Planning to gamble online in Hungary? – Facts you should know

Although CJEU (Court of Justice for the European Union) has taken the restrictive online gambling laws of Hungary to the woodshed again and again, the activity despite being strictly controlled by the state-operated and owned Szerencsejáték Zrt, has been growing immensely in popularity over the years.

Online gambling was legalised by the Hungarian government in the year 2013 and it has steadily gained popularity in the country since then. While there were no more than a couple of dozen gambling websites in Hungary at one point of time, more than 250 online gambling entities are doing excellent business in the country today. In fact, Hungary has some of the best Internet based casinos in all of the world.

If you’re looking to play at one of the Hungarian online casinos, and are particularly interested in online poker games, following are some important facts you should know.

The past

Gambling has been legal in this country since 1991, when it came under the regulation of National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary. Today this authority controls both online and off-line gambling activities in Hungary, through the state operated and owned Szerencsejáték Zrt.  Szerencsejáték Zrt has been controlling all kinds of online gambling operations in the country, including casinos, lotteries, sports betting etc. since 2012.

The taxation aspect

The government of Hungary imposes taxes only on the online gambling operators and service providers, allowing players to keep the winnings with themselves. Such smart tax laws introduced by the Hungarian government have enabled the country’s gambling industry to grow immensely and have made their casino websites the most attractive in the world.

Games you can play at Hungarian online casinos

You can play a good variety of online casino games at Hungarian casino websites, including slot machines, blackjack and poker. There are many portals that are actively promoting different kinds of Lotto and online sports betting too. Of late, many Hungarian online casinos have switched to mobile casino operations, owing to their immensely growing popularity among gamblers.

Gambling forms that are steadily gaining popularity in the country

Online poker

This card game is another constantly growing form of gambling in the country.

With many reputed poker players like András Koroknai and others emerging from the country, more and more Hungarians are now showing interest in poker.

As no home-grown online casino is licensed to offer poker games to Hungarians right now, people usually turn to offshore online casinos to indulge in online poker in the country. In fact, Hungarians used to turn to poker to make their ends meet at one point of time!

Lotteries

As is the case everywhere in the world, lotteries are immensely popular in Hungary as well, and you can indulge in them both online and off-line. As in case of sports betting,

lotteries are also run by Szerencsejáték Zrt. The authority offers a good variety of lottery games to the players, including Keno.

Sports betting

A great multitude of Hungarians bet on sports events both off-line as well as online each year. Considering its popularity, it doesn’t come as a surprise that sports betting has been nationalised as well and is offered by the state-owned Szerencsejáték Zrt. Any individual in Hungary can bet online on sports events through Szerencsejáték Zrt’s subsidiary Tippmix.

Online bingo

Although bingo is not as popular in Hungary as it is in some other European countries like UK, it has been gradually growing in popularity over the past few years.