Top EU Betting Sites

The European Union could be regarded as a single entity with respect to a lot of economic affairs. That is thanks to the EU passing economic laws that applies to all its 28 member states (that will become 27 later”Brexit”). But when it comes to sports gambling, the EU members remain independent, with each responsible for producing its own legal framework.
As a result, the legality of sport betting, including at online websites, varies from nation to nation. Below are the best EU betting websites.
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UNITED KINGDOM
EUROPE
ASIA
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1
Betway
Betway makes it easy to get started and keeps you there with its huge selection and numerous ways to bet.
http://www.betway.com
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2
888sport
888sport is a fun website which makes it easy for the beginner to get started. It also offers enough extras to keep seasoned bettors interested, although some pro-bettors might be turned off.
http://www.888sport.com
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3
bet365
Bet365 serves millions of bettors around the world – the sheer variety of international leagues that they pay 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 as long as the ceremony is dialed-in – William Hill is that name.
http://www.williamhill.com
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5
Paddy Power
Among the most popular and prestigious gambling sites in the UK & Ireland, this household name provides some of the largest chances selections in the business. With over 100 lines per match and a superior live-streaming provider, it is not surprising that Paddy Power dominates the UK sportsbook marketplace.
https://www.paddypower.com
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6
Intertops
Launched in 1983 and online since 1996, Intertops is one of the older guard when it comes to sports betting. Decent chances and enticing bonuses mean their solid prestige on the market is much more than deserved.
https://www.intertops.eu
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7
BetOnline
Their large maximum bonus dimension is a real head-turner for larger bettors however BetOnline provides something for everybody.
https://www.betonline.ag
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8
BetVictor
BetVictor has several decades of sportsbook expertise and provide a solid all around product whilst nevertheless offering enticing promos and value-priced chances.
http://www.betvictor.com
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9
BetDSI
BetDSI is similar to a luxury hotel you can 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 other people.
http://www.betdsi.eu
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10
SBG Global
Don’t be fooled by SBG’s easy look and little stature; an easily obtainable bonus arrangement and a wide selection for lines, teasers, and parlays make it a good solution for casual players.
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Below, we set out the legal status of internet gaming in the four largest European gambling regions: France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
As you will see, each country takes a legalize-and-regulate approach to internet sports betting. But some are far more flexible and liberal with their licensing plan compared to others, which seriously affects the number of legal options available to bettors.
The table below briefly summarizes the position in each country. The ensuing 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 from the operator
Spain Yes Yes No Yes, if over $2,500
Sweden Yes Yes Maybe No, as long as the sportsbook is accredited in EU
France
Online sports gambling is legal but heavily regulated in France. To legally offer sports wagers to French residents, a betting sitemust be licensed 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 substantial tax burdens on operators, so several internet sites register in other authorities and yet still try to supply their services to people in France.
Under the current legislative framework, this can be deemed illegal. Even if an internet sportsbook has a license in a foreign jurisdiction, say Gibraltar, it cannot legally offer sports-betting services to the French people with no permit from the ARJEL.
This is the case in several areas of the world. However, the French governments are somewhat more proactive in policing it than most, going so far as to block access to specific sites from within France.
[Even though ] the mere act of placing a wager for an unlicensed sportsbook might not be prohibited under French legislation… with an unlicensed sportsbook nevertheless includes numerous risks.
It must be noted that, such as in the US, the mere act of placing a bet for an unlicensed sportsbook may not be prohibited under French law. The legislation have a tendency to target online gambling providers instead of the individual bettors.
However, employing an unlicensed sportsbook nevertheless comes with a number of dangers. You cannot be sure that unlicensed sites will remain available from inside France. The authorities may take steps to block access and effectively shut-down their existence in the country at any time, since it’s operating illegally.
Because of this, the safest route for sport bettors in France would be to use a certified sportsbook.
Figuring out which sites are accredited and which aren’t is straightforward. The ARJEL maintains an updated listing of all the licensees on its own site: http://www.arjel.fr/-Liste-des-operateurs-agrees-.html.
The ARJEL maintains an updated listing of all of the licensees on its website.
The site is in French, obviously, but if you’re using a web browser like Chrome, then it is simple to translate the page to English. (While the grammar will not be perfect, you’ll be able to decode the vital elements.)
If (when?) Your own sports-betting efforts prove fruitful in France, be aware that everything over $1,500 must be declared as income and, as such, is taxable. In accordance with rgweek.com, online betting is taxed at approximately 9%.
Germany
The legal standing of online sports gambling in Germany is in a state of flux and has existed for some time. The German government has sought to greatly regulate the marketplace as well as in 2012, passed an amended Interstate Treaty on Gambling, which prohibited online gambling (and online gambling in all its forms) except for those provided by the government or accredited by the regulatory authorities. (This legislation was really a relaxation of a previous legislation, which didn’t even permit for licenses and efficiently made a state monopoly.)
The new law came under siege almost as quickly as it came into effect. Significantly, the EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that the law impermissibly restricts online gaming sites based/licensed from other countries from offering their solutions to Germans.
[T]he EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that [Germany’s online betting law] impermissibly restricts online websites based/licensed from other countries from providing their solutions to Germans.
