Hungarian online casinos for Real Money

The landlocked European Union member first made gambling legal in 1991, when it left the Soviet Union (USSR). Back then, gambling was largely illegal across the USSR. In 1991, the Law on Organising Gambling Activities was passed, which effectively made land-based casino gambling and sports betting legal. Things have changed quite a bit since then.

Today, sports betting, lottery games, bingo, and their online equivalents remain under the watchful eye of the Szerencsejáték Zrt (Games of Chance) monopoly. Only land-based casinos and online casinos are open to private companies.

To play slots in land-based venues, you’ll need to visit a casino. Pubs and slot halls were forbidden from offering slots as of 2012. Online casino gaming is a slightly different story. Following years of negotiations between the EU, Hungary and gambling companies, the Hungarian online gambling market was formally opened in 2012. However, there’s a further twist in the tale.

The European Union’s directives on online gambling mean that Hungary must open its sector to outside players (if those companies are based in the EU). Hungary – perhaps rather cleverly – limits the number of licenses it has available. While some of these have gone to so-called offshore casinos, the limited number of licenses ensures that not every operator can get a slice of the action.

Fortunately, EU law states that if a company cannot get a license in a country, they can offer their services to players there anyway, without one. Hungarian players are, therefore, entitled to play at other EU-licensed casinos. This is something that Hungary disapproves of, but they do not prosecute their citizens for signing up and playing at offshore sites.

Gambling licenses are awarded by the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (known as the NAV). They are also awarded by the Gambling Supervisory Authority (SZTFH). These gambling authorities issue licenses and regulate the casinos that are licensed by them. Two types of licenses exist – brick-and-mortar casino licenses and online casino licenses, both of which include poker games. It is worth noting that there is a woeful cap of just eleven licenses currently available, and you must run a land-based casino in Hungary to apply for one.

Alternatively, you must partner with an existing land-based venue to get a license. All those licenses are currently taken.

Fortunately, Hungary is a member of the EU, so as mentioned, Hungarians do have the option of going rogue and joining offshore casinos. There’s no punishment for doing so and considering the licensing bodies in Hungary are quite strict, other EU casinos that are well-regulated are sometimes favourable for Hungarians to local ones.

There isn’t much that Hungarians aren’t entitled to bet on. Sports betting, bingo, lotteries, video poker, table poker, slots ,and table games are all fair game. Poker is surprisingly popular in the Central European country, and some exciting games and tournaments can be found at Hungarian-licensed casinos.

Hungarian online casinos will typically feature games from established providers like NetEnt, and Evolution Gaming. Wazdan, ELK Studios, bGaming, BetSoft Gaming, Endorphina, and Playtech’s games are also hits with players at popular Hungarian casinos. There isn’t a major software that has originated in the country that most players would be familiar with, but as you can see, there are plenty of other options out there.

Hungarian online casinos are open to everyone in Hungary. However, they aren’t supposed to take players from outside the country. Hungarian identity documents are required for the KYC process, which makes this tricky for foreign players. Fortunately, foreign players have a wealth of other sites to choose from.

So do Hungarians, for that matter. Offshore casinos (those licensed in the EU and EEA) are technically illegal in Hungary, but the country doesn’t punish players for joining them. It is worth noting that many of these sites accept the Hungarian forint as a currency, and some may even provide support and gameplay in Hungarian. However, you shouldn’t expect this to be the case at all offshore casinos. Being able to play in English and with the euro is deemed necessary to play at most non-Hungarian casinos.