Best Online Casinos - Austria

Gambling in Austria is legal in accordance with the Gaming Act. This piece of legal writing does not require the local ISPs to block the gambling websites targeted at the reviewed country. However, it does regulate the way that virtual gambling is portrayed in the media. To be more specific, it prohibits any advertisement or promotions of such virtual venues.

The Glücksspielgesetz (the Austrian gambling act) dates to 1989, but it was amended several times. (one of the latest changes was introduced in 2020). It enables the federal government of all nine Austrian states to issue permits for slot machines and sports betting. Licensing of online casinos and lottery is held at the national level.

The Federal Ministry of Finance is the governmental institution that monitors the industry and decides on how and to whom to distribute the licenses. In accordance with the ruling of this Austrian gambling authority, among casinos and players, the ones to pay taxes are the online operators.

While this sounds as if Austria offered plenty of options to online gamblers, in fact, there is only one government-approved online casino in the country. It is Win2Day, which is partially owned by the state. The rest are private companies that are based in Austria and apply online for the gambling license. The list of options is not diverse.

Of course, this would not have been Austria if there were no tangled legal stories, exceptions, and hidden underwater stones. While many local companies can apply for the license and offer services online and via smartphones, they can only offer access to these services to those who are physically located in the country. Therefore, you won’t see many Austria-based online operators dominating the European arena. This regulation also created many obstacles for many international brands to thrive in Austria. To do so, they have to be located in the country.

In this case, what choices do the Austrian gamblers have?

Well, there are plenty of gambling destinations that accept players from this country in accordance to two popular and secure licensed from the Malta Gaming Authority and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Alternatively, there are even more licensors maintained by the EU-based regulators. These are friendly to Austrian traffic, too. Our database has more than 600 online operators that welcome players from the reviewed country. Out of them, up to 300 will offer either local payment methods, convenient languages, or currencies.

How gambling started in Austria

You must be wondering why while many of Austria’s European neighbors either go full-ballistics on the gambling industry or regulate it heavily, this country maintains leniency and opts-in for regulations rather than prohibition? Well, the answers are in the history. Gambling dates to the 17th century for Austria. Farmers loved spending time playing dice. By the 1700s, the first lottery, the Lotto di Genova, entered the country. Official land-based gambling venues appeared much later, in the 1930s.

Speaking of history. Many famous Austrians have been spotted gambling, including Mozart.