The European Union can be considered a single entity with respect to a lot of financial affairs. That’s thanks to the EU passing economic legislation that applies to each of its 28 member countries (that will become 27 after»Brexit»). However, when it comes to sports betting, the EU members remain independent, with each responsible for producing its own legal framework.
As a result, the legality of sport betting, including at online sites, varies from nation to nation. Below are the best EU betting sites.
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
MEXICO
1
Betway
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2
888sport
888sport is a fun website which makes it easy for the newcomer to begin. It also supplies enough extras to keep seasoned bettors interested, though some pro-bettors might be turned off.
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3
bet365
Bet365 serves countless bettors around the globe – the sheer number of international leagues that they cover is unparalleled, among other perks.
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William Hill
A big name that’s been in business since 1934 does not need flashy promos as long as the service is dialed-in – William Hill is that title.
http://www.williamhill.com
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5
Paddy Power
One of the most popular and esteemed gambling sites in the united kingdom & Ireland, this household name provides some of the largest odds collections in the business. With over 100 lines per match and a premium live-streaming provider, it is no surprise that Paddy Power overlooks the UK sportsbook marketplace.
https://www.paddypower.com
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6
Intertops
Established in 1983 and online since 1996, Intertops is one of the older guard when it comes to sports gambling. Decent odds and enticing bonuses imply their strong prestige in the market is more than deserved.
https://www.intertops.eu
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7
BetOnline
Their large maximum bonus dimension is a real head-turner for larger bettors however BetOnline provides something for everyone.
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8
BetVictor
BetVictor has many decades of sportsbook expertise and provide a strong all around merchandise whilst still offering enticing promos and value-priced odds.
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9
BetDSI
BetDSI is like a luxury resort you can stay at for a price. Their sportsbook has offerings normally only found at the larger sites, plus they offer these at an excellent price compared to other people.
BetDSI Sportsbook | Sports Betting & Online Casino
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10
SBG Global
Do not be fooled by SBG’s easy look and small stature; an easily available bonus structure and a wide selection for lines, teasers, and parlays make it a good option for casual players.
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Belowwe set out the legal status of online gambling in the four biggest European betting regions: France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
As you will see, each nation takes a legalize-and-regulate approach to internet sports gambling. But some are far more flexible and liberal with their licensing plan compared to others, and that seriously impacts the number of legal options available to bettors.
The table below briefly summarizes the situation in each country. The ensuing sections provide more detailed descriptions.
COUNTRY IS ONLINE SPORTS BETTING LEGAL? ARE ONLINE BOOKMAKERS REQUIRED TO HAVE A LICENSE? IS IT SMART/SAFE TO USE AN UNLICENSED SITE? DO ONLINE BETTORS HAVE TO PAY TAX ON WINNINGS?
France Yes Yes No Yes. If more than 1,500
Germany Yes Sort of Maybe No
Ireland Yes Yes No No, except for»professionals»
Italy Yes Yes No No
Netherlands Yes, but hardly Yes , but it’s withheld by the operator
Spain Yes Yes No Yes, if over $2,500
Sweden Yes Yes Maybe No, as long as the sportsbook is licensed in EU
France
Online sports betting is legal but heavily regulated in France. To lawfully offer sports wagers to French residents, a gambling sitemust be licensed by the ARJEL (Autorit?? de r??gulation des jeux en ligne, which appropriately translates to»Regulatory Authority for Online Games»).
Since the French government puts heavy tax burdens on operators, so several online websites register in other authorities and yet still try to supply their services to people in France.
Under the current legislative framework, this is considered illegal. Even if an online sportsbook has a permit in a foreign jurisdiction, say Gibraltar, it cannot legally provide sports-betting solutions to the French people with no license in the ARJEL.
This is true in several regions of the world. On the other hand, the French authorities are somewhat more proactive in policing it than many, going so far as to block access to specific sites from within France.
[Even though ] the mere act of placing a wager at an unlicensed sportsbook might not be prohibited under French law… using an unlicensed sportsbook nevertheless includes numerous dangers.
It must be mentioned that, such as in the US, the mere act of placing a bet at an unlicensed sportsbook may not be prohibited under French law. The laws have a tendency to target online betting providers rather than the individual bettors.
However, using an unlicensed sportsbook still comes with numerous risks. You cannot be certain that unlicensed sites will stay accessible from inside France. The authorities may take action to block access and efficiently shut-down their existence in the nation at any moment, because it’s operating illegally.
