European Poker Regulations by Country
Online poker is legal and regulated across most of Europe, but the regulatory landscape varies significantly by country. This hub maps the frameworks, licensing bodies and player protections that govern each major market.
Why Regulations Matter
When you play on a licensed and regulated poker site in your country, several things are guaranteed by law: your funds are held in segregated accounts, you have access to mandatory responsible gambling tools, the operator is audited for fair play, and you have a domestic authority to escalate complaints to. Unlicensed operators offer none of these protections.
EUPoker covers European poker regulations factually and without commercial bias. We do not link to operators or receive payments from any licensed site.
European Markets by Status
Sweden
Open Licensed Market
Regulated since 2019. Spelinspektionen oversees all licensed operators. Spelpaus provides national self-exclusion.
Norway
State Monopoly
Only Norsk Tipping is authorised to offer gambling. Private operators are blocked. Liberalisation debated.
Germany
Open Licensed Market
Regulated under the 2021 Interstate Gambling Treaty. GGL issues federal licences. Market stabilising.
France
Open Licensed Market
ANJ regulates online poker. Ring-fenced market since 2010. France joined shared liquidity pool in 2018.
Spain
Open Licensed Market
DGOJ issues online poker licences. Spain joined shared player pool liquidity agreements with Portugal and France.
Italy
Open Licensed Market
ADM (formerly AAMS) regulates online poker since 2011. Ring-fenced market. Re-tendering in recent years.
Netherlands
Open Licensed Market
KSA issued first online licences in October 2021 following the KOA Act. Strict advertising rules apply.
Denmark
Open Licensed Market
One of Europe’s longest-running open markets (2012). ROFUS national self-exclusion system.
United Kingdom
Open Licensed Market
UKGC regulates all gambling. Post-Brexit, UK operates outside EU frameworks with its own rules.
Shared Liquidity
Since 2018, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy have participated in a shared player liquidity agreement, which allows players on those networks to compete against each other across national borders. This significantly improved traffic for those markets. Germany, Belgium and others have expressed interest but have not yet joined the shared pool as of the time of writing.
EU-Wide Framework
The European Union does not have a single gambling regulator or unified online gambling law. Gambling regulation is explicitly a member state competency under EU law. However, EU principles of free movement of services have been used in court cases to challenge national monopolies, most successfully against the Scandinavian state-monopoly models. The European Court of Justice has ruled that monopolies must be genuinely justified by public interest objectives and consistently applied.