When it comes to online gambling, Germany has shifted its position so many times it’s difficult to keep track.
It is legal to visit the casino website and legal to open an account, but technically it is illegal to place an online bet on a ‘game of chance.’ However, individual convictions are non-existent, and the German authorities are more concerned with the legal wrangling with the European Commission, which we will explain later. As a result, most German online casino enthusiasts play at foreign-based websites, often those registered and licensed in the UK. It is illegal to operate an online casino from within Germany’s borders. It might seem odd then, that the laws – particularly in relation to online betting – are in a state of flux. Popular forms of gambling in Germany include sports betting, casinos, lotteries, and of course, slot machines. There are many casinos in Germany, and figures from 2012 show that the German gambling industry produced revenues of EUR 10.73 billion over the course of the year. Gambling has always been a very popular pastime in Germany, and a Federal Health Centre study in 2008 showed that 50% of men took part in some form of gambling.
