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Hungary – The State Of The Casino And Sports Gambling Industry

Today it's perfectly possible to gamble both online and at brick-and-mortar casinos in Hungary. But having said that, you'll find your choices are extremely limited. For example, there's only a single licensed online casino. As for land-based casinos, there are only a handful. Due to the way the present government likes to operate, the licensing is strictly controlled to ensure that only a few friends of the prime minister can benefit from what is essentially, an exercise in money laundering.

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Gambling And Betting In Hungary

Hungary is in Central Europe, bordered by Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, and Romania. On the whole, the laws and taxation around online gambling are negative. Luckily, this does not stop European internet casinos from providing their services to Hungary. In fact, Hungarian players have a wide range of options and can partake in the most thrilling casino games in their local tongue. There are also a limited number of land-based casinos. It’s worth noting now that though things look very different from the years previous to 2012, the industry provided dozens of opportunities for gambling businesses across the nation.

Money For The Boys

However, new gaming laws that were implemented in 2012 resulted in the licencing and availability of only 8 casinos. All slot machine availability outside of these places is illegal. Even though the EU determined that Hungary is in violation of EU standards in 2016, the restriction still stands. As you’re probably aware, Hungary likes to go its own way under their prime minister, Viktor Orban. As it stands, there are a maximum of 11 casino licences available in Hungary, and the same corporation owns 5 of them. Eight of the eleven casinos really share their ownership between just two businesses, LVC Diamond and CASINO WIN.

The only online casino with a licence is Las Vegas Casino Budapest, which is also the largest casino. The largest selection of slot machines is available at the Grand Casino in Debrecen, with Onyx Casino being another good choice for travellers.

History Of Gambling In Hungary

Since knights were known to play dice games in the 15th century, gambling has a long history in Hungary. Queen Maria Theresa enacted a law in the 1750s that contributed to the nation’s monopoly on lottery gaming. The first casino opened in 1827, and it was around the same time that horse racing and card games gained popularity. Unfortunately, these gambling good times didn’t last. Over time, gambling was completely outlawed. Hungarians had to wait for the first contemporary land-based casino to open its doors in 1981.

The first sports betting and lottery services were launched in 1991, which was the same year that the Hungary Gambling Act was implemented. The cities of Budapest, Sopron, Gyor, Debrecen, and Nyiregyhaza are where you’ll find the only remaining land-based casinos in existence today. You can play jackpot poker, blackjack, roulette, and slots here. Online casino games were permitted in 2013 after the Gambling Act was modified. Regrettably, operators had to pay very hefty taxes. Unsurprisingly, this discouraged many from requesting licences.

Hungary’s Gambling Laws And Regulations

Up until 1991, all gambling was illegal throughout Hungary. Only starting in 2013, it began to be legalised gradually, including online casinos to win the jackpot. Residents are still able to gamble legally at a number of casinos and internet gambling sites, but there are still a number of limitations in place. Both traditional and online gaming falls under strict gambling laws. Gambling laws in Hungary are the responsibility of the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV), which also oversees the lottery, sports betting, and casino games played both online and at land-based casinos.

A law was implemented in 2014 allowing foreign operators to apply for casino licences, but they must pay a registration cost of up to $450,000 and 20% tax. These online casino licences are valid for 5 years. Take note that the legal gambling age in Hungary is 18.

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Government Monopoly

The country’s legal gambling is under the strict control of the Hungarian government. For online casinos to operate, they must have an official licence. Essentially, prospective candidates must jump through two hoops. First, they must first obtain a legitimate concession from the Hungarian government in order to open a physical location. After that, they can apply to the National Tax and Customs Administration for a licence to provide their services online.

Only One Online Casino In Hungary

Because of these convoluted processes, LasVegasCasino.hu is the only website with a licence in the whole of Hungary. The sole sports betting website is run by the government-owned Szerencsejték Zrt. With so much endemic governmental corruption, you can probably start seeing a pattern here. Nevertheless, it remains legal and more diverse to play jackpot games at offshore internet casinos like 22Bet Casino.

The Hungarian 2016 Gambling Act

The Hungarian Gambling Act underwent revisions in September 2016 to address remote gambling. While gamers could still play legally at offshore sites, Hungary might now penalise unlicensed sites. Internet service providers who do not prohibit unauthorised sites from advertising or providing services to Hungarian gamers also risked fines from the government, which is seeking to drive unlicensed websites off the market.

These changes help make improvements in market regulation. Along with the intention to better safeguard players. But it’s not surprising that due to a lack of options, and the fact that there are only two online casinos in Hungary with licenses. These are with respect to game selection and bonus opportunities, many players have a preference for offshore online casinos that allow Hungarians to make deposits and play.

Regulation Of Online Casinos In Hungary

There are three monopolistic regulating organisations. The first is the National Tax and Customs Administration which is in charge of issuing licences for both offline and online casinos. Next up, sports betting licences to win the football jackpot, for example, are handled by Szerencsejáték Zrt, while horse race betting licences are handled by Magyar Lóversenyfogadást-szervezó Kft. The Hungarian government oversees all Hungarian-based internet casinos. We should mention that the cost of licencing varies depending on where the operator is based.

Hungarian Gambling Taxes

While offshore operators must pay HUF 10 million for a licence, those who are based in Hungary need only pony up around HUF 5 million. Taxes might vary, and the tax rate is 30% if the yearly income is less than 10 billion forints. 10% of anything beyond 10 billion forints is on top of the 3 billion forints. Additionally, operators must pay an annual licence cost of 116 million Forints for each casino and website. This is one of the highest in Europe. There is no tax on regular gambling winnings. But if you win at an online casino or sportsbook without a license, your winnings will be the same as if it was regular income. In which case you’ll need to report and pay any taxes.

Mobile Gambling In Hungary

Hungarian mobile and tablet users can play at any top online casino in Hungary because mobile gaming is more popular than ever. Both the best Android online casino apps and Apple iOS smartphones are compatible with virtually all games. It’s the same story whether you’re playing directly in the device’s own browser or via an app. Today, all mobile websites will employ HTML5 technology, allowing you to play games directly in your browser without the need for downloading first. As a result, they load swiftly, and there are no hiccups throughout the gameplay. As a given, all modern games will automatically adapt to the size of the screen you’re playing on. In fact, the optimised screen looks fantastic with crisp graphics and great soundscapes.

Hungarian Gambling Apps

You can download a free mobile casino app from several Hungarian online casinos. You’ll find that these functions exactly like a native app from the Apple or Android app stores. With these, you can play the newest slots and table games, such as blackjack and roulette. Furthermore, you can win real money jackpots while you’re on the move. You can also make fast deposits and withdrawals, get incentives, bonuses, and promotions, and contact customer care if you need assistance. All games allow you to play in fun play demo versions for free on a lot of websites like 22Bet Casino.

Network Providers

All gadgets and mobile networks support access to Hungarian mobile online casinos. Any customer of Telekom, Telenor, Vodafone, or DIGI Mobil can play their preferred games and potentially win real money. All that’s necessary is to have an internet connection, which might be 3G, 4G, 5G, or WiFi. The sites we’ve tested for 2023 will work well on iOS and Android smartphones. If you don’t want to burn up your data plan, we advise utilising WiFi whenever possible.