Italian Casinos

Hunting for the best online casinos in Italy? Below you will find our expert-picked Italian-friendly casino sites with fast payouts and localized help.

Italy has a rich history when it comes to gambling and is regarded as the birthplace of the world’s first brick-and-mortar casino (Casinò di Venezia). It is therefore unsurprising that most forms of gambling are legal and regulated in the country, both in land-based and digital form. Remote gambling operators must obtain a license from the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) to legally provide online slots, table games, bingo, and peer-to-peer poker to players from the Boot. Apart from issuing licenses, the ADM is tasked with the regulation and taxation of the online gambling sector. The body ensures compliance, enforces penalties for violations, and promotes responsible play to mitigate gambling harm.

The country has a rather liberal regulatory framework as both foreign and domestic businesses can apply for iGaming licenses from the ADM. Italian players enjoy a healthy choice of online casinos within a mature and properly regulated market that is set to witness further growth and liberalization in the future. This article gives you an in-depth look at the current gambling regulations in Italy, alongside an unbiased ranking of the best online casinos accepting Italian players and the payment methods they support. We have included brief reviews to give you a better idea of what our recommended casinos are all about.

Most Popular Italian Online Casinos

Over 400 gambling sites are presently authorized by the ADM to offer their services on Italian soil. While having options is always great, the enormous choice local players face makes finding the best online casinos mightily difficult. But worry not, as we are here to assist you in this venture with our honest ranking of the best Italian online casinos.

We made our top picks after a painstaking vetting process spanning multiple criteria, including the range of payment methods, withdrawal speed, customer support quality, and gaming diversity. Our brief reviews provide valuable insights into the casinos recommended below to help Italian players make the right choice.

Italy’s Stance on Online Gambling

Until recently, all forms of interactive gambling that involved betting on games of chance (as opposed to games of skill) were considered illegal under Italian legislation, with sports betting being the only exception to this rule. The Italian authorities allowed only a few operators to offer such gambling services, and these were all backed by the state itself, so the number of options for players from the country was rather limited.

Thankfully for Italian gambling enthusiasts, this all changed in 2006, when the European Commission pressed the country’s government to introduce amendments to its restrictive stance on online gambling. The Commission even conducted a special investigation into the regulations concerning the gambling industry in the country.

This led to the introduction of new legislation aimed at regulating specific games of skill and opening the limited betting market to online sports betting providers based outside Italy. That being said, only operators based in countries that are members of the EU or part of the European Free Trade Association are allowed to offer their services and products to Italian residents.

The following years saw the regulation of more and more forms of interactive gambling. In 2007, games of skill, and poker in particular, were legally offered over the internet to Italian players, albeit only in the form of tournaments. In the two years that followed, yet more changes were made as video poker and cash games were also permitted online. It was not until 2010 that games of chance with fixed odds, such as craps and roulette, were added to the list of legal gambling forms Italian residents could engage in.

The investigation conducted by the European Commission targeted the restrictive online gambling legislation of the country. In fact, the Italian government had gone as far as to prevent players from accessing the websites of online gambling providers based outside the country. The Italian authorities had no option but to yield to the pressure of the European Commission, which led to the introduction of favorable amendments to Italy’s rigid interactive gambling laws.

In 2010, the country’s government finally gave the green light to foreign gambling operators, allowing them to offer their services and products in Italy. The only condition the operators are required to meet is to receive a license from the local Italian regulator – Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM), which translates as Customs and Monopolies Agency. Currently, the number of operators holding such a license exceeds one hundred, with Italian players being able to engage legally in a wide range of virtual casino games, including slots, video poker, keno, roulette, blackjack, and poker.

Italy’s Gambling Regulatory Body

All gambling activities in the country, both offline and online, are licensed and regulated by the aforementioned ADM, which is located in the capital Rome. Only this entity has a say in which online gambling operators will receive an Italian license and which ones will be denied one.

Before the ADM gives its stamp of approval to any foreign gambling operator, the latter must provide evidence that all requirements set forth by the regulatory entity are met in their entirety. This is achieved by supplying various documents concerning the social, financial, and technical aspects of the operation of interactive gambling websites based outside Italy.

The operators’ websites need to be technically up to par, ensuring their service is secure, stable, and user-friendly. In addition, virtual casinos should be based in countries that are members of the European Union. Apart from that, various taxes must be paid by the operators, but you will be able to read more on this in the section to follow.

Taxes on Online Gambling in Italy

The amount casino operators pay in taxes varies depending on the type of gambling products they offer to Italian residents. Taxes for games of skill, such as poker, are levied at a flat rate of 3%, while those for cash games are the highest at 20%.

The gambling operators are also required to pay a 0.60% tax on their annual turnover from virtual casino games. Offering bingo games comes with a tax of 11.5%, while the rates for providing sports betting and horse-race betting stand at 3.5% and 10%, respectively.

They must also pay a one-off license fee of €350,000. Please note that these are not permanent licenses, meaning they must be renewed every twelve months. Italian players, on the other hand, can rest assured that all winnings generated while betting online are theirs to keep in their entirety. No taxes are imposed on players’ profits.

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