Top EU Betting Sites

The European Union could be regarded as one entity with respect to a lot of financial affairs. That’s thanks to the EU passing economic legislation that applies to each of its 28 member states (that will become 27 after”Brexit”). However, when it comes to sports betting, the EU members remain separate, with each responsible for producing its own legal framework.
As a result, the legality of sports betting, including at online websites, varies from country to country. Below are the top EU betting sites.
USA
UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
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1
Betway
Betway makes it easy to begin and keeps you there with its massive selection and numerous methods to wager.
http://www.betway.com
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2
888sport
888sport is a fun website that makes it simple for the newcomer to get started. It also supplies enough extras to keep experienced bettors interested, although some pro-bettors might be turned off.
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3
bet365
Bet365 serves millions of bettors around the globe – the sheer variety of international leagues they cover is unparalleled, among other perks.
http://www.bet365.com
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4
William Hill
A big name that’s been in business since 1934 doesn’t need flashy promos provided that the service is dialed-in – William Hill is that title.
http://www.williamhill.com
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5
Paddy Power
One of the most popular and esteemed gambling sites in the united kingdom & Ireland, this household name provides a number of the largest odds collections in the business. With over 100 lines per game and a superior live-streaming provider, it’s not surprising that Paddy Power overlooks the UK sportsbook market.
https://www.paddypower.com
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6
Intertops
Launched in 1983 and online since 1996, Intertops is among the older guard when it comes to sports betting. Decent chances and enticing bonuses mean their strong prestige in the market is more than deserved.
https://www.intertops.eu
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7
BetOnline
Their large maximum bonus dimension is a true head-turner for larger bettors however BetOnline provides something for everybody.
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8
BetVictor
BetVictor has many decades of sportsbook experience and provide a strong all around product while nevertheless offering enticing promos and value-priced chances.
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9
BetDSI
BetDSI is similar to a luxury hotel it is possible to stay at to get a price. Their sportsbook has offerings normally only found at the bigger sites, and they offer you these at an excellent price compared to others.

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10
SBG Global
Don’t be fooled by SBG’s simple appearance and little stature; a readily available bonus structure and a wide variety to lines, teasers, and parlays make it a solid option for casual players.

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Below, we set out the legal status of online gambling in the four largest European betting regions: France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
As you will see, every country takes a legalize-and-regulate approach to online sports gambling. However, some are much more liberal and flexible with their licensing plan than others, which seriously impacts the number of legal options available to bettors.
The table below briefly summarizes the situation in every country. The resultant sections provide more detailed descriptions.
COUNTRY IS ONLINE SPORTS BETTING LEGAL? ARE ONLINE BOOKMAKERS REQUIRED TO HAVE A LICENSE? IS IT SMART/SAFE TO USE AN UNLICENSED SITE? DO ONLINE BETTORS HAVE TO PAY TAX ON WINNINGS?
France Yes Yes No Yes. If over $1,500
Germany Yes Sort of Maybe No
Ireland Yes Yes No No, except for”professionals”
Italy Yes Yes No No
Netherlands Yes, but barely Yes , but it’s withheld by the operator
Spain Yes Yes No Yes, if over $2,500
Sweden Yes Yes Maybe No, so Long as the sportsbook is licensed in EU
France
Online sports gambling is legal but heavily regulated in France. To legally offer sports wagers to French residents, a gambling sitemust be accredited by the ARJEL (Autorit?? de r??gulation des jeux en ligne, which appropriately translates into”Regulatory Authority for Online Games”).
Since the French government puts heavy tax burdens on operators, several internet websites register in other jurisdictions and yet still try to supply their services to individuals in France.
Under the current legislative framework, this is deemed illegal. Even if an online sportsbook has a permit in a foreign authority, state Gibraltar, it cannot legally provide sports-betting solutions to the French people without a permit in the ARJEL.
This is the case in many regions of the planet. On the other hand, the French governments are somewhat more proactive in policing it than many, going so far as to block access to specific sites from inside France.
[Even though ] the mere act of placing a bet at an unlicensed sportsbook may not be illegal under French law… using an unlicensed sportsbook still includes numerous dangers.
It should be mentioned that, such as in the US, the mere act of placing a wager for an unlicensed sportsbook might not be illegal under French law. The laws tend to target online gambling providers instead of the individual bettors.
