Gambling, casinos, slot halls and online casinos in Austria

Laws and Regulators

The Austrian Gambling Act 1989 (Glücksspielgesetz, or GSpG), which was amended in 2010, regulates gambling in Austria (https://www.global-regulation.com/translation/austria/2999042/gambling-law-amendment-2010-%2528gspg-novelle-2010%2529.html). Games of chance fall within the Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium für Finanzen, or BMF). BMF is responsible for granting licenses to provide gambling services.

GSpG introduced a national gambling monopoly. The Austrian gambling monopoly includes almost all games of chance. The few exceptions from this monopoly (betting activities, games of chance with low stakes) are regulated by regional laws (https://english.bmf.gv.at/taxation/Regulation-of-Games-of-Chance.html).

Casinos Austria AG, a part of Casinos Austria International, and the Austrian Lotteries (Österreichische Lotterien GmbH) are the only licensees in Austria. Their gaming revenues in 2018 were EUR 314.13 million and nearly EUR 3.94 billion respectively (https://www.casinos.at/downloads/Casinos-Austria-Group-Annual-Report-2018.pdf).

The Austrian Lotteries is licensed to offer different lottery games (https://www.lotterien.at/). Casinos Austria AG offers various table games and slots.

Land Based Casinos

Casinos Austria AG operates all twelve casinos currently licensed in Austria. Over 200 gaming tables and 2,000 slot machines draw more than 2.7 million visitors per year into Austrian casinos (https://leitbetriebe.at/en/casinos-austria-ag/). The official website of Casinos Austria provides information on the 12 casinos, range of games, and tournaments (https://www.casinos.at/de/casinos-austria).

The age limit is 18. Guests must have an official photo ID. Casinos monitor the frequency of visits and gambling intensity. Additionally, the casino must monitor and report any suspicious incidents (e.g. money laundering and terrorist financing) to the Austrian Financial Intelligence Unit (Österreichische Geldwäschemeldestelle).

Online Gambling

Online games can only be provided by the license-holders. The single Austrian online casino is at https://choicecasino.com/online/win-2-day the gaming site of Casinos Austria and the Austrian Lotteries. It offers classical card games, slots, video poker games, lotteries, and sports betting. Rooted in Vienna, win2day is available throughout Austria. Minors (under 18’s) are not allowed to play. To prevent gambling addiction, win2day allows its players to set up only one user account per person.