Gambling Sector in Budapest and its Future

Hungary has a long and complicated history with legal gambling. Recently, significant progress has been made in opening the nation to fair and regulated gambling laws. Centered mainly within Budapest, major success stories are becoming increasingly common.

The first gambling laws to be enacted in modern Hungary were put to paper in the 1991 Gambling Act. The new rules stipulated that any gambling establishments from that point were to operate under the governance of the Hungarian officials, as an arm of state services. Since that point, laws have relaxed, allowing the opening of many gambling establishments.

The most famous ways to enjoy physical poker in Budapest are available within just a handful of locations spread all around the city. Most of these poker rooms operate within casinos which are heavily influenced by the legacy of Las Vegas, with at least four of them adopting the Vegas name within their own.

 Another option and one which has been growing steadily in Budapest over the last few years can be accessed through online poker. Again, in a strict sense the laws applying to play poker online confine those in Hungary to play on only state-operated services. Just as with physical casinos, however, these laws are relaxed as long as the casino in question is operated fairly and professionally.

In the last decade, both physical and online casinos have seen reliable growth not just in Budapest, but all over Hungary. This raises questions as to what interest the government might show in this sector in the future. At this point, the government seems content to operate a “no harm no foul” type of system. In the future though, given the growing customer base, it could be very possible that either the laws will officially change, or that state-developed casinos will see widespread adoption. Until then, both online and brick-and-mortar avenues are well represented and this does not look likely to change any time soon.