Germany has raised the maximum stake for licensed online slots for the first time since it regulated the market, replacing the flat €1-per-spin cap with a tiered structure that lets some players wager up to €5. The change came into force on 1 July 2026.
Under the new rules, the €1 limit stays in place for anyone under the age of 21. Adults aged 21 and older can now stake up to €3 per spin. Players who show no signs of harmful gambling over a 90-day qualification period can bet a maximum of €5.
The decision is the first time the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) has used its powers under the Interstate Treaty on Gambling to adjust slot stake limits in response to market conditions. The stated intention is to make the licensed market more competitive against unlicensed operators based offshore.
Entain backs the change
Entain, whose bwin brand operates in the German market, welcomed the move, arguing that the €1 restriction had left licensed operators at a disadvantage. Simon Priglinger-Simader, senior regulatory affairs manager DACH at Entain and vice president of the German Online Casino Association (DOCV), said the reform sends a positive signal.
We expressly welcome the decision of the Joint Gambling Authority of the German states. It sends a positive signal for the regulated gambling market in Germany. The federal states are demonstrating that they regularly review the practical impact of existing regulations and make adjustments where necessary to achieve the objectives of the Interstate Treaty on Gambling. This includes, in particular, channelling players into legal and state-supervised offerings.
Entain reported online net gaming revenue up 5% in the first quarter of 2026, with the UK and Ireland leading growth. The group’s wider brand performance gives a sense of what is at stake for operators active in tightly regulated European markets.
A push on channelisation
Germany’s online gambling regime is among the most restrictive in Europe. Stake limits, mandatory delays between spins, and centralised affordability and player-protection controls have applied from the first day of the licensed market. The stake increase points to a shift towards channelisation, the goal of steering German consumers to licensed sites rather than unregulated offshore ones.
The GGL’s 2025 market activity report put channelisation to the regulated market at 77%, or roughly three quarters of overall online gambling activity. Licensees in the market may dispute that figure, as methodologies differ.
Priglinger-Simader argued that overly tight rules have the opposite effect to the one intended.
Experience from recent years has shown that overly restrictive regulations lead players to resort to unregulated black market offerings, where neither German player protection standards nor official controls apply. This share is steadily growing and is now already in the mid-double-digit percentage range.
The scale of unlicensed activity is a running concern for regulators across Europe. Recent estimates put unregulated online gambling at $5.9tn in staked value in 2025, a figure that frames why national authorities are weighing looser product rules against player-protection commitments.
What comes next
Germany first legalised nationwide online slots and poker under the Fourth Interstate Treaty on Gambling in 2021. Licensed slot play has grown quickly since, with virtual slot wagers reaching €4.6 billion in 2025, and operators have long argued that the €1 cap held the regulated product below what offshore rivals offer.
Priglinger-Simader signalled that the stake increase may not be the last adjustment if the regulator wants to improve channelisation further.
We hope that this decision will encourage more players to return to the regulated market.
The reform tests a central assumption of German policy: that a more competitive licensed product can pull players back from the black market without loosening the consumer safeguards the regime was built to enforce. How channelisation figures move over the next year will show whether the GGL uses its Interstate Treaty powers again.
Source: Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL)
