German-facing online gambling operators caught a break this week when the country’s 16 states agreed to a new arrangement wherein they will “tolerate” online gambling to a certain degree. This is a very good deal for operators who would have otherwise had to wait until July of 2021 to begin German-facing operations.
Under the terms of the toleration arrangement, online gambling operators can offer casino games and poker to legal German residents no matter where they live. This is a major leap forward from the days when all 16 German states had their own licensing schemes and operators were forced to wade through considerable red tape if they wanted to operate legally in the German market. Even then, casino and poker games weren’t legal, only a few forms of sports betting.
All this activity is taking place ahead of the actual German that’s meant to slash through the red tape and open German markets to online gambling operators. Though some German states were concerned that opening the doors to regulated online gambling ahead of the treaty was simply inviting trouble. The representatives from Bremen even went so far as to suggest that failure to enforce the pre-treaty opening could threaten the very survival of the treaty itself, according to a report on CalvinAyre.com.
Despite the lawmaker’s concerns, the pre-treaty era isn’t going to be anything like the Wild West. Operators will be capped with a €1-per-spin limit on online slots. Operators can also be certain that German authorities will be watching them like hawks and have promised major trouble for operators who are not in compliance by October 15.