However, using an unlicensed sportsbook still includes a number of dangers. You cannot be certain that unlicensed sites will remain accessible from within France. The authorities may take steps to block access and efficiently shut-down their existence in the country at any moment, since it is operating illegally.
Because of this, the safest path for sport bettors in France is to use a licensed sportsbook.
Figuring out which websites are licensed and which are not is straightforward. The ARJEL maintains an updated listing of all of the licensees on its site: http://www.arjel.fr/-Liste-des-operateurs-agrees-.html.
The ARJEL maintains an updated list of all of the licensees on its site.
The website is in French, of course, but if you’re using a web browser such as Chrome, it is simple to interpret the page to English. (While the grammar won’t be perfect, you will have the ability to decode the essential elements.)
If (when?) Your own sports-betting efforts prove profitable in France, bear in mind that everything over $1,500 must be declared as income and, as such, is taxable. According to rgweek.com, online gambling is redeemed at around 9%.
Germany
The legal standing of online sports gambling from Germany is in a state of flux and has existed for some time. The German government has sought to greatly regulate the marketplace and, in 2012, passed an amended Interstate Treaty on Gambling, which banned online betting (and online gambling in all its forms) except for those provided by the government or licensed by the regulatory authorities. (This legislation was actually a relaxation of an earlier law, which didn’t even allow for licenses and efficiently created a state monopoly.)
The new law came under siege almost as quickly as it came in to effect. Importantly, the EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that the law impermissibly limits online gambling websites based/licensed from different countries from providing their solutions to Germans.
[T]he EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that [Germany’s online betting law] impermissibly limits online websites based/licensed in other countries from offering their solutions to Germans.
The German government responded by amending the law, but only marginally, and said amendment has not come in to force. The amended law could simply raise the amount of licenses the government may grant; it wouldn’t give overseas sportsbooks carte blanche to operate in Germany. It remains to be seen whether such a law — if it comes into force — would be deemed an acceptable restriction by the courts.
What Germany is currently left with is essentially a garbage heap of legislation pertaining to internet sports betting. The laws on the books need sportsbooks to have a license to operate legally, but the laws themselves (and the licensing procedure they create) have been deemed impermissible by the EU courts.
In practice, quite a few foreign-based sports-betting websites continue to function in Germany (meaning that they continue to take German bettors and are still accessible from within Germany’s boundaries ). Unlike in France, in which the authorities have obtained a hands-on approach to restricting access to unlicensed online operators, the German authorities does not seem to be actively attempting to stop these overseas sportsbooks from operating in Germany, likely because of the condition of the existing laws.
As the International Comparative Legal Guides’ 2017 newspaper on Germany states,”[T]he licensing process for… sports gambling licenses… has been held incompatible with EU law… Criminal proceedings have… seldom been initiated. … German authorities authorities… have been unwilling to enforce gaming law violations, one explanation for this probably being that German gambling regulation has been characterised by legal uncertainty due to it facing severe criticism in light of EU law for decades now.
In connection with sports gambling… any enforcement actions brought against sports gambling operators in a situation where a criminal de facto monopoly persists (as held to be the case in Germany) is incompatible with EU law”
[I]n the infrequent instances when [German] governments do prosecute breaches of gaming laws, it’s the operator that’s held accountable, not the bettor.
The newspaper also notes , in the rare cases once the government do violate breaches of gambling laws, it’s the operator that is held accountable, not the bettor.
The final result is that Germans can feel very safe — by the state government, at least when it comes to utilizing online betting sites, whether those are licensed in Germany or elsewhere.
Selecting the Very Best and most-secure sportsbook in Germany doesn’t come down to if It’s accredited, but will instead be determined by a Large Number of other variables, such as:
A record of timely payments
A reputation for anonymity and security Available and easy-to-use help segments A huge array of deposit and withdrawal methods Strong customer service representation
A wide selection of sports markets to bet on.
Regarding taxation, only winnings in the state-run sites are taxed. Due to this disorganized and muddled legal program that currently exists, there doesn’t appear to be any process in place for taxing winnings from private online sportsbooks.
Ireland
Like many European nations, Ireland regulates online sports gambling through a licensing system. The Betting Act 2015 is the appropriate law right now, and supplies that anyone looking to give bookmaking or gambling services to individuals in Ireland has to be granted a permit from the Revenue Commissioners, which double as the Irish taxation support.
Just like any regulatory strategy, this has advantages and drawbacks for the general people. The fact that sportsbooks have to pay tax and go through the bureaucratic hoops of obtaining a license contributes to things like higher juice on the other end.
