Serbian online casinos for Real Money

After the formation of the Republic of Serbia in 2006, the country set about legalising online gambling. However, it wouldn’t be until 2020 that the Act on Games of Chance passed. What this bill effectively does is permit games of chance (lottery games), special games (casino titles and sports betting), internet gambling and prize competition betting.

Online gambling was made legal in Serbia as far back as 2011. However, the country didn’t start to regulate the industry until 2013. The Law on Games of Chance passed in 2011 removed the previous’ state lotto, permitting foreign operators the right to get involved in Serbia’s gambling industry. However, at the same time, the law stipulates that operators who haven’t obtained a license should be blacklisted and banned by Serbia’s internet service providers.

To date, Serbia’s rather immense blacklist extends to over ten thousand gambling sites. That really doesn’t leave a lot for Serbians to choose from. While the law states that playing at offshore casinos is most definitely illegal, Serbia has chosen not to punish its citizens and residents who sign up and play at those casinos.

Serbia aspires to join the European Union. For this reason, 2021 saw the gambling acts amended. While this hasn’t made it any easier for Serbians to bet offshore, it has seen a regulated, responsible gambling policy come into play. Serbia is slowly making changes that would see its gambling laws fall in line with those found in the EU’s directives.

It is down to the Serbian Gaming Board to license any form of gambling taking place in the country. To offer their services to players in Serbia, an operator must either be Serbian or licensed in the European Union or EEA. Notably, there is a cap on the number of licenses for land-based venues, and that is set to ten. There is no cap on the number of online licenses made available, but that is thought to be around seventy sites or so at the time of writing.

As touched on, Serbia has put together responsible gambling policies to ensure that casinos take care of Serbians when betting. There are “caps” on what can be wagered. Moreover, each betting shop or operator must have specific minimum figures in the bank, ready to pay out winnings.

Casino licenses are initially immensely costly, at €500,000 a year. On the upside, they are valid for ten years, so over time, they are available at a fair price. Online gambling licenses cost €2,500 a month. However, given the relative instability in the Serbian online gambling industry, very few providers have been eager to take up the option and fork out for licenses. They know full well that if Serbia wants to join the EU, it will need to ensure that it doesn’t prosecute players for betting at offshore sites (according to EU directives).

Serbians aren’t really limited in terms of what they can bet on. There are online casinos, sportsbooks, poker rooms and bingo sites operating in the country. You can also bet on lottery games from inside Serbia. Table games (live dealer games aren’t quite as popular as RNG releases just yet) and slots tend to be the most popular casino games. However, there is no denying that sports betting is the number one way to bet in the country.

We tried to find major casino software providers with their origins or bases in Serbia. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any that ticked our boxes. Serbia may indeed have a handful of businesses involved in game development, but they either haven’t hit the big time, don’t offer their services outside of Serbia, or simply aren’t permitted to do so. Serbian casinos do feature games from established Western developers, though.

A typical Serbian online betting site will accept the RSD currency and provide gameplay and support in Serbian. Moreover, they will adhere to all the rules and regulations set forth by the Serbian Gaming Board. They are only supposed to accept players from Serbia, too.

When it comes to offshore casinos, virtually none of this is true. These sites seldom accept Serbian dinars, most don’t offer their language, and the responsible gambling tools found at these sites are in-line with whatever regulatory body they have obtained their i-gambling license from. They are, after all, international betting sites that accept Serbians, not Serbian-licensed casinos.