3 Countries That Once Banned Online Casinos But Brought Them Back

Online casinos have experienced great success around the world ever since the industry first began to bloom in the late 1990s, but some countries have been hesitant to allow online gambling. For a variety of reasons, many governments have restricted the use of online casinos throughout the last two decades. Fortunately, many of these countries have started to embrace the opportunity, fun, and freedom that the iGaming industry can provide, with some of these citizens now being some of the online casino world’s biggest fans!

Slovakia

The most recent change in online casino legislation comes from Slovakia, where iGaming is set to become more popular than ever. Back in 2005, laws were set in place to ban over 200 online casino platforms, including some of the world’s largest brands. However, as of 2019, online casinos in Slovakia are overseen by the state-run TIPOS national lottery organisation, who are planning to relax the laws and give the industry a great boost. Already casino comparison sites are listing which online casinos are regulated and available in Slovakia, as well as what they each have to offer (for more info, visit casino-online-sk.com). The re-introduction of online casinos in Slovakia will hopefully begin in March when the ban on many other off-shore platforms will hopefully be lifted.

Denmark

While Slovakia has the TIPOS, Denmark is home to the Danske Spil (you can read more about the company at Bloomberg.com). Before 2012, laws regarding gambling and online casinos were generally considered overly restrictive and didn’t really allow for grey areas and ambiguity. Thankfully, on January 2012, these laws were revised, and ever since then online casinos have been able to flourish far more easily throughout Denmark. The transition was so successful that even now other countries such as Ukraine that are rethinking their restriction on the iGaming industry are using it as the prime example. After all, Denmark’s success shows that countries can relax their gambling laws without things getting completely out of hand.

Romania

One such country is Romania, another European state that upheld overly strict rules when it came to online casinos. It wasn’t until the end of 2014 that the Romanian government relaxed these restrictions. The decision to do this has allowed the online casino industry in Romania to grow to incredible levels, with the country receiving a good chunk of the sector’s income.

Some countries, including Brazil, Australia, and India, are still struggling with how to deal with online casino regulations. Some pick and choose which forms of gambling are legal, while others are even more inconsistent, picking specific sites to support while outlawing others. Still, we must remember that iGaming is still a relatively young industry, and over time it’s likely that many countries will follow in the footsteps of the countries we’ve explored here.