Lithuanian online casinos for Real Money

Firstly, it is worth noting that Lithuania first legalised gambling back in 1992, shortly after it gained independence from the Soviet Union (USSR). However, to say that all forms of gambling were legal straight away would be disingenuous. In fact, only lotteries were deemed legal in Lithuania until the formation of the Gaming Law of the Republic of Lithuania in 2001. That law further legalised other forms of gambling in the EU member.

To date, the Gaming Law of the Republic of Lithuania remains the primary piece of legislation regarding all forms of land-based betting. It was amended in 2016, with that change permitted online gambling in the Baltic state. What the law does is make online gambling in Lithuania legal, assuming the operator in question has obtained a gambling license from the Gaming Control Authority. Until 2021, this only applied to Lithuanian-based gambling businesses. Since then, any operator in the world has been invited to claim a license.

Any betting site that hasn’t obtained a Lithuanian gambling license issued by the Gaming Control Authority won’t be legally permitted to offer their services to players in the country. Furthermore, Lithuania asks its internet service providers (ISPs) to actively block access to any site without said license. It is, in effect, running a blacklist. Clearly, the desire was to convince more offshore gambling companies to legally apply for a license, but with such a small population, that has proven tricky to do.

While ISP blocks are in place, this hasn’t worked. The blocks are sporadic at best, and since Lithuanians are not punished for visiting foreign sites, the number of offshore casinos catering to players in the country has grown, even after the change in regulation to permit foreign sites the chance to claim a license.

Gambling regulation and licensing fall under the remit of the Gaming Control Authority. The blocking of offshore sites is supposed to be issued by the Ministry of Finance, although with so many other matters to contend with, they aren’t exactly on the ball with this.

Just a handful of operators have applied for and obtained a license from the GCA. This means that Lithuanians don’t have much to choose from when it comes to local, homegrown casino enterprises. Lithuania is, however, operating within the EU directives and legislation relating to online gambling. In theory, this means that since foreign operators can (they choose not to) obtain a Lithuanian gambling license (from 2021), they shouldn’t be permitted to cater to players in the country. Many choose to do so because, like nationals and residents, Lithuania doesn’t crack down on them either.

Lithuanians over the legal gambling age (18 for non-casino games and 21 for any casino game) are permitted to gamble on almost anything in the country. Sports betting and casino games are both popular in the small EU member state. Lithuania participates in lottery and bingo games, while table games are also popular. In fact, live dealer table games are associated rather widely with Lithuania for one very good reason.

Many of the leading live dealer casino software providers have set up their studios in the country. It is possible, for instance, to find a good number of live dealer casino games in Evolution Gaming’s range streamed from Lithuania. There are a few local providers also dishing out games, such as Uniclub, but these tend to be limited to appearing on Lithuania-licensed online casino sites.

Lithuanian online casinos are supposed to be reserved for Lithuanian players. However, when they changed the gambling laws in 2021 (to accept foreign operators), that piece of information seemed to have been dropped. Lithuanian online casinos are typically available to play in both Lithuanian and English, although some casinos do only offer the former when it comes to languages.

Offshore casinos seldom offer gameplay to players in Lithuanian. Instead, Lithuanians tend to play at offshore and foreign sites that provide English-language gameplay. As most of these accept the euro as a currency option, things are straightforward and simple for players in the country when it comes to banking, promos and bonuses, and placing bets using a currency they know. These sites are also open to non-Lithuanians.