A Review Of The Online Casino Scene In Belgium
The story of online gaming in Belgium begins in 2010 when authorities there decided to regulate all forms of online gambling for its citizens.
Requiring an overriding authority to undertake the regulation, the Belgian Gaming Commission was created and in 2011 the Belgian Gambling Act came in to being in order to provide for this regulation.
Online Casino Laws In Belgium
Belgian laws require that gaming operators be physically based in the country in order to receive and operate under a gambling license, and any operators who do not comply with this requirement face still financial penalties under the regulatory act.
Unlike other jurisdictions, Belgian online gambling operators have strong ties to local land based casinos due to the laws pertaining to the Belgian Gambling Act, and the majority of online license holders either also own a land based casino, or have a partnership agreement with a land based casino.
Currently there have been 9 licenses issued to operators, and with a recent change of national government, plans are afoot to issue another two.
As part of their on-going online casino regulation attempts, the government of Belgium operates a blacklist in an attempt to contain illegally operating casinos which target Belgian citizens, and there are currently more than 80 casinos listed on this blacklist.
As with other gambling jurisdictions, the Belgian government has a keen interest in collecting tax revenue derived from the gambling revenue that online operators earn through their customers.
Belgian Casinos
A quick search for Belgian casinos reveals multiple choices, but it should be noted that many of these are operating illegally and gamers located in Belgium should utilise them with extreme caution, as they are most likely not to be in existence for a long period of time.
As the number of operating licenses is limited, so is the number of authentic, regulated casinos.
Here we list 3 online Belgian casinos that tick all of the regulatory boxes with the government of Belgium.
Casino Cruise
Casino Cruise entered the Belgian online casino market in 2014 and features over 600 games for visitors to play.
Titles from Microgaming and Net Entertainment are among those on offer and the English and German languages are available for players to choose from.
Grand Games Casino
Grand Games Casino features a number of gaming titles and the software provider Sonic Online is at the heart of their operation.
Operating languages for players include Dutch, English and French.
Unibet Casino
A well-known name in gambling circles, Unibet Casino features the type of games that players have come to expect from online gamers, as well as poker and sports betting options.
A number of providers are on-board at Unibet including Genesis, Jadestone, Microgaming and Net Entertainment.
Summary
Belgium does indeed have some of the tightest online gaming regulation around, particularly when it comes to the issuing of and retaining of online casino licenses.
All of this need not be seen as a hindrance to players though, and if anything, this perhaps provides a safer environment for visitors to its online casinos to game in and enjoy.
