The gambling laws in Germany are somewhat complex, and have changed a few times over the years. In 2008 legislation was introduced that effectively banned all forms of online gaming and betting, with the exception of horse racing betting, other than those offered by the state. Germany is the home of high culture, fine art, classical music, world-class sports, award-winning cuisine-and some of the world's best beers. It's also one of the major economic and political powers of the European continent. One of the founding members of the European Union, Germany is. Casinos that ban table games from their game range, are a lot more likely to receive the new licence in July 2021. Many Malta-licensed providers are following that path on the German market. No more live casinos. Another thing that casinos with Maltese licence need to stop doing in Germany is offering a live area. Play Live Dealer Games in German What’s great about live dealer casinos for Germans is that you can find games where the German language is spoken. This is great news if German is your primary and/or preferred language. Not only will the dealers speak in German, but you should be able to chat with them, too. Casino gambling and all forms of gambling are completely legal in Germany. Although the laws are strict, there are almost 400 gambling facilities in Germany. This means the level of variation is extremely high. Therefore, Germany is readily available to satisfy the gambling needs of any German citizen, resident or tourist.

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Poker is a very popular game in Germany, even more so than in a lot of other countries. There is said to be about a quarter of a million Germans that play live poker regularly, which is a very impressive number considering the relative lack of ability to play live poker compared to, say, online poker where anyone with internet access can partake in it.

There are a total of 17 different poker rooms spread across Germany, although most of them only have one or just a few poker tables. (1) Not long ago, live poker was limited to play at one of these casinos, and casino gambling is pretty big in Germany as they have a total of 76 of them.

The authorities in Germany haven’t been shy about looking to bust up unauthorized poker games though, which was any game that didn’t occur at a licensed casino, until recently that is.

In early 2014 the German courts ruled that while gambling outside of casinos is illegal generally, small buy in tournaments of €15 or less do not violate the law and can be now considered to be legal. (2)

The ruling did stipulate that the buy in money must mostly be used to run the event and not be primarily redistributed among the players, but anyone that knows anything about poker tournaments know that most of the money does get redistributed, as that’s the point of playing in them basically, to earn prize money for finishing well. However in practice this point doesn’t matter as these small buy in tournaments are now permitted regardless of any such technicalities.

So this has resulted in an expansion of poker now beyond what the casinos offer and live poker has now become even more popular in Germany overall. In spite of the smallness of the stakes, the growth of these tournaments has been pretty impressive and they have caught on pretty well already.

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Gambling law in Germany has been decided and implemented historically at the state level, as it is in the United States as well for instance. Among the 16 states, it is said that 15 of them do not permit online poker, even though online poker may not specifically be mentioned in the laws.

This is most often not necessary though as if there is a law that states that playing poker for money is illegal, the fact that you played it online rather than at a live event is generally not material, unless the laws specifically defined the illegal playing as requiring live play or its elements.

Generally though, prohibitions against gambling are more general, for instance it may state that it is illegal to wager on a game of chance or games that involve chance, poker involves at least an element of chance, therefore it is illegal to wager at poker, and this would be true regardless of whether it was done online or not, since you’re still wagering on this game if you do so online.

In the end though it’s not what the law says, it’s how the law is applied that matters. So no one has ever been charged with playing online poker for money in Germany, and this is an extremely difficult thing to enforce, and we could even say that these laws are virtually unenforceable in normal circumstances anyway.

If a German resident claimed income from playing online poker though that might be a different matter, as this would amount to an admission of guilt, and while up until recently residents did not have to claim gambling revenue as income, professional poker players now do, given that it is seen as an act of skill in the way that other professions are.

However, it’s unlikely that anyone would be charged by this by virtue of reporting income as this would clearly serve to discourage others from claiming this income, where if they don’t they might get charged with a crime but if they do they will get charged and have to pay the taxes as well.

So in spite of this change, there still hasn’t ever been anyone charged with this in Germany, and that is likely to continue as the country continues to work out possible further changes that may enhance their ability to obtain even more tax revenue from this market.