Because of this, the safest path for sport bettors in France is to use a licensed sportsbook.
Figuring out which sites are licensed and which are not is straightforward. The ARJEL keeps an updated listing of all of the licensees on its website: http://www.arjel.fr/-Liste-des-operateurs-agrees-.html.
The ARJEL keeps an updated listing of all the licensees on its own site.
The site is in French, obviously, but if you are using a web browser such as Chrome, then you can easily interpret the page to English. (While the grammar will not be perfect, you’ll have the ability to decipher the vital elements.)
If (when?) Your sports-betting efforts prove fruitful in France, bear in mind that everything over $1,500 must be declared as income and, as such, is taxable. According to rgweek.com, online betting is taxed at around 9%.
Germany
The legal standing of online sports betting in Germany is in a state of flux and has been for some time. The German government has long sought to greatly regulate the marketplace and, in 2012, passed an amended Interstate Treaty on Gambling, which banned online gambling (and online gambling in all its forms) except for those provided by the government or licensed by the regulatory authorities. (This law was actually a relaxation of an earlier law, which didn’t even allow for licenses and efficiently made a state monopoly.)
The new law came under siege nearly as fast as it came in to effect. Importantly, the EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that the law impermissibly limits online gaming websites based/licensed from other countries from providing their solutions to Germans.
[T]he EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that [Germany’s online betting law] impermissibly limits online sites based/licensed from other countries from providing their services to Germans.
The German government reacted by amending the legislation, but only marginally, and said amendment has not come into force. The amended law could only increase the number of licenses that the authorities may grant; it wouldn’t offer foreign sportsbooks carte blanche to operate in Germany. It remains to be seen whether such a law — if it ever comes into force — would be deemed a suitable limitation by the courts.
What Germany is currently left with is essentially a crap heap of laws pertaining to internet sports gambling. The laws on the books require sportsbooks to possess a permit to work legally, but the laws themselves (along with the licensing process they create) have been deemed impermissible by the EU courts.
In practice, quite a few foreign-based sports-betting sites continue to function in Germany (meaning they continue to accept German bettors and continue to be accessible from inside Germany’s borders). Unlike in France, in which the authorities have taken a hands on approach to restricting access to unlicensed online operators, the German government does not appear to be actively attempting to prevent these foreign sportsbooks from operating in Germany, likely because of the state of the existing legislation.
Since the International Comparative Legal Guides’ 2017 paper on Germany states,»[T]he licensing procedure for… sports betting licenses… continues to be held incompatible with EU legislation… Criminal proceedings have… seldom been pioneered. … German authorities authorities… have been unwilling to impose gambling law violations, 1 explanation for this probably being that German gaming law was characterised by legal doubt because of it facing severe criticism in light of EU legislation for years now.
In relation to sports gambling… any enforcement actions brought against sports betting operators in a situation where a criminal de facto monopoly persists (as held to be the case in Germany) is incompatible with EU law.»
[I]n the rare instances when [German] governments do prosecute breaches of gambling laws, it’s the operator that is held liable, not the bettor.
The newspaper also notes that, in the rare cases once the government do violate breaches of gambling laws, it is the operator that is held accountable, not the bettor.
The end result is that Germans may feel very safe — by the state government, at least when it comes to utilizing online gaming websites, whether those are licensed in Germany or elsewhere.
Choosing the best and most-secure sportsbook in Germany doesn’t come down to if It’s licensed, but will rather be determined by a Large Number of additional variables, like:
A history of timely payments
A reputation for anonymity and security Accessible and easy-to-use help sections A huge array of deposit and withdrawal procedures Strong customer service representation
A broad choice of sports markets to wager on.
Regarding taxation, only winnings from the state-run websites are taxed. On account of the cluttered and muddled legal regime which now exists, there doesn’t seem to be any process set up for taxing winnings from personal online sportsbooks.
Ireland
Like most European countries, Ireland regulates online sports gambling through a licensing system. The Betting Act 2015 is the appropriate law at the moment, and provides that anyone looking to provide bookmaking or betting services to people in Ireland must be granted a license by the Revenue Commissioners, which double as the Irish tax support.
As with any regulatory system, this has advantages and disadvantages for the general people. The fact that sportsbooks have to pay tax and go through the bureaucratic hoops of obtaining a permit contributes to things like greater juice on the opposite end.