On the other hand, the licensing system also ensures that only legitimate sportsbooks offer their services to Irish residents.
How?
Under the current legal framework, the officers of the company applying for a license has to, inter alia, obtain certificates of personal fitness.
Additionally, licenses are only granted for a couple of years at one time and, according to the ICLG, among the factors that the Revenue Commissioners consider during renewal software is if the sportsbook has paid its debts. That is vital, as bettors cannot sue sportsbooks for outstanding debts in Ireland, or vice versa. (Gambling debts are generally unenforceable.) The licensing system provides an impetus for sportsbooks to operate on the up-and-up.
As with most countries, the penalties for juvenile sports betting fall almost exclusively on the operators. But Irish punters are well-advised to abide by licensed novels, nonetheless. Whether an online betting site is offering its services to Irish bettors without a permit, there is going to be a regarding reason for this. Either it doesn’t want to pay the $10,000 license fee, it does not wish to pay the applicable tax, its application was declined, etc.. No matter the reason, it leads to serious questions about the sportsbook’s legitimacy and/or fiscal health.
If it comes to taxation on gaming winnings, the typical Irish can break easy. Just professional gamblers have to pay tax in their gambling profits.
Who qualifies as a “pro”? That’s for the Revenue Commissioners and the courts to ascertain. Generally, it depends on how far a person stakes, their level of expertise, and whether or not they have another occupation.
Italy
Once upon a time, Italy was like Germany, in that it prohibited all sports betting apart from state-run sites. The same as Germany, this paradigm was deemed impermissible from the EU and Italy’s sports-betting laws have since shifted (way back in 2006).
Currently, to operate legally in Italy, gambling sites must obtain a license in the AAMS, the regulatory authority in the nation. The ones that do not are liable to penalties.
Quite unlike Germany, the regulatory and licensing system established in Italy was deemed acceptable by the EU’s Court of Justice as it is much less restrictive than the process the German’s attempted to execute. To receive a license, a site must only have a specific speed of earnings ($1.5M within the past two years), possess its servers situated within an EU member state, meet certain fee and taxation obligations, and also be”stable” and”reliable.”
When it comes to contraventions of the legal regime, the laws tend to target betting sites rather than bettors, and Italians who bet at unlicensed operators should not fear prosecution by state authorities.
However, the penalties and consequences which could be levied on an unlicensed sportsbook will be felt by that sportsbook’s users, too.
In accordance with ICLG.com,”[w]here a operator offers gaming with no license, he could face criminal… and civil charges. The site is going to be banned and added to a blacklist.”
Hence, any bettors who opt to use an unlicensed sportsbook in Italy risk losing access to that sportsbook from within the nation.
[A]ny bettors who opt to utilize an unlicensed sportsbook in Italy risk losing access to this sportsbook from within the country. … [T]he safe play for Italian bettors is to utilize a sportsbook that is licensed in Italy.
Consequently, the secure play for Italian bettors would be to utilize a sportsbook that’s licensed in Italy. Fortunately, due to the rather liberal licensing system (which allows up to 200 permits ), there are a great number of choices which offer competitive odds on the most common Italian markets, such as soccer, F1, horse racing, tennis, and cycling.
When Italian bettors hit it rich, they get to keep all their hard core spoils since sports-betting winnings are not subject to taxation in the nation.
Netherlands
Counterintuitively, the typically liberal lawmakers in the Netherlands have a very conservative approach to internet sports gambling. At present, online sports betting is illegal in the Netherlands except at the sites run from the government-controlled De Lotto corporation.
Despite the strict regulatory regime, many overseas sportsbooks provide their services to Dutch bettors. On the other hand, the regulatory authority in the Netherlands (the Kansspelautoriteit ) takes a hands-on strategy to punishing offenders and contains levied heavy fines on a number of these sites. As a result, several online sportsbooks have done away with their Dutch-language options (etc.) and there are comparatively few online betting sites that appeal to Dutch clients.
While prosecution of people who gamble at such sites is not a big concern, the potential for Dutch bettors to shed easy access for their bankroll is a huge concern in regards to using unlicensed offshore sportsbooks. You definitely do not wish to sign up with a website and then have it block Dutch IP addresses another week.
The new legal regime [set to come into effect in January 2019] enables foreign-based sportsbooks to get licenses and, consequently, offer their services to Dutch bettors.
