2021 German online casinos will be legal!
It's done, the argument about legal online casinos has come to an end. From mid-2021, Schleswig Holstein will no longer be the only federal state with licensed online gambling halls. The decision has been made that slot machines, live games and sports betting will be legal throughout Germany from next year. Under various conditions and an external control, the monitoring of player protection is at the top of the list, which will find a final template for the final State Treaty on Gaming in March.
Gambling license for online casinos in Germany
Schleswig Holstein, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia have long agreed that gambling on the internet shouldn't be banned, but needs proper regulation. So far, only the federal states led by the SPD have been considered opponents of the casinos. With the new gambling license, however, there are extensive protective measures, so that ultimately all parties have agreed on a uniform implementation that there will only be one licensing nationwide. This put an end to the biggest dispute surrounding online casinos. In just a few weeks, at the Prime Ministers' Conference, the new State Treaty on Gambling will be presented. A central authority is to take over the monitoring of player protection and license supervision, which will probably have its seat in Hesse.
So far it is not known how exactly and with which people the authority comes about. However, the exact distribution of tasks should be completed by the time the gambling contract is finally submitted. This includes decisions about individual licenses, as well as monitoring the virtual arcades. Only this one authority takes over the entire process, so that measures such as criminal prosecution, warnings and player protection are also likely to be among the tasks.
What conditions should the new State Treaty on Gambling contain?
One thing is certain, the online casinos, live games, poker and Betting are allowed in the future. The new contract also includes extensive player protection, which is intended to protect against loss of control, among other things. One of the measures will be to limit the monthly deposits to 1000 euros, which apply to all German online casinos. However, this does not apply to winnings that can be achieved with the deposits, which are excluded from this and could theoretically be played back to zero. The providers must also prevent playing on several slot machines or slots/table games at the same time. With a central monitoring system, the early detection of gambling addiction should be implemented. The operators of Internet casinos will probably have to adapt to uniform player accounts. How and whether this can be implemented remains to be seen.
Advertising on television is also affected by the new measures. For example, no more commercials should be broadcast during the day that include games of chance. Only at night is it allowed to transmit online slot machines, sports betting or casino offers during the commercial breaks. To protect the players, in the future all processes should also be able to be viewed in order to monitor attempts at manipulation and specifications.
Positive development with the return of Novoline and Merkur
With the new editions, however, something positive is also emerging, because it is quite possible that Greentube and Gauselmann will come back. The Novomatic subsidiary Greentube in particular has withdrawn its offer due to the lack of German gambling laws. With the new state treaty and the existing Schleswig-Holstein license, it can be assumed that Book of Ra will soon be available again in German online casinos. Until 2017 and still today, the gaming sector for Novomatic in Germany is one of the most important markets. Gauselmann is also one of the most successful arcade operators with its Merkur slot machines, which will rejoin the new online market.