On the other hand, the licensing system also ensures that only legitimate sportsbooks offer their solutions to Irish residents.
How?
Under the present legal framework, the officers of this corporation applying for a license has to, inter alia, acquire certificates of personal fitness.
Furthermore, licenses are only allowed for two years at one time and, according to the ICLG, among those factors which the Revenue Commissioners consider during renewal software is whether the sportsbook has paid its debts. That is vital, as bettors cannot sue sportsbooks for outstanding debts in Ireland, or vice versa. (Gambling debts are usually unenforceable.) The licensing system provides an impetus for sportsbooks to function on the up-and-up.
Just like most countries, the penalties for juvenile sports gambling fall almost exclusively on the operators. But Irish punters are well-advised to stick to licensed novels, nonetheless. If an online betting site is offering its solutions to Irish bettors with no license, there will be a regarding reason for this. Either it does not wish to cover the $10,000 license fee, it does not wish to cover the related tax, its application was declined, etc.. Whatever the reason, it contributes to serious questions regarding the sportsbook’s validity and/or fiscal wellbeing.
When it comes to taxation on gaming winnings, the average Irish can break easy. Only professional gamblers have to pay tax in their betting profits.
Who qualifies as a «pro»? That’s for the Revenue Commissioners and the courts to determine. Generally, it is dependent upon how much a person bets, their level of expertise, and whether they have another occupation.
Italy
Once on a time, Italy was just like Germany, because it prohibited all sports gambling apart from state-run websites. Just like Germany, this paradigm has been deemed impermissible by the EU and Italy’s sports-betting legislation have since shifted (way back in 2006).
Now, to function legally in Italy, gaming websites must obtain a license from the AAMS, the regulatory authority in the country. The ones who do not are liable to penalties.
Quite unlike Germany, the licensing and regulatory system created in Italy has been deemed acceptable by the EU’s Court of Justice as it is a lot less restrictive compared to process the German’s attempted to execute. To get a license, a website must only have a certain speed of earnings ($1.5M over the previous two decades ), possess its servers situated within an EU member state, meet certain fee and taxation obligations, and also be»stable» and»reliable.»
When it comes to contraventions of this legal regime, the laws often target betting sites rather than bettors, and Italians who wager at unlicensed operators shouldn’t fear prosecution by state governments.
On the other hand, the penalties and consequences which could be levied on an unlicensed sportsbook would be felt by this sportsbook’s users, as well.
According to ICLG.com,»[w]here an operator offers gaming without a permit, he can face criminal… and civil fees. The site will be prohibited and added to a blacklist.»
Hence, any bettors that choose to utilize an unlicensed sportsbook at Italy danger losing access to this sportsbook from within the nation.
[A]ny bettors who opt to use an unlicensed sportsbook in Italy danger losing access to that sportsbook from inside the country. … [T]he safe play for Italian bettors is to use a sportsbook that’s licensed in Italy.
As a result, the safe play for Italian bettors would be to use a sportsbook that is licensed in Italy. Luckily, due to the fairly liberal licensing system (which lets up to 200 permits ), there are a great number of options which offer competitive odds on the most popular Italian markets, such as soccer, F1, horse racing, tennis, and cycling.
When Italian bettors hit it rich, they get to keep all their hard-won spoils since sports-betting winnings aren’t subject to taxation in the country.
Netherlands
Counterintuitively, the typically liberal lawmakers from the Netherlands have a very conservative approach to internet sports gambling. At present, online sports betting is illegal in the Netherlands except in the sites run from the government-controlled De Lotto corporation.
Despite the strict regulatory regime, many foreign sportsbooks provide their services to Dutch bettors. However, the regulatory authority in the Netherlands (the Kansspelautoriteit ) requires a hands on strategy to punishing offenders and has levied heavy fines on a number of these websites. As a result, many online sportsbooks have done away with their Dutch-language options (etc.) and there are relatively few online betting sites that cater to Dutch clients.
While prosecution of people who bet at these sites is not a big concern, the capacity for Dutch bettors to shed easy access to their own bankroll is a huge concern when it comes to using unlicensed offshore sportsbooks. You definitely don’t wish to signup with a site and then have it obstruct Dutch IP addresses another week.
The new legal regime [set to come into effect in January 2019] enables foreign-based sportsbooks to obtain licenses and, in turn, offer their solutions to Dutch bettors.
