All about Hungary gambling laws and age limits

The law which regulates gambling in Hungary applies to both land-based and online gambling. The law is the Act 44 of 1991 on gambling operations. The implementation of the act however falls under Decree No. 32 of 21 October 2005.

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This decree covers the authorisation, surveillance of gambling in Hungary. Responsible gaming in Hungary is covered under Decree No. 329 of 10 November 2015. This decree spells out the rules and regulation that covers responsible gaming. Horse racing is covered under joint decree No.20 of 5 November 1991 with its special rules on horse race betting. Conferring exclusive rights to the state of Hungary falls under the Act 16 of 1991 on concession. This act also spells out how all concession contracts between third parties are handled.

Hungary defines gambling as a ‘contest of chance or a game in which a player pays cash or any other form of consideration for the opportunity to participate’.

Hungary also defines gambling as the ‘receipt of a cash prize or something of value in the event of a certain outcome or future contingent event’. Since winning or losing is entirely dependent on chance and cannot be a certainty unless some sort of rigging or fixing is involved, then betting also qualifies as gambling.

 Online gambling under Hungarian laws is not clearly defined. This is because all forms of gambling can be carried out online, but when gambling is carried out through communications networks or through the use of equipment, it is defined as Remote gambling and online gambling can be classified under it. Under the law remote gambling covers all forms of sports betting with the use of networks and communication equipment.

There are regulatory and government bodies whose responsibility for the supervision of gambling falls under.

This regulatory body is the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary. All registration, licensing, supervision of slot machines, promotional contest, gambling operations fall under the purview of this regulatory body. The body does not specify how many licenses it has to issue to for gambling services. The only clause it states is for the issuance of casino licenses. All gambling services will fall under the concession contract covered under Act 16 of 1991 of concession. The law also states that the number of concessions which the state can give rest solely at the state’s discretion.

There are different gambling products which legislation has clearly identified plus the different requirements for each of these gambling products. For poker, no specific definition was given, but the Hungarian laws covers card games under which poker falls. The law defines card games as games by which a player registers or plays by been physically present, all with a pack of cards. Registering to play the card game will qualify as remote gambling.

Sports betting under Hungarian law has been broken down into specific categories.

The first specific category is Horse race betting which is includes all type betting, bookmarking on horse and greyhound races. The next category is Sports Pool which covers all bets wagered in a totaliser scheme where the player bets on the prediction of a football match outcome. There is also remote gambling which is the broader scope that covers all forms of sports betting inclusive of horse race betting, greyhound betting, bets on all sports events carried out with the aid of communication and network equipment.