how strict is online casino regulatoin in your country?

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grantwishes3

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seeing lot of news about different countries cracking down on gambling lately. spain hiting operators with massive fines, heard norway doing dns blocking now, netherlands went from open market to strict enforcement. curious how it actually works where you guys are. can you still play offshore casinos or is everything blocked? are the regulations actually enforced or just paper rules? obviosly interested in hearing real experiences not just what the law says
 
norway checking in. we have state monopoly like norsk tipping and norsk rikstoto only. everything else is illegal. government started dns/isp blocking in jan 2025. they notify operators first then add domains to blocklist. been watching sites disappear one by one all year.
cant even advertise foreign gambling here. theres this streamer who got fined 15000 nok per day for months because he was streaming himself gambling and talking norwegian. authorities said he was targeting norwegian audience even though he claimed to be based abroad. ended up owing like 650000 nok total before he stopped.
 
UK is also heavily regulated by UK Gambling Commission. Operators must hold UKGC licence to legally target UK customers while offshore licences like Malta or Curacao don't count unless you also have UK approval and UKGC has been aggressive with enforcement the past few years. They publish regular enforcement notices - we're talking six-figure fines and licence suspensions throughout 2024-2025.
Recent example that got attention Sky Betting & Gaming was investigated by ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) in September 2024 for unlawfully sharing customer data. Shows they're watching privacy compliance as well as traditional gambling violations.
Players can technically access offshore sites but you're exposing yourself to serious risks - no UKGC consumer protections, no redress scheme, payment blocking by banks, and AML checks have gotten much stricter since 2022. Banks increasingly flag gambling transactions even to licensed sites. If you're using offshore operators your payments might just get rejected entirely.
 
d33pl@y said:
norway checking in. we have state monopoly like norsk tipping and norsk rikstoto only. everything else is illegal. government started dns/isp blocking in jan 2025. they notify operators first then add domains to blocklist. been watching sites disappear one by one all year.
cant even advertise foreign gambling here. theres this streamer who got fined 15000 nok per day for months because he was streaming himself gambling and talking norwegian. authorities said he was targeting norwegian audience even though he claimed to be based abroad. ended up owing like 650000 nok total before he stopped.
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can you just use vpn to get around the blocks? or do banks stop the payments anyway
 
australia gotten completely fucked for online casino. interactive gambling act bans all casino-style games from offshore operators targeting australians. at least sports betting is fine as licensed bookmakers operate legally. but online pokies, blackjack, roulette, anything casino related is blocked at federal level.
acma runs a massive blocklist. they keep adding domains constantly like every few months theres another round of blocks. saw them add a bunch more in early 2025. sites do pop up on new domains but acma just keeps whacking them down. like playing whack-a-mole lol
 
donutstreak said:
yeah you might be right about that. still massive enforcement either way. some reports said 77mil some said up to 142mil depending on what you count
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Listen folks, about that Spain enforcement you talk - in first half of year DGOJ issued around €65M in fines. By end of year industry sources reported totals ranging from €77M to €142.7M depending on which sanctioning rounds you include. Either way you're right to call it the biggest enforcement wave in Europe that year. They continued furthr actions into 2025 as well. DGOJ doesn't mess around
 
throb201 said:
australia gotten completely fucked for online casino. interactive gambling act bans all casino-style games from offshore operators targeting australians. at least sports betting is fine as licensed bookmakers operate legally. but online pokies, blackjack, roulette, anything casino related is blocked at federal level.
acma runs a massive blocklist. they keep adding domains constantly like every few months theres another round of blocks. saw them add a bunch more in early 2025. sites do pop up on new domains but acma just keeps whacking them down. like playing whack-a-mole lol
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that hurts bro seems like we all heading there
as for germany its legal but heavily restricted. interstate treaty from 2021 allows online casino and sports betting but with ton of limits. deposit limits, monthly loss caps, stake limits per spin. exact amounts vary by operator but generally you cant just dump unlimited money in. also forced product restrictions like slots have 5 secnod spin delays, certain game features are banned. its legal but neutered
 
throb201 said:
australia gotten completely fucked for online casino. interactive gambling act bans all casino-style games from offshore operators targeting australians. at least sports betting is fine as licensed bookmakers operate legally. but online pokies, blackjack, roulette, anything casino related is blocked at federal level.
acma runs a massive blocklist. they keep adding domains constantly like every few months theres another round of blocks. saw them add a bunch more in early 2025. sites do pop up on new domains but acma just keeps whacking them down. like playing whack-a-mole lol
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ok @throb201 then so how do aussies actually gamble? everyone using vpns and crypto or wha?
 
