Regulated Casino

Europe is among the leading gambling regions, with many states having fully-regulated

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gambling industries. Most countries are continually amending their laws to accommodate online gambling and share significant revenue. Others are adding restrictions to discourage gambling or help curb problem gambling. This includes new bans on sponsorships by gambling operators, regulated advertising, and restricted casino bonuses, among other measures. Below is an overview of the top regulated online casino markets in Europe.

Spain is considered the most regulated online casino market in Europe and recently launched new laws to govern the gambling industry. It is one of the largest individual markets globally and has a fully-regulated sector where designated bodies govern all forms of online gambling. This implies online operators must obtain a valid gambling license. Spain also accommodates foreign operators. Although the current market is highly regulated, Spain did not have a regulated online gambling scene until 2015, when new laws legalized and decreed the gambling regulations.

Uk Regulated Casinos

Spain's gambling license

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Spain was one of the first European countries to push for the legalization of online gambling, explaining its large market. This dream became a reality when, in early 2015, new legislations legalized all forms of online gambling. Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) or Directorate-General for the Regulation of Gambling, is the main regulatory body tasked with overseeing Spanish online casinos. As such, all local operators are required to obtain a valid license from DGOJ. The process involves standard checks, like operator history and list executives. Advertising is also strictly monitored.

Player protection in Spain

Spain punters have access to one of the best complaint submission systems. All casinos and gambling operators must provide enough player protection measures, and DGOJ takes player complaints and reviews seriously. Some licenses have been pulled because of players' complaints, which show the regulatory body values player satisfaction and safety. The goal is to ensure confidential player information, including logins and financial details, are kept safe. With that said, several legitimate, regulated gambling operators provide a high level of protection.

Spain's gambling taxation

Spain imposes steep taxation requirements on operators, which is always a concern for those interested in offering gambling products to punters in the region. Currently, all operators are taxed at 25%, which is enough to keep operators in small countries. Fortunately, Spain boasts one of Europe's largest markets, which justifies the high taxation rates. Punters are also expected to declare what they win from gambling for taxation, which is 20% of the gross gaming revenue. Bingo and electronic bingo pay taxes of 15% and 30%, respectively. You can calculate the gross income by subtracting the money your bet from what you have won.

Italy

Italy is one of the European countries with a significant influence on modern gambling. The state published laws that legalized online gambling in 2011. However, gambling has been part of Italy for several decades, dating back to the Roman Empire, with the first casino opening in 1638. In 2009, the European Commission forced Italy to open doors to offshore operators, which led to further regulation of the sector. Today, punters have access to several legitimate gambling products, both online and offline.

Italy's gambling license

Before 2009, the state issued Italian gambling licenses to local operators only. However, after claims led to sanctions by the EU, Italy finally allowed offshore jurisdictions to offer gambling products to its market. The details were published in the 2009 Abrizzo Decree. Italy has the second-largest gambling market in Europe, so operators don't mind the strict financial, technical, and social requirements imposed by regulatory. All online operators must obtain a valid gambling license from AAMS (Amministrazione Autonoma del dei Monopoli di Stado Stato). Operators must also complete the authorization process facilitated by an AAMS-accredited certification body.

Player protection in Italy

Italy has strict rules that all casino operators must adhere. This includes purchasing all valid gambling licenses, renewing them on time, completing authorization, auditing all games for fair results, and deploying adequate player protection measures. Legitimate online casinos use advanced SSL certificates, 24-hour virus scans, one-time passwords (OTP), double verification, secure payment methods, and seamless support channels. Operators are also expected to pay all winners on time. Casinos that fail to abide by the rules and standards will be fined or have their licenses pulled.

Italy's gambling taxation

The Italian government taxes gambling winnings above €500, and residents are expected to declare all gambling income in their annual return. As the second-largest gambling market, the government is keen to tax all gambling income, both for punters and operators. The tax is 6% for net income (what you win minus what you stake/bet) above €500, although it is poised for a rise to 10% in the coming months. Lottery winnings are also taxed at a 6% rate, which might change to 8% when the government adjusts taxes. This shouldn't be a concern if you play from abroad.

Other highly regulated regions

Online gambling has dominated the global gambling market year after year and continues to lead in Europe. The UK, Italy, and Spain are the most engaged gambling markets, but Germany, Denmark, and France have also reported tremendous growth in the sector. The EU has an average growth rate of 10% per year, and Great Britain's bet365 gambling platform dominates in most regions. The EU also has several regulatory bodies with jurisdictions in different countries. This includes Malta Gambling Commission, Alderney Gaming Control Commission, UK Gambling Commission, Great Britain Gambling Commission, and more.

Summary

The European gambling market leads the globe with rapid growth in most countries. Many governments have gone from outlawing gambling to passing laws to govern a highly regulated industry. Punters in the UK, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark, and Germany already play online casinos regularly. Other regions are also opening doors to offshore gambling products, setting the market for increased regulation. With taxable revenue at stake, all governments will be keen to regulate operators and gambling standards.

Online casinos have gained popularity in recent years thanks to the busy lifestyle most of us have. If you like playing games of chance but have no time to visit a land-based gaming establishment, online casinos will be a perfect way to satisfy your gaming urge. However, in the US, this is still a questionable practice.

As the demand for online gaming is pretty high, new international online casinos appear daily, and most of them accept players from the US. What is more, they offer lucrative bonuses and promotions and promise the best online gaming experience you’ve always dreamt of. However, not all these casinos practice what they preach.

Some of them often turn out to be shady without being properly regulated, which may lead to cheating players and entirely disappearing from the web. In order to prevent this from happening, you should always play your favorite games of chance on reliable and trustworthy casino sites.