The good news is that the problem in the Netherlands is scheduled to change quite shortly. A brand new online gaming bill (the Online Gambling Bill) is scheduled to come into force on Jan. 1, 2019. The new legal regime will allow foreign-based sportsbooks to get licenses and, consequently, provide their services to Dutch bettors.
This will undoubtedly improve the betting market in the Netherlands by increasing competition for clients. Up to this stage, the government-run entities were unchallenged and had small reason to improve their product or their chances.
In terms of taxation, Dutch bettors need to pay tax at a speed or 29% of their winnings (over and over $449). But based on Alan Littler of Kalff Katz & Franssen Attorneys at Law,»While participants are accountable for the tax due on a prize, suppliers are required to withhold the relevant amount when paying out the prize.»
Spain
Since 2011 when the Spanish Gambling Act was passed, Spain has taken a nationwide legalize-and-regulate strategy to online gambling, akin to its major European neighbors covered over. To legally provide online gaming solutions to Spanish citizens, gambling sites must acquire a permit from the relevant regulatory body (the Direccion General de Ordenacion del Juego, or»DGOJ»).
This was bad news for online operators since Spain was previously akin to the Wild West. Despite law in the provincial level, it was a lawless land where anything moved and online sportsbooks worked with impunity, regardless of location, stability, etc..
While the imposition of a licensing program has diminished the number of (legal) options available to Spanish bettors, that is not necessarily a bad thing. The regime requires sites to meet certain criteria and pay certain prices, which helps ensure that only legitimate sports-betting sites are allowed to operate.
As in Italy and France, it is best for Spanish players to utilize a certified site, though the mere act of placing a wager at an official website does not seem to be prohibited.
Why?
Consider the following from the ICLG:
[I]llegal offline gaming has always been duly prosecuted in Spain. However, [before 2011] Spanish authorities were very permissive with respect to illegal online gaming operations» Now, however, those who breach applicable gambling laws risk»large fines [and] the chance of qualified authorities suspending or revoking permits in case[s] of significant or sustained absence of compliance.
That means online betting sites operating without a license are liable to get their own Spanish operations shutdown at any point, which could, in turn, impact users’ ability to get their funds.
Given the diligence with which the authorities have assaulted prohibited offline gaming, that’s not a danger smart bettors would operate.
How can you tell if you are using an illegal site? One requirement of obtaining a permit is obtaining a».es» domain name, such as»Bet365.es» or even»WilliamHill.es.» In case the URL of the website you are using does not end in». Es» it is probably operating illegally.
On the other hand, the converse is not necessarily true: having a». Es» domain name does not automatically mean that a site is licensed in Spain. So Spanish bettors should take action to confirm their website of selection has the necessary license from the DGOJ to function in Spain. (To interpret that page to English with Google Chrome, follow these directions.)
Lastly, note that, when bettors in Spain win anything over $2,500, it must be declared as income and is taxed accordingly.
Sweden
The Swedish government exercises strict control over the online sports-betting industry. In theory, any company can obtain a permit to provide online betting products to individuals in Sweden. But, in practice, only one entity was granted a license, and that is the government-run Svenska Spel.
As in most jurisdictions with thick bureaucratic barriers-to-entry, many offshore sportsbooks provide their services to individuals in Sweden with no license. Unlike in places like Ireland (where permits are easily accessible ), the fact that a website is accessible to Swedes without a Swedish permit doesn’t indicate anything nefarious (past the fact that it’s willing to function in a legal grey area). Operating without a permit is the only option they have.
That does not mean Swedish bettors should signup with the very first website they find. You will find both quality sportsbooks and extremely dishonest ones accessible to Swedes, and doing background research is vital to picking a safe, secure, reliable site that caters to your specific preferences.
In some ways, the situation in Sweden is comparable to that in the Netherlands. On the other hand, the Dutch regulatory body requires a more hands-on approach to penalizing juvenile sportsbooks. According to a newspaper by Erik Ullberg et al. in The Law Reviews, Swedish authorities are more inclined to go after the Swedish-based companies that assist juvenile sportsbooks compared to sportsbooks themselves:
As the authorities do not have jurisdiction over the offshore gaming operators, they have instead focused on those in Sweden who carry advertisements for these businesses.
The outcome is that Swedish bettors that enroll at unlicensed offshore sportsbooks aren’t putting their bankroll at any risk, unlike their counterparts in the Netherlands, {as long as|pro
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