The decision of where to play can be very challenging for Austrian players. For example, it would seem like playing at a local, licensed site would be a smart move, and will probably be easier from a banking perspective. However, the selection of games may be better at a site that is based offshore. With hundreds of options available, you may need to have them filtered in some way, and that is where our site can come in handy.
Our team of experts goes to great lengths to bring you the most detailed reviews of every casino available to Austrian players. We weigh factors like payment processing, security, and game selection against promotions and loyalty offers and come up with a ranking system that shows you which are the most likely for us to recommend.
You can read all of our reviews by heading to our casino review page, but if you are looking for the top-rated sites that accept Austrian deposits, then you need to look no further than the list below. We are certain that if you select any of these casinos, you will find your playing experiment to be very pleasurable.
Gambling Regulations in Austria
Austria, with a population of just over 8 million, is one of the most progressive jurisdictions when it comes to gambling, and in particular regulated online gambling. The country has a rich history of betting and has seen several high-profile companies started in the country over the years. Today, Austrians benefit from this progressive attitude by being able to choose from many legitimate options to play their favorite online slots and other games.
While both land-based and online gambling is legal in Austria, the government has imposed a long set of regulations to ensure that the gambling industry remains safe for players and out of the hands of organized crime.
The land-based industry is split into two categories, in a way that is unlike any other country we have encountered. There is asset of gaming rules for “gambling” and a different set for “Small Gambling”. Small Gambling is defined as anything where the bet size is 50 cents or lower, whereas full gambling can be at any denomination. Basically, all gambling above 50 cents is required to be in a licensed casino, while small-stakes gambling can happen anywhere. This includes slot machines and table Games as well as low-level poker. This is a very progressive way to approach gambling – the country knows it exists on a wide scale, so why not protect everyone but with rules specific to the stakes level of the player. We would love to see other gambling jurisdictions be as open to this type of legislation.
Form an online gambling perspective, the rules get a little murkier. Companies like Bwin were launched in Austria, and it is actually a publicly traded company on the Austrian stock exchange. Even though there is a precedent for approved monopolies in the country, the European Union frowns upon them, so for now, only the lottery has a monopolistic license. Online gambling has been delegated to the individual states for regulation, and as a result, multiple licenses have been awarded.
Where the legislation is split is in the detail about who can advertise and who is allowed to play. Currently, Austrian players are not restricted from playing at international online casinos. However, those sites which are unlicensed are not able to advertise within Austria, which seems like a fair trade. With respect to licensed brands, companies can apply for a license, but to be approved the casino has to have at least an office in the country. Also, the licensed site can only accept players from Austria so it would have to have a separate URL that wouldn’t allow for shared liquidity with other arms of the business. Austrian-licensed brands are able to advertise to locals through traditional channels.
Online Casino Software Available to Austrians
Here is some good news for our Austrian readers. As a result of the country allowing players to access sites from other countries, there is really no restriction on the type of software you may encounter when you are looking for a place to play. There are so many incredible software developers in this industry, it is hard to choose at times between the slots from one casino to the next. However, whenever you come to find these software suppliers, you know the quality of the games is going to be very high:
Regardless if you are looking to find a great slot machine amongst the thousands of choices or if you love to play Blackjack either with our without a Live Dealer, you are not going to go wrong with virtually every software supplier available to you.