The good thing is that the situation in the Netherlands is scheduled to change quite shortly. A new online gaming bill (the Online Gambling Bill) is scheduled to come into force on Jan. 1, 2019. The new legal regime will allow foreign-based sportsbooks to obtain licenses and, consequently, provide their solutions to Dutch bettors.
This will improve the betting market in the Netherlands by increasing competition for customers. Up to this stage, the government-run entities were unchallenged and had little reason to improve their product or their chances.
Concerning taxation, Dutch players need to pay tax at a rate or 29% of their winnings (over and over $449). But based on Alan Littler of Kalff Katz & Franssen Attorneys in Law,”While participants are liable for the tax due on a decoration, providers have to withhold the relevant amount when paying out the prize”
Spain
Since 2011 when the Spanish Gambling Act was passed, Spain has taken a nationwide legalize-and-regulate strategy to online gambling, akin to its major European allies covered above. To legally provide online betting services to Spanish citizens, gambling sites must acquire a permit from the relevant regulatory body (the Direccion General de Ordenacion del Juego, or even”DGOJ”).
This was bad news for online operators since Spain was previously akin to the Wild West. Despite law at the provincial level, it was a lawless land where anything moved and online sportsbooks operated with impunity, irrespective of place, stability, etc..
Even though the imposition of a licensing program has diminished the number of (legal) options available to Spanish bettors, that’s not necessarily a terrible thing. The regime requires sites to meet specific standards and pay certain fees, which can help ensure that only legitimate sports-betting websites are allowed to function.
As in Italy and France, it is best for Spanish bettors to utilize a licensed site, though the mere act of placing a bet at an unlicensed site doesn’t seem to be prohibited.
Why?
Consider the following from the ICLG:
[I]llegal offline gaming has always been duly prosecuted in Spain. However, [until 2011] Spanish authorities were very permissive with respect to illegal online gambling operations.” But now, those who breach pertinent gambling laws risk”large fines [and] the chance of competent authorities suspending or revoking licenses in case[s] of significant or continuing lack of compliance.
That means online gaming websites operating without a permit are liable to get their own Spanish surgeries shutdown at any stage, which could, in turn, impact users’ ability to get their own funds.
Considering that the diligence with which the authorities have attacked prohibited offline gambling, that is not a risk smart bettors could run.
How do you tell if you are using an illegal site? One requirement of getting a permit is obtaining a”.es” domain name, such as”Bet365.es” or”WilliamHill.es.” In case the URL of the website you are using doesn’t end in”. Es” it is likely operating illegally.
On the other hand, the converse isn’t necessarily true: using a”. Es” domain name doesn’t necessarily indicate that a website is accredited in Spain. So Spanish bettors should take action to verify that their website of selection has the necessary license from the DGOJ to operate in Spain. (To interpret that page to English with Google Chrome, follow these steps.)
Lastly, note that, when bettors in Spain acquire anything over $2,500, it must be declared as income and is taxed accordingly.
Sweden
The Swedish government exercises strict control over the online sports-betting market. In theory, any company can receive a license to offer online gaming goods to individuals in Sweden. However, in practice, only one entity has been granted a permit, and that’s the government-run Svenska Spel.
As in most jurisdictions with thick bureaucratic barriers-to-entry, many offshore sportsbooks provide their services to individuals in Sweden with no permit. Unlike in places such as Ireland (where licenses are readily accessible ), the simple fact that a website is accessible to Swedes without a Swedish license does not indicate anything nefarious (past the fact that it is prepared to operate in a legal grey area). Operating without a permit is the only option they have.
That doesn’t mean Swedish bettors must signup with the first site they find. You will find both quality sportsbooks and extremely dishonest ones accessible to Swedes, and performing background research is essential to choosing a safe, secure, dependable site that caters to your specific preferences.
In certain ways, the problem in Sweden is akin to that in the Netherlands. However, the Dutch regulatory body takes a more hands-on approach to penalizing juvenile sportsbooks. According to a paper by Erik Ullberg et al. in The Law Reviews, Swedish authorities are more inclined to go after the Swedish-based Businesses that assist juvenile sportsbooks than the sportsbooks themselves:
As the government do not have jurisdiction over the foreign gambling operators, they have rather concentrated on people in Sweden who take advertisements for such companies.
The result is that Swedish bettors that sign up at unlicensed offshore sportsbooks aren’t placing their bankroll at any real risk, unlike their counterparts in the Netherlands, {as long as|pro

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