Checked on 14 October 2026 • Reading time: 2 minutes
Since the 2021 interstate treaty, Germany has had a common legal basis for online gambling for the first time. What follows from it in practice are numbers and deadlines — not declarations of intent.
The rules a player actually notices
A deposit cap of 1,000 EUR per month, applied across operators through the central LUGAS file. A maximum stake of 1 EUR per spin on virtual slots, a minimum spin duration of five seconds, no simultaneous play of slots and live casino, a pause button that closes the account for 24 hours, and the OASIS exclusion register, which applies at all licensed operators at once. On top of that, a 5.3% turnover tax on virtual slots, which ends up in the operators’ pricing.
Who supervises, and where to look it up
Since 2023 the joint authority of the German states supervises the market and keeps a public list of licensed operators: gluecksspiel-behoerde.de. That list is the only document that answers the question "is this operator licensed in Germany?" — not a seal on a website, and not a sentence in the terms.
What is changing and what is merely discussed
In progress are stricter rules on advertising and on enforcement against unlicensed operators; under discussion are changes to the stake cap and the tax. Anyone reading figures and deadlines here should check the date: a text about "the 2026 reform" without a date is useless for that reason alone. This text was checked on 14 October 2026.
What that means for this operator
We could not prove a German licence for it, and its site answers HTTP 403 for our region. Without a licence, the protections above do not apply to it — that is the practical consequence, not a legal footnote. The technology behind them is covered in AI in player protection; how table rules move the house edge is in live tables; why limits work before you start is in four documented effects and mindset at the machine; and where the German forms of play come from is in German gaming traditions.
Frequently asked questions
How high is the German deposit cap?
1,000 EUR per month, across operators via the LUGAS file. Increases take effect only after a check; reductions take effect immediately.
How do I check whether an operator is licensed in Germany?
On the whitelist of the joint German authority. A seal or a sentence in the terms is not evidence.
Do these rules apply to operators without a German licence?
No. Which is exactly why the licence question comes first, not last.
