Romanian online casinos for Real Money

It is legal to bet in Romania, both online and offline. Romania’s Government Emergency Ordinance No. 77/2009 (on the Organisation and Operation of Gambling Activities) established that gambling in land-based venues was legal in the EU member state. Furthermore, amendments made in 2013 were made to ensure that the country’s couple of hundred slot halls were fully licensed and regulated.

Online gambling is also legal in Romania and has been since 2010. The Romanian government doesn’t limit the types of operators who can apply for a license (they don’t have to be Romanian, for instance) too much. However, they do crack down hard on unlicensed operators, with over 1,300 sites appearing on a dreaded blacklist. It would be impossible for Romania to fine offshore sites, and it is notoriously difficult to do so internationally. The blacklist is their alternative to that.

Romania operates this blacklist of casinos and sportsbooks that have been found catering to Romanians without the relevant license. This is quite an extensive list, and Romanian ISPs try to block access to these sites. A decent VPN will get you around those blocks. There are no punishments for playing at so-called offshore casinos for players, but casinos caught catering to Romanians illegally and that have been entered on the blacklist will not be allowed to apply for a gambling license – ever.

The National Gambling Office licenses and regulates casino sites in Romania. To obtain a gambling license from the Romanian authorities, an operator must offer either lottery games, sports betting, casino games, poker, slot machines, bingo, keno, tombola, or other forms of gambling games. They must also be based in Romania, the EU, EEA or in Switzerland. Operators must also provide Romanians with suitable responsible gambling protections in line with those outlined in Romania’s gambling laws. They must also pay taxes to the state on their income.

Obviously, given the size of the population and the level of tax, only the major providers are eager to obtain Romanian gambling licenses. Many of the smaller sites tend not to bother. The result is that only twenty-five or so sites have acquired licenses. There are over 1,300 sites on the blacklist, as mentioned, which shows that Romania isn’t a huge market or draw for most casino and sportsbook operators.

Romanians are free to gamble on seemingly all major forms of online betting. However, given the size of the blacklist, there are more games than sites to choose from. Romanians regularly bet on slot machines and table games. There are also plenty of live dealer titles out there that are not only streamed out of Romania but can actively be played in Romanian. They seldom accept the leu currency, though.

Arguably one of the more famous software providers to come out of Romania is GammaStack. They have even started to feature games from fledgeling providers alongside their own. There are also a handful of gambling app developers to come from the country, but these don’t tend to dabble in game development. Romanian casinos feature plenty of titles from non-Romanian software providers, though, so it Is not as though there is a shortage of games to play.

That depends on the type of casino we’re talking about. Romanian licensed online casinos can only accept players from the country. Of course, these are the casinos that support the RON currency and offer gameplay in Romanian. They will also support Romanian customer support options. However, as there are only twenty-five of these, you don’t have many options to choose from.

International casinos may also accept players from Romania. Many are blacklisted, but they can be reached with a VPN – especially cryptocurrency casinos. Some of these sites may accept the leu currency, but most Romanians choose to bet with euros or Bitcoin instead. Gameplay in Romanian is unlikely, as these sites also accept players based elsewhere.