Best Online Casinos for Players from Germany in 2024

Information about online casinos in Germany

Germany and online casinos have a complicated relationship.

Until a major law change in 2021, internet gambling was illegal in all German states apart from Schleswig-Holstein. This forced German players to go to foreign operators or unlicensed domestic sites. However, things are very different now.

Following the passing of the new Gambling Act, known as ISTG 21, there are now many online casinos for German players to choose from. But the challenge to find a reliable site to play on remains, and that is why we have created this dedicated guide to top online casinos in Germany.

Having a safe playing experience should be the number one priority of any casino visitor and Casino Guru wants to make sure that you find it. To help, we've designed a rating and review system to help guide you toward the best casinos for you that accept players from Germany. Read on to find out how to do this.

Table of contents:

Online gambling regulations in Germany

Despite Germany having liberal gambling laws after lifting restrictions in 1995, its online gambling laws stayed extremely strict until the introduction of the Interstate Treaty on Gambling of 2021 (ISTG 21). This was mainly because there was nothing in the country's laws that recognized online gambling as an activity, and then the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling of 2008 banned almost all forms of online gaming.

Internet betting was restricted to wagers on horse racing only, with online casino games prohibited in all but one of the German states. Online licenses were few and far between, which caused a problem in a national gambling industry worth a lot of money. Online gambling in Germany was unregulated and untaxed, meaning the national economy was missing out on tax, as well as putting German players at risk of fraud from unscrupulous casino sites.

The passing of ISTG 21, however, changed online gambling in Germany completely. For the first time ever, all German states had the power to hand out licenses to operators, allowing them to run online slots and poker games. They also had the power to decide the number of licenses available and how long they would last.

But it wasn't all good news for online casino fans. The treaty came with certain restrictions that have attracted criticism, which we can sum up as follows:

• Deposit and stake limits.
• A minimum number of seconds between plays.
• The licenses only cover online sports betting, slots and poker.
• Advertising restrictions during live events and between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• A new tax for casinos in Germany that some critics say is passed on to players through hidden charges.

Despite these restrictions, the new treaty means that Germany now has a modern online gambling industry that is regulated in line with many other European nations. It has also provided employment opportunities for citizens who can now legally work within Germany's internet betting industry.

How to choose the best German online casino for you

Thanks to the German licensing and other regulatory bodies, there are many online casinos accepting players from Germany today. By opening this page, you'll see a full list of online casinos available to German players, but checking each one would be time-consuming and unnecessary.

In order to help you find the best possible online casino, we've built a range of sorting and filter tools into this page. They can help you rearrange or narrow down the list a little to make your choice easier.

A great place to start is the 'Recommended' tab. When selected, this shows you the German casinos that have passed our test with flying colors. These will have a high Safety Index, an independent score composed of objective factors focused on player safety, including:

• The quality of the casino's customer service (including how it handles complaints)
• The casino's size and financial stability
• The fairness of its terms and conditions
• Whether it is present on any blacklists

If you'd prefer to see new casinos, then selecting the 'Newly Opened' tab will give you the freshest options for German players. While these might not be as established as other sites, they may have some generous welcome offers as they strive to build a positive reputation.

Clicking on 'All', meanwhile, will take you back to the full list.

There are also several filters you can use which remove any casinos that don't fit a certain criterion. Here's a summary of some of these:

• Payment method – Find German online casinos that accept your chosen bank, card, wallet or another specific payment method with this filter. Whether you prefer Neosurf, Instadebit, Sofort, or something else, you can find a matching casino.
• Game provider – If you have a favorite game provider, such as Novomatic or Merkur, use this filter to make sure that your chosen German online casino will allow you to play your favorite games.

German online casino bonuses

Online casino bonuses are a great marketing tool for gambling sites because they attract new players and help give the casino a good reputation. While they can be an enjoyable perk if used correctly, it's still a good idea to know how to find the best offers possible.

The two most common bonus types are deposit bonuses – prepaid spins or credit you get following a deposit – and no deposit bonuses, which are awarded just for the player signing up.

To find casino bonuses at online casinos in Germany, the best place to go to is our list of online casino bonuses where you'll see all relevant offers as of today.

As with casinos, you can arrange and filter these offers so that you find the best ones for you. 'Recommended' and 'Latest' help you find the best and newest ones respectively, while you might be interested in the 'Exclusive' section which has bonuses reserved just for Casino Guru visitors. You may need to enter a special bonus code for these, so check out their information boxes for instructions on how to claim them.

Alternatively, you can use the following filters to refine your list of choices:

• Bonus type – Choose whether you'd like to see deposit or no deposit bonuses here.
• Bonus value – Expressed in three ways, this filter will let you find the most valuable bonuses available.
• Wagering requirements (WR) – This filter includes a toggle which you can move up and down to adjust the WR limit for casino bonuses on the page. Wagering requirements are a way of the casino controlling how much they give away in free credit or spins.