I was in Germany this weekend and as UK guy who used to see 4000+ casinos I haven't seen in Germany other casinos than those German ones. I used VPN and then get to full list, but I'd like to ask if this is how it should be and why?

Hey, joe3!

That's surely an interesting question, and I'm convinced many players have felt the same. Without further delay, using a VPN is a smart way to see the full list of casinos in a specific country.

Needless to say, this was not how we intended to proceed until GGL (the local German Gambling Authority) stepped in.

I dare to say we were literally ordered to hide no DE-licensed casinos.

This is the current situation; thus, all German players who are not quite satisfied with such limitations may contact their licensing authority for further information.

Have a good one!

Do you mean that there is no longer any help for us German players with any casino complaints?

Soll hei?en, dass es für uns deutsche Spieler, bei evtl. Casinobeschwerden, von euch keine Hilfe mehr gibt?

Don't worry, the complaint process offered by the Casino Guru Resolution Center remains untouched.

Thank you very much, dear Ms. Radka!

Now a big weight falls off my heart.

Have a nice day

Greetings

Vielen Dank, liebe Frau Radka!

Jetzt f?llt mir ein gro?er Stein vom Herzen.

Noch einen sch?nen Tag

Grü?e

I was just trying to read what is known about German legislation and found that the law is limited to German territory and its people. It means that Germans will probably need to go on vacation to play legally in all the online casinos they want. Or to play via VPN as many casinos are still accepting German players. In that case, it depends also on info, if it is legal for Germans to play in unlicensed online casinos, but this I would call censorship.

Well, we're glad you breathed a sigh of relief. But when you asked, I was wondering if you had a problem with any casino at the moment ? Or were you just asking out of curiosity in case there's a situation in the future that needs a complaint ? 

Have a nice day to you too. ????

It was pure curiosity??

War reine Neugier??

Great, so I'm glad there's no problem on your side. I'm pleased if players have positive experiences and don't have to deal with negative things. Good luck for the future. ??

I visited Austria over the weekend and discovered that on their local Wi-Fi network, I could access all the casinos. This led me to wonder whether I could purchase an Austrian SIM card and use it in Germany. To my surprise, it worked in Germany as well, granting me access to all the casinos there. It appears to be a rather questionable decision on the part of GGL to hide all casinos without a German license from German players on review websites. While players can find these casinos on Google, they are unable to read reviews on trusted sites.

As a result, regular Germans are exposed to advertisements for casinos without licenses. When they decide to play at these casinos due to their appeal or better return-to-player (RTP) rates than German casinos, they may encounter issues such as non-payment, with no prior access to reviews to inform their decision. It seems to me that GGL's actions are not focused on protecting individuals, but rather on censoring the internet. You can find ads for casinos without a German license, you can search for them on Google and you can visit them, but you will not find trustworthy reviews as GGL probably warned review sites not to show them as it is illegal.

Allow me to provide a brief comparison between German casinos and UK casinos, considering my UK background (I was living there while it happened):

During the period when the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) regulated the UK market a few years ago:

1. Advertisements had to adhere to the ASA manual, with strict guidelines to avoid attracting minors. (some say it was overprotecting as they created too strict rules)
2. The UKGC implemented measures to protect players, including requirements for casinos to contribute funds to NGOs dedicated to addressing problem gambling.
3. ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) providers were involved, offering a platform for players to file complaints against casinos in case of disputes.

The UK now has a well-regulated market with many licensed casinos, totalling over 700.

When GGL was regulating the German market in the past two years:

1. Advertisement regulations existed but were not as strict as those in the UK.
2. GGL introduced a tax on spins, amounting to 5.3%. Consequently, casinos reduced the RTP on their games to compensate for this cost. In the UK, games in casinos have 94% RTP on average, while German casinos have 86% (based on average figures I collected from 20 same games).
3. A monthly limit of 1000 EUR was imposed across all casinos, driving high rollers to unlicensed casinos. While this might protect some regular-income individuals, it results in lost tax revenue from wealthier players.
4. A minimum 5-second spin duration requirement was enforced, diminishing the excitement of slot games and potentially prolonging gameplay unnecessarily.

The German market started to grow and has some 70+ casinos, but those casinos are crippled as they have only licenses for slots, compared to the UK or any other casinos which have card games, roulette and slots and other games.

I can envision the brainstorming sessions of German legislators who are eager to increase tax revenue from gambling.

1. We want to generate more revenue from gambling, so let's impose a 5.3% tax on every spin (not tax from the winning as citizens do not like to be taxed). We will be unique and collect more from those who let our citizens play more.
2. We want our citizens to have more fun. Guys, but casinos will probably decrease their games RTP due to the tax we invented, which will make our citizens unhappy as they will lose money faster. Hmm, Let's add some seconds to spin - I think a minimum of 5 seconds is great for our people. They deserve it. More is better. Yeah, we solved it!
3. We also want to show that we are protecting our citizens, so what do you think if we will impose a limit of 1000 EUR per month in all the casinos? Yeah, this will work; we are so smart!
4. I love those rules we created! Now how to do it? I have a friend who runs a software company. We will persuade all casinos to participate in this initiative, requiring them to share their players' expenditure data with us. In return, my friend will be pleased and may even compensate me after a few years. With this data about players, we'll be able to monitor who spends what and exert control over the people.

But back to reality: All my German colleagues who play in online casinos, play in casinos abroad. I know just 5 of them, so it is a pretty small sample. But I expect others to do the same.

Hopefully, GGL will not let Guru people ban my account here??. Have fun!

Hehe, I won't comment on everything you described here, but the 5.3% tax drives me crazy. GGL made the players losing faster (due to lower RTP), because they want to protect them ?? Of course that's not what they intended, but it only shows they have no clue about how online gambling works. Hiding reviews (including real user reviews) about online casinos that you can still access from Germany is another example.

You say your German colleagues play in foreign online casinos. Do they use the Austrian SIM card or simple VPN? Anyway, I don't consider it to be the best solution even if it works. The best solution would be regulating the market in "a healthy way". The UK is a good example.