Greece announces 7-year gambling licenses

Yesterday, August 6th, the new legislation covering the online gambling market came into effect. It was published in the governments’ official journal, marking a new era for the Greek online landscape. It is something that has been planned and discussed over for months, and the implementation period has now arrived. Greek online bookmakers already holding a license, as well as possible new investors, will now have the opportunity to renew or buy their license under the new regulations. 

New online licenses are gonna be divided in two categories:

• Type 1 is for online betting and will cost €3.000.000
• Type 2 is for all other online games like casino, live casino and poker, and will cost €2.000.000

Any interested investor may apply for one or both types of license, through 2 separate applications, one for each type. Licenses are personal and they have a seven-year validity period. Also, they cannot be leased or shared with others by any means whatsoever. Note that betting exchanges are not covered by the new licenses. Under the new framework, betting companies and casino platforms will be able to operate on a more stable basis and come up with a longterm investment strategy for developing in the Greek market. 

Requirements  for the issuance of the new licenses:

• Applicants must be legal entities with physical presence within Greece or another EU country, with a minimum deposit fund of €200.000. 
• Board members and associates of the applicant must not have any outstanding convictions.
• Must not be blacklisted in Greece. 
• Must not have any debts tax-wise. 
• Possess the technical, professional, and financial sufficiency to organise and maintain the appropriate games of chance. 
• Have an analytic and sustainable business plan for developing their activities under the new legal framework. 

Lastly, the law sets new rules concerning top betting and payout allowances. For betting, the biggest payout is set at €500.000, for slots is €70.000 (per spin), and for jackpots is €500.000. For slots, the max stake will now be €2 per spin. The aforementioned limits do not apply for any other casino, live casino, or poker games, for which each platform may set its own limits.