Articles

Slovenia: the stable market

Slovenia, a country in Central Europe, has a population of 2.1 million people. It has been a member of the European Union since 2004. With practically no restrictions on gambling, Slovenia is an attractive GEO for gambling ad traffic.Moreover, almost all types of gambling are allowed on the country’s territory, which has online casino sites and over 10 land-based casinos.

The Internet connection speed here is as good as in the rest of Europe, with 80% of players in the country choosing online forms of gambling.

Gambling and iGaming

Gambling in Slovenia is regulated by the Gambling Act adopted in 2012, which aims to limit gambling addiction and prevent minors from experiencing the harmful effects that gambling may cause. As already mentioned, all types of gambling are allowed in Slovenia, such as table games, lotteries, slots and betting. Everyone over 18 is allowed to gamble, except those on so-called “restrictive lists.” These usually consist of people who have violated the rules or been caught cheating. 

Regarding career opportunities at casinos, potential employees need to get a permit issued by a special commission. To do this, the applicant must confirm that he or she has no criminal record and has the proper level of qualifications. 

If you want to open a casino, you need to know that gambling licenses in Slovenia are issued by the Ministry of Finance and directly by the government of the Republic. To obtain a permit, you need to submit an application that includes a description of the casino, a business plan, the rules of each proposed game, and details about the owners of the company. The decision to issue a license is also affected by many factors, such as the level of tourism in the region and the current number of existing casinos. 

And that’s not all – the authorities are required to obtain permission from the communities  situated near the future casino.

Amendments relating to the activities of online casinos were introduced into the legislation in 2016, thereby allowing online casinos with the appropriate license to operate. It's possible to obtain this license under the same conditions as the one for land-based casinos. 

There are also mechanisms that allow players to minimize damage from online gambling. For example, they can set a limit of funds that they’re willing to spend each month. If the maximum expenditure is reached, access to the casino is blocked. Sweden and some other EU countries also have such an initiative. In addition, gambling addicts can ask to close or freeze their accounts at casinos.

If we were to name the most popular online casino site in Slovenia, we would definitely pick casino.si. This platform was one of the first to have an official license and offers many types of online entertainment. 

These charts show that the income from unlicensed casinos is much higher than that of licensed casinos. 

2021-09-03