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Belgium Gambling Laws – Supporting Their Own Online Casinos

Though it's perfectly legal to gamble in Belgium, they do have some stricter laws than you might come across in other European countries. For example, you need to be over 21 years of age to either gamble online or enter a land-based casino to play. Then there's the fact that the government is determined to protect its own home-grown casino industry by blocking all foreign online casinos across the internet. The only way for them to obtain a licence is to team up with a Belgian land-based casino.

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Belgium Gambling Laws

When it comes to online gambling licences in Europe, then Belgium proved itself to be ahead of the curve by being one of the first countries to licence its online casinos in 2011. The Belgian government’s gambling online law would be overseen by the Belgium Gambling Commission. This body is responsible for giving online casino operators permits in order to function. What’s interesting about the setup in Belgium is that the only way of obtaining a virtual gaming licence for an online casino is to have a land-based one connected to it. So any online entity that wants to enter the Belgium online casino marketplace and doesn’t have a real brick and mortar casino associated with it will fail to get a licence.

The Dawn Of The Internet

Before 2011, online gambling in Belgium was without any form of regulation at all. Yes, it’s true that several laws were already in place. Such as the Lotteries Act of 1851, the Gaming Act of 1999 and the National Lottery’s Act of 2002, But there was nothing specific to deal with online gambling activities. As the use of the internet for gambling began to take hold, then Belgium decided to modify the Gaming Act in 2010. Using this, the country adopted a stringent licensing regime for all online gambling activities. From this period, every operator must be able to show their gaming licence. These licensing requirements fall under the authority of the Belgian Gambling Commission (BGC).

First formed under the Gaming Act in 1999, the Belgian Gambling Commission has responsibility for the whole gaming industry within the country. As such, the BGC controls licences that have been granted to casinos as well as protects the rights of players. There are also a number of additional amendments which go towards local and foreign companies that might wish to operate a casino within Belgian itself. For example, these allow an existing land-based casino that already possesses a licence to be able to apply for an additional one in order to offer their jackpot games online

Required Belgium Gambling Licences

If we look at the best casino sites to play in Belgium, then one of the standout factors is that every online operator must have a licence that relates to a land-based casino. In fact, that’s the only way that an operator can get an online licence. As you can imagine tying separate businesses together like this has created a headache for many foreign online casino operators who wish to enter the Belgium marketplace. Nevertheless, many offshore online casinos have managed to enter the Belgium online gambling marketplace by teaming up with local land-based establishments.

For all foreign casino companies, like 22Bet Casino, Belgium looks like a country with rich pickings. Many people enjoy a very high standard of living. So you can be sure there’s a lot of excess money sloshing around waiting to be picked up by casinos.

Getting A Licence In A Roundabout Manner

With such a difficult licensing condition whereby an online licence needs to be tied to a brick-and-mortar casino within Belgium, it’s no surprise that foreign online casino companies have found a workaround. Today you’ll see that many Belgium land-based casino operators have technically leased out their licence to these international gambling companies. Of course, this is a perfectly symbiotic relationship whereby both sides benefit. This is partly because, even if a foreign entity wanted to open a land-based casino, local permits would make such an undertaking incredibly difficult.

Money Makes Thing Happen

As previously mentioned, the Belgian marketplace is very attractive to foreign companies. So it’s no surprise you’ll see that they are prepared to pay huge sums of money in order to get a foothold in the marketplace. Belgian land-based casinos can benefit from this. Particularly if they also operate an online website themselves. Keep in mind that all legal gambling activities in Belgium require an operating and active permit issued by the BGC. To actually apply for such a document you’ll need to jump through a huge number of legislative and regulative hoops. There’s no way around this.

In fact, you’ll need two licences in Belgium if you want to open a gaming website. Licences A+ and B+. If you also happen to be offering a sportsbook service then you’ll need an F+ licence. Keep in mind that these licences would already be in the hands of brick and mortar casinos.

Applying For A Belgium Gambling Licence

When it comes to online games of chance, in 2011, the gambling laws were changed with the addition of two Royal decrees. The first of these prescribed the documents necessary for the initial application. They also stipulate all oversight on its submissions and verification. The Belgium Gambling Commission processes all these applications and promises to do so within 6 months of the initial receipt. The second Royal Decree lays out the quality requirements that you’ll need to meet.

Before receiving any sort of permit, the applying casino must pay a security deposit. This will vary considerably depending on the type of licence you’re applying for. Essentially, the casino operators are paying the operational cost of the Gaming Commission through this. As well as with an annual licensing fee. The casino applying for the licence is also responsible for setting up a permanent data connection. This will be between the online website and the BGC itself.

The Legal Gambling Age In Belgium

Inevitably, in all gambling jurisdictions across the world, you’re going to come up against the legal gambling age. Belgium has a higher age limit than many other countries. You can forget about trying to bet online or enter a land-based casino if you happen to be younger than 21. The Belgium Gambling Commission also lays down some extra rules. These revolve around advertising, on the internet and with more traditional media. When you’re going to try to win the jackpot online at a casino like 22Bet Casino, always check the online casino’s terms and conditions for rules that might affect your playing experience.

Belgium Gambling Casino Blacklist

We should point out that all the rules set down by the Belgium Gambling Commission are stringent and well regulated. As well as covering other aspects such as registration, identification and age verification. When registering as an online casino in Belgium you’ll need to complete a very detailed KYC process. We should also point out that the Belgium government runs a blacklist of foreign casino websites. In fact, all casino-related websites that lack a .be domain name will find themselves on the blacklist. The government takes gambling addiction and problem gambling very seriously. So more recently the Belgium Gambling Commission has been trying to add social gaming apps to this same list. This is because these betting games, like jackpot slots, on Instagram or Facebook, attract a much younger market.