@KennyGG VPNs in Norway are technically possible but extremely risky as if you win big they can (and will) refuse payout citing terms violations or banks may block payments to gambling operators regardless of VPN. State monopoly model means they take enforcement seriously. Not worth the risk IMO. Btw @d33pl@y I guess you can confirm from your experience?
 
in netherlands we opened regulated market april 2021 under remote gambling act. ksa issues licences. first few years were okay but ksa has gotten brutal with enforcement. until they introduced new fines policy jan 2025 escalating penalties for violations.
friend of mine had account frozen for 3 weeks for "aml investigation". they wanted 6 months of bank statements, payslips, proof of address, explanation of every large transaction. invasive as hell. finally released his money but of course he switched to different site after that.
 
ReelsOfFun said:
that hurts bro seems like we all heading there
as for germany its legal but heavily restricted. interstate treaty from 2021 allows online casino and sports betting but with ton of limits. deposit limits, monthly loss caps, stake limits per spin. exact amounts vary by operator but generally you cant just dump unlimited money in. also forced product restrictions like slots have 5 secnod spin delays, certain game features are banned. its legal but neutered
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wait bro so germany has deposit limits per session or per month? looks like conflicting info
 
@Slot_Zombie yeah some use vpns. payment blocking is the real problem though and banks refuse transactions to offshore gambling sites. crypto is the workaround but then you're dealing with sketchy offshore operators with zero consumer protection. if they decide not to pay you have no recourse.
personally i just stick to sports betting with licensed aussie bookies. not worth the risk for online pokies.
 
the_dude said:
wait bro so germany has deposit limits per session or per month? looks like conflicting info
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oh dear Germany has multiple layers of restrictions under the 2021 Interstate Treaty:
  • those stake limits per individual bet/spin (varies by game type)
  • monthly deposit/loss caps (operators set within regulatory framework, often €1000-ish range)
  • dont forget session limits and mandatory breaks
  • add product restrictions (5 second spins, certain features banned)

so yea both session AND monthly controls. It's quite comprehensive restrictionwise. like main goal was to allow legal gambling while minimizing harm but a lot of players find it overly restrictive. enforcement is handled by GGL and they reviewed hundreds of cases in 2024
 
US is complete shitshow becase everything is state by state. my state only legalized sports bettin. friend in new jersey has full online casino access. literally depends where you live like some states have nothing while some have just sports bettin, some have full casino
 
CatMatt said:
@KennyGG VPNs in Norway are technically possible but extremely risky as if you win big they can (and will) refuse payout citing terms violations or banks may block payments to gambling operators regardless of VPN. State monopoly model means they take enforcement seriously. Not worth the risk IMO. Btw @d33pl@y I guess you can confirm from your experience?
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exactly mate. ive seen people try vpn route and get burned when they try to withdraw. operator asks for id verification and then bam - account closed, funds seized because you violated geo-restrictions. state monopoly is annoying but at least norsk tipping actually pays out when you win. not worth gambling with offshore sites that might just ghost you.
 
surprise surprise sweden there too. legal market regulated by spelinspektionen with licensed operators only. spelinspektionen went hard on aml enforcement in 2024-2025 and multiple operators got fined mid2025 for aml failures. theyre not messing around anymore. meqnwhile our domestic leagues (football and hockey) are absolutely plastered with betting sponsorships. commercial breaks during games are basically all betting ads. odds shown during matches. its obnoxious but completely legal since theyre licensed operators.
 
Canada is provincial regulation. Ontario opened regulated commercial market apr2022 run by igaming Ontario and regulted by AGCO.i can say works pretty well licensed commercial operators, proper consumer protections, decent game selection. rest of Canada varies widely by province.
British Columbia and Quebec have their own systems. still some provinces still dont have much legal online gambling.
 
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