are looking for potential trouble.

Stay safe!