What is the difference between an online casino and an online gambling hall?
Not so long ago, TV advertising regularly featured online casinos and heard their thousands of games. In the meantime, however, you will mainly find online gambling halls on the Internet. Which is why many interested players naturally ask themselves where exactly the difference between an online casino and an online gambling hall actually lies. Here you will find the answer.
Online Casinos: Closed for players from Germany
When in summer 2021 the new German State Treaty on Gambling was introduced, it brought with it many important innovations. Some of these are perfectly understandable. Such as the maximum deposit limit of 1.000 euros per month. Others, however, not at all. For example, Germany also stipulated that online casinos that have a German gaming license or allow German players to be allowed to call themselves “online casinos” are no longer allowed. Instead, the individual providers should either concentrate on their own name or use the suffix “slots” or “game hall” instead of “casino”. In the eyes of many players, this doesn't really make sense. But the industry diligently followed the call and banned the term “casino” from its own name relatively quickly. According to the German State Treaty on Gambling, anyone who wants to be sure that they are playing with a reputable provider should from now on only do so on platforms that do not use the term “casino” at all – otherwise gambling would be illegal.
One can only speculate as to why Germany has a problem with the term “online casino”. Because this decision is really not committed to player protection. Since in a classic casino there are mainly table games like Poker, blackjack or Roulette are played and these are now also banned in arcades with a German gaming license, it can be assumed that the decision is related to this.
Are there no more online casinos at all?
Basically, the ban on the term “online casino” only goes back to providers who apply for a German license. However, many other casinos, such as providers with a European license from Malta, have also decided to rename their platform to "Arcade" or "Game Library". Probably as a kind of security, so as not to be excluded from German customers in the event of a (not particularly realistic) country ban. Providers with a gambling license from Curaçao, on the other hand, usually take a much more relaxed view of this. Because in this area you will find many providers who continue to call themselves online casinos and accept players from Germany. In these casinos you can usually also play the table games, jackpot slots and live games that are banned in German arcades without any problems.
Are Online Casinos Illegal Now?
When it comes to Germany, providers who continue to call their platforms casinos and offer table games, jackpots or live games are illegal. However, German players who register and play in such a casino do not have to expect to receive an ad, at least not for the moment. Because it is almost impossible to control who registers with which provider. Understandably, Germany would like to attract as many German gambling fans as possible to German online arcades. Here one new gambling tax is paid to the German state, which in turn does not apply to the casinos. But do all German players really want to stick to the sometimes immense cuts when playing? That is written on a completely different sheet.
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