General and Background
Information on the new
State Treaty on Gambling

Establishing the Objectives

State Treaty on Gambling

On 1 July 2021, the State Treaty on the New Regulation of Gambling in Germany (State Treaty on Gambling 2021 – GlüStV 2021) came into force. It is the basis for the actions of the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL).

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GlüStV 2021 (PDF)

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Explanatory notes on the State Treaty on Gambling(PDF)

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Establishing the Objectives

The objectives of the State Treaty on Gambling are of equal status and have been established as follows:

The prevention of gambling addiction and compulsive betting and the creation of requirements for an effective combatting of gambling addiction,
the provision of a restricted and suitable gambling possibility as an alternative to illegal gambling that steer the natural betting urge of the population into optimised and monitored paths in addition to counteracting the development and expansion of illegal black-market gambling,
ensure a protection of the under-aged and gamblers,
ensure that gambling is carried out correctly so that gamblers are protected from fraudulent practice, which associated and accompanying crime that is associated with gambling are repelled, and that
the risks posed to the integrity of sporting competition during events and the accepting of sport bets.

The achieving of these objectives necessitates the adoption of different measures for each of the gambling forms so as to do justice to the potential risks of addiction, fraud, manipulation, and crime risks that are particular to each of the forms.

General and Background Information on the new State Treaty on Gambling

What changes does the State Treaty on Gambling 2021 include?
With the State Treaty on the Re-regulation of Gambling in Germany (State Treaty on Gambling 2021 – GlüStV 2021), Internet gambling such as virtual slot machines, online poker and online casino games, that has especially been subjected to a complete ban in the past, shall be permissible with effect from 1 July 2021, subject to restrictive requirements so that gamblers can avail themselves of a legal and safe alternative to the games that are being offered on the black market. In order to increase the protection of the gamblers in a gambling market that shall then be including a substantially larger number of offers, the possibilities of enforcement offered to public authorities shall be improved considerably on the one hand and on the other, the existing central gambler blocking file shall be expanded. The gambler blocking file shall also include amusement arcades, bars and restaurants and the localities of bookmakers with gambling machines. A customised deposit limit has also been stipulated for Internet gambling that is valid for all of the gamblers and is not to exceed 1,000 euros per month. A central file (referred to as a limit file) shall be kept in order to monitor this, it being possible for all the providers to access it. In order to prevent a parallel playing of online games that is provided by different providers necessitates the permit holders having to connect themselves to another central file.

The providers of online sports gambling, online casino games, online poker and virtual slot machine games are also to set up and operate a technical system (referred to as a Safe-Server), that records all the data that are required for the conducting of gambling supervision and that also enables an electronic check to be carried out by the responsible supervisory authority.

An additional decisive new feature in the GlüStV 2021 is the creation of a Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder. We have been set up for the purpose of assuming responsibility for the gambling supervision tasks with special responsibility for the Internet with effect from 1 July 2021 and we are a public-law institution with legal capacity that is located in Saxony-Anhalt.