Best Online Casinos - Switzerland

Gambling in Switzerland was illegal for the greater part of the past century, which automatically spread to online gambling being illegal after it appeared in the last few years of the 20th century. A ban on games of chance was regulated by the law passed back in 1921. A sort of a thaw happened in 1993, to be fair, but all the allies of liberalization were able to pass was limited-stakes casino gambling.

Further adjustments followed in the year 2000 when the government allowed for unlimited-stakes casino games. Entertainment was carefully categorized into games of skill and games of chance, and while the first category was allowed, the second one remained on the ban list. 

It is fair to say that while the official stayed in strong opposition to supporting the industry, half of the country’s population eagerly took part in the national lottery, and favored Sportsbook, poker, and horse race betting.

As of 2019, Switzerland made online gambling legal under the condition that the existing Swiss casinos can apply for the license to deliver virtual services. The country is not rich on the land-based venues, with slightly more than ten brick and mortar casinos operating on its territory. Out of them, only one has a license from the government to also maintain an online lobby.

CAN SWISS PLAYERS PLAY IN NON-SWISS CASINOS?

All activity of the online casinos that want to legally operate within the country is monitored by the Swiss Federal Gaming Board. The main legal document is the Money Gaming Act. This has positive and negative sides to it. The good part is the regulations are strict and everyone playing in the Swiss-regulated online lobby can count secure services.

The downside is obvious. With only one operator passing the local licensing, that leaves Swiss players with a choice close to a non-existent one. Luckily, with online gambling still being a grey territory majorly underestimated by the authorities, very often players use these loopholes to play in international lobbies.

According to the Money Gaming Act, Switzerland blocks all non-regulated casinos, but it is not illegal to play in them. Banks will not stop deposits and withdrawals, too. Our library alone has more than 500 brands friendly to players from Switzerland. We recommend taking a particularly close look at the places to bet and win licensed and regulated by the jurisdiction of Curacao and other smaller regulators. 

Among others, there are lobbies like Grand Fortune authorized by Curacao, Slotland regulated by Anjouan, Cool Cat, and Wild Vegas licensed by Costa Rica, as well as PlayCroco.

The Swiss franc is the currency less common in international gambling and available only in about 9% of the lobbies listed in our database, which is less than 50 brands. This list includes Casino Cruise.

Euros is a perfect alternative. It is broadly included in most of the cashiers. Per popular payment methods, Neteller, Skrill, and PayPal are by far the most used e-wallets. These are embedded, among others, into the banking systems of Cherry Casino, Lincoln, and Superior. 

Withdrawals should not take longer than 24 hours. In terms of taxes, winnings from terrestrial casinos are tax exempt. This also applies to winnings from online casino games.

Also, everyone looking into international lobbies can consider placing stakes in digital currencies. Bitcoins, Litecoin, Ethereum, Dogecoins, and other crypto is extremely popular in the Curacao-compliant gambling destinations. Digital cash has lost of benefits to it, too, including fast cashouts, lack of bureaucracy with the banks, anonymity in certain cases, and high security of transactions.

Switzerland is home to the division of Novomatic, one of the oldest and most reputable European software developers. Other than that, local players are not any different from gamblers from other European countries. The favor major names, including Net Entertainment, Microgaming, Play’n Go, Playtech, IGT, and Yggdrasil Gaming.

When it comes to classic betting, poker and lottery hold the first spot. In online gambling, the leadership of the Swiss market belongs to blackjack and roulette games.

Following them are slot machines, and when it comes to the reeled adventures, there are no themes or genres that the local players prefer. Everything that’s new and trending is on the radar, and other important factors, such as high RTP, volatility, decent payouts, and quality design influence the preferences, too.

While the hot new releases are preferred, there is also quite a big collection of older games that have already established themselves as hits and are frequently launched from Swiss IPs.