Again, in the US, it is not easy to determine whether online casino gaming is legal, and which online casinos can be trusted. That’s why we’ve created this text that will hopefully help you find out all about the regulated online casinos in the US, as well as the reason you should pay attention to this aspect.

The US States With Regulated Online Casinos

Until recently, US players had limited options when it comes to regulated online casinos. However, the situation has changed for the better, and it seems that more and more US states realize the benefits of regulating online casinos.

Non Regulated Casino

Still, the US states that have officially legalized online casino sites are not many. Here’s the list of all the states in which you can legally play online casino games at the time of writing this article:

New Jersey: The first US state that gave the green light to online gambling legislation was New Jersey. Today, New Jersey is home to many legal online casino sites that can be visited by US players without any fear of prosecution.
Delaware: Another state that has legalized online poker and casino games is Delaware, thus allowing its residents to enjoy online casino games within the state’s borders.
Pennsylvania: In the Keystone State, you can legally enjoy online casino games. Apart from many online casinos already operating, there are also separate online poker rooms that are getting popular thanks to the major poker provider PokerStars.
West Virginia: Thanks to the West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act from 2019, it’s officially legal to play online slots and table games in the Mountain State. Also, it is said that the residents of West Virginia can expect the first apps to come out in 2020.
Michigan: Michigan has also said yes to online casino games, and 2020 should be the year of its expansion. The state regulated online gambling by allowing Michigan’s land-based casinos to launch their online counterparts. Yet, although the legislation has been done with, we’re still waiting for practical realization.

What Is a Regulated Online Casino?

Every serious online casino that has a goal to survive in the iGaming industry must be properly regulated. To achieve this, a casino site must display excellence in the following aspects:

Legality: First and foremost, a site must operate within the state in which online gaming is officially legal. If there’s no law that strictly prohibits online gaming, it means the coast is clear.
License: Legality must be paramount to every online casino out there. A casino can’t be considered legal without a license by a trustworthy regulating body. If a casino owns a legal iGaming license, its details must be mentioned on the casino site and accessible to players at any given point in time, even before they decide to create an account.
Safety and Security: Next in line is the matter of safety and security. When registering in an online casino, players have to share their personal information that is considered sensitive. That’s why casino sites must use cyber protection measures that’ll keep players private data safe at all times. These include cutting-edge SSL encryption, the latest firewalls, DPOs or, preferably, a couple of them combined. With all this activated, you can rest assured that your sensitive data and transaction details will be kept away from any unauthorized personnel.
Fairness and randomness of games: Most games in online casinos are powered by RNG software that guarantees the outcome of each game will be absolutely random. This is supposed to ensure fair play and give all players equal chances to cash out some winnings. To stay on the right track, every respective online casino will willingly submit its platform to testing performed by an independent auditing body. These auditors are third-party organizations that test online casinos for fairness and randomness. If all turns out well, the casino gets a seal of approval that guarantees fair and square online gaming experience.
Preventing underage gambling: Although the legal gambling age differs from one country to another, casinos must monitor how old players are and prevent underage gambling. In order to do this, casino sites usually ask players to provide a copy of a legal document. Therefore, even if you put a false year of birth when creating an account, you’ll have to drop it once a casino requests documents for your account verification.
Handling complaints: No matter how good a casino site is, complaints are inevitable, as it’s virtually impossible to have control of everything all the time. While you can’t completely prevent complaints, you can handle them with skill and style. That’s why a well-regulated online casino must have responsive and polite customer support that will quickly sort out any issues players might experience.
Dealing with problem gamblers: Even though online gaming is so much fun, it can be really addictive and turn someone’s life upside-down. However, every respectful online gaming site will have an exclusion program ready at all times for players who think they need to take a break from playing online games of chance.

Why Is It Important for a Casino Site to Be Regulated?

The online gaming industry is regularly moving billions of dollars around the planet without anyone actually noticing. We get such a feeling, as we don’t know who stands behind a website that provides online games of chance we gladly pay for.

Since players are rightfully skeptical when it comes to depositing money to online casinos, the owners of these online gaming establishments decided to do something in order to become trustworthy. As you can probably guess, that’s how casino site regulation came into being.

Apart from letting players know where their money goes, online casino owners realized that the regulation of their websites could help with several other issues. Here are some of the reasons some US states decided to regulate online casinos:

To ensure legal online gaming environment;
To ensure that players feel safe and get a fair treatment;
To ensure ethical behavior towards players.

In practice, this means that players should never experience any maltreatment from the casino they play in. Furthermore, every casino that claims to be regulated has to comply with specific rules and regulations that go hand in hand with ethics and honor.

Just like a player who tries to cheat when playing casino games, the gaming site should also face the consequences in case of breaking any point of their own terms and conditions.

Unfortunately, the extinction of rogue sites that trick people into depositing money for nothing and going away with it is virtually impossible, as no organization is able to control all the casino sites that operate these days. For this, we would need a global regulatory body with sub-agencies in charge of online gaming for every country in the world.

Considering the fact the US players won’t have the state back them up if their online gaming journey on international sites goes wrong, the best thing they can do is stick to the regulated online casinos available at the moment.

Regulated Casinos

Final Thoughts

Regulation Casino Dice

In the US, online casinos are still making their way through the online gaming barriers. Several states have decided to give thumbs up to online gaming venues, and more of them are following the lead. So far, US players from several states are officially allowed to take part in online casino games, provided that they do it on state-approved platforms. We’re positive that more US states actively work on legalizing online casinos and that, soon enough, every US resident will have the opportunity to enjoy online gaming at its best.