Latvia gambling restrictions that would raise the minimum gambling age from 18 to 21 and limit online play to 21 hours a day won first-reading backing from the Saeima Budget and Finance Committee on 21 October.
The committee left further work on the bill to the newly elected 15th Saeima, which will decide whether to take the bill over, Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported.
What Latvia’s bill changes
The amendments to the Gambling and Lotteries Law would require gambling venues to close from 06:00 to 09:00 each day, except for totalisator and betting stakes. Lottery tickets would be sold only to adults. Online lottery play already starts at 18.
Player monitoring takes up most of the text. Players would need a personalised card or similar technology to start playing, which would record time spent, deposits and winnings. Operators that see signs of addiction risk would have to restrict further play.
Visitor registration, now mandatory only in casinos, would extend to other venues, and video recordings would be kept for at least 30 days, up from 7. Jana Salmiņa, who represented the Ministry of Finance at the meeting, told the committee the bill is “more focused on monitoring players” (translated from Latvian).
Gaming halls would need at least 25 slot machines, up from 20. Facades, shop windows and signage would follow uniform rules, food would be served away from machines and tables, and self-exclusion could apply in other EU countries if Latvia agrees data exchange with them.
Operators warn of closures
An association of Latvia’s licensed gambling operators asked for the bill to be reworked, saying player habits have changed since work on it began in 2019. It put the licensed online market at about €170m last year and the illegal market at about €62m, or 27% of online play.
The association estimates the 25-machine minimum would close about 30 venues, cut 240 jobs and reduce gambling tax revenue by about €4.46m a year. The number of venues has fallen from 636 in 2005 to 162 in January 2026, according to its figures.
It opposes the age rise, the machine minimum, the online time cap and the new data collection, and said only 5 or 6 players a year reach the 21-hour limit. It supports individual player monitoring, new game types and rules for international poker tournaments.
The legal market will not be interesting to players at all.
Emīls Jonins, representative of Latvia’s licensed gambling operators’ association, to the Saeima Budget and Finance Committee (translated from Latvian)
The Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK) also asked for a rewrite. It backs individual risk monitoring but opposes the machine minimum, the online cap and the extra data requirements, which it said could grow the illegal market and add administrative costs. Edgars Oļģerts Pavlovskis, policy expert at LTRK, said “the focus must be on individual persons” with a risk profile (translated from Latvian).
Calls for tighter rules
Aiva Vīksna, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, said the proposal is dated but that starting again would mean waiting years. She said 18-year-olds still in secondary school “should not be there” (translated from Latvian), and that online gambling and illegal platforms need control.
The party Kustība Par! wrote to the committee calling the bill too soft. It proposed a minimum of 40 machines per hall, a doubled fee per venue, a smoking ban, warnings on half of every shop window and a ban on venues in residential buildings, sports facilities and state or municipal property. It also wants licensing moved from municipalities to the state supervisor.
The Saeima backed a 21+ age limit in a first reading in June 2022, but the change was never adopted. Municipalities have tried their own limits: on 16 October the Constitutional Court upheld Daugavpils’ ban on gambling within 150 metres of buildings including apartment blocks and schools. In 2024 the court found that Riga’s broad ban lacked sufficient justification. In Romania, a March decree gave cities the power to ban gambling venues.
Next steps
The 15th Saeima, elected on 3 October, is due to hold its first sitting on 3 November. It will decide whether to take over the bill and which of the restrictions to keep. No date has been set for any of the changes to take effect.
Source: Saeima Budget and Finance Committee