The Future of Online Poker in Germany

At the present time, German online poker players simply play wherever they want and online poker sites are more than willing to accept their business. This is really a non issue right now in spite of whatever laws the state that you live in may have on the books regarding this.

German authorities would like to block access to online gambling sites, however, ISPs generally are not fond of doing so although in some other countries the courts have forced them to comply. This is not the case in Germany though as the courts have come in on the side of the ISPs who claim they are not responsible for the specific content they provide. (3)

So Germany decided to come up with federal legislation to look to bring things together, which has resulted in the Interstate Treaty On Gambling of 2012. This is more of a treaty than a law, thus the name, and the states do still retain the final say on these matters although the aim of this was to get them to agree on certain common standards and rules. (4)

There have been many criticisms of this treaty, notably the European Commission as well, due to it being too narrow in scope and in particular only really dealing with sports betting and not even concerning itself with online poker or online casino games. It also does not appear to be effective even within the sports betting market.

Given the fact that gambling in Germany is still predominantly a state-legislated affair, this makes a comprehensive country wide regulatory scheme much more difficult than in other countries where the federal government solely controls it and can create and enact regulations and laws without having to gain the agreement of anyone else.

German players aren’t complaining at all though as this is probably as close to an ideal situation as you could ever ask for, with them being able to play online unfettered by government interference and for the most part not having to pay any taxes at all as a result of their play. So players in Germany are certainly in no hurry for changes and relish the idea that such changes would be so difficult.

References:

1. Poker Rooms in Germany

Live Casino In Germany Right Now

2. A Survivor’s Guide to Poker in Germany

3. German ISP Does Not Have To Block Foreign “Illegal” Betting Sites

4. One Year of the Amended Interstate Treaty on Gambling in Germany

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A meeting of Germany’s heads of state in Berlin saw lawmakers approve gambling regulations to legalise online poker and casino from 1 July, 2021, as well as deciding on the location of the country’s new regulatory authority.

The Glücksspielneuregulierungstaatsvertrag (GlüNeuRStv), which expands the nationally regulated igaming market beyond online betting for the first time, must now be ratified by each state parliament and submitted to the European Commission for approval before it can be brought into effect.

According to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), the market will be overseen by a new regulatory authority, established through the GlüNeuRStV, based in Sachsen-Anhalt. Sources in Germany described this decision as “surprising”.

The likes of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse – which is handling the sports betting licensing process set out in the third amended State Treaty on Gambling – were all understood to be interested in hosting this body.

Legal sources said there had not been any substantial changes to the terms of the GlüNeuRStV already made public. This suggests that while sports betting, online poker and online casino games including slots will indeed be permitted, they can only be offered with significant restrictions.

For sports betting, this limits live betting to markets on the final result or next scorer, something that has been criticised by bodies such as operator association the Deutscher Sportwettenverband.

Slots, meanwhile, will be subject to a €1 per spin stake limit, and must be offered separately to table games, with no autoplay function and no jackpots. States will also have an effective veto on whether to allow table games, and could give their lotteries a monopoly over the product.

The mandatory deposit limit of €1,000 across all providers first included in the third State Treaty will remain in effect, while operators will not be allowed to advertise between 6am and 9pm. The German association of private broadcasters, Vaunet, has argued that this will not only impact efforts to channel players to legal offerings, but also reduce potential advertising revenue for media businesses.

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Before the GlüNeuRStV comes into force, the third State Treaty remains in place, limiting the market to online betting until 30 June, 2021. This came into force in January this year, though the Regional Council of Darmstadt, the body in the state of Hesse responsible for processing licnces, is yet to issue its first approvals.

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In February it said it had received 30 applications, with a further 20 operators signalling their intention to apply, and that it was preparing to license a number of operators.

Should all 50 be approved, it said, this would channel up to 99% of sports betting activity into the legal market.

This will be accompanied by enforcement action against operators that have continued to serve German players without applying. Around 100 companies were warned over operating without a licence, prompting 10 to withdraw from the market.