The German government reacted by amending the legislation, but only slightly, and said amendment has not come in to force. The amended law could simply increase the amount of licenses that the government could grant; it would not give foreign sportsbooks carte blanche to operate in Germany. It remains to be seen whether such a law — if it comes into force — could be deemed an acceptable restriction by the courts.
What Germany is now left with is basically a crap heap of legislation pertaining to online sports gambling. The legislation on the books require sportsbooks to possess a permit to operate legally, but the laws themselves (and the licensing procedure they create) have been deemed impermissible by the EU courts.
In practice, a number of foreign-based sports-betting sites continue to function in Germany (meaning they continue to accept German bettors and are still available from inside Germany’s boundaries ). Unlike in France, where the government have taken a hands-on method of restricting access to unlicensed online operators, the German government does not seem to be actively trying to stop these foreign sportsbooks from operating in Germany, probably due to the state of the existing laws.
As the International Comparative Legal Guides’ 2017 paper on Germany says,”[T]he licensing procedure for… sports gambling licenses… continues to be held incompatible with EU legislation… Criminal proceedings have… seldom been initiated. … German authorities authorities… have been unwilling to impose gambling law offenses, one explanation for this likely being that German gambling law has been characterised by legal doubt because of it facing severe criticism in light of EU legislation for decades now.
In relation to sports gambling… any enforcement actions brought against sports betting operators in a circumstance where a criminal de facto monopoly persists (as held to be true in Germany) is incompatible with EU law.”
[I]n the rare instances when [German] authorities do prosecute breaches of gambling legislation, it’s the operator that’s held accountable, not the bettor.
The paper also notes that, in the rare cases when the authorities do prosecute breaches of gambling laws, it’s the operator that’s held liable, not the bettor.
The end result is that Germans can feel very safe — from the state government, at least when it comes to utilizing online betting sites, whether those are accredited in Germany or elsewhere.
Choosing the Very Best and most-secure sportsbook in Germany doesn’t come down to whether it is licensed, but will instead be determined by a Large Number of other variables, like:
A history of timely payments
A standing for anonymity and safety Accessible and easy-to-use help segments A huge variety of deposit and withdrawal procedures Strong customer service representation
A wide selection of sports markets to bet on.
Regarding taxation, only winnings from the state-run websites are taxed. On account of this disorganized and muddled legal regime that now exists, there doesn’t seem to be any procedure set up for taxing winnings from personal online sportsbooks.
Ireland
Like many European countries, Ireland regulates online sports betting through a licensing system. The Betting Act 2015 is the relevant law right now, and supplies that anyone looking to provide bookmaking or gambling services to individuals in Ireland has to be given a permit from the Revenue Commissioners, which double as the Irish tax support.
Just like any regulatory strategy, this has benefits and disadvantages for the general people. The simple fact that sportsbooks have to pay tax and proceed through the bureaucratic hoops of obtaining a permit contributes to things like greater juice on the opposite end.
However, the licensing system also guarantees that only legitimate sportsbooks offer their solutions to Irish residents.
How?
Under the present legal framework, the officers of this company applying for a permit must, inter alia, acquire certificates of fitness.
Additionally, licenses are only granted for a couple of years at a time and, according to the ICLG, among the variables that the Revenue Commissioners consider during renewal applications is whether the sportsbook has paid its debts. That’s important, as bettors cannot sue sportsbooks for outstanding debts in Ireland, or vice versa. (Betting debts are generally unenforceable.) The licensing system offers an impetus for sportsbooks to operate on the up-and-up.
As with most countries, the penalties for unlicensed sports betting fall almost exclusively about the operators. But Irish punters are well-advised to stick to licensed novels, nonetheless. Whether an online gaming website is offering its solutions to Irish bettors without a permit, there is going to be a regarding reason for this. Either it doesn’t wish to cover the $10,000 license fee, it does not wish to cover the related tax, its program was declined, etc.. No matter the reason, it leads to serious questions regarding the sportsbook’s legitimacy and/or financial health.
If it comes to taxation on gambling winnings, the average Irish better can rest easy. Only professional gamblers have to pay tax on 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 degree of experience, and whether they have another occupation.
Italy
Once upon a time, Italy was just like Germany, because it prohibited all sports gambling besides state-run sites. Just like Germany, this paradigm was deemed impermissible by the EU and Italy’s sports-betting laws have since changed (far back in 2006).
Currently, to function legally in Italy, gambling websites must obtain a license from the AAMS, the regulatory authority in the country. The ones who do not are liable to penalties.
Quite unlike Germany, the licensing and regulatory system established in Italy was deemed acceptable by the EU’s Court of Justice as it is much less restrictive than the procedure the German’s attempted to execute. To receive a license, a website must only have a specific speed of earnings ($1.5M over the past two years), have its servers situated in an EU member state, meet certain fee and taxation obligations, and also be”stable” and”reliable.”
When it comes to contraventions of this legal regime, the laws tend to target gambling sites instead of bettors, and Italians who bet at unlicensed operators shouldn’t fear prosecution by state governments.
However, the penalties and consequences which could be levied in an unlicensed sportsbook will be felt by this sportsbook’s users, too.
In accordance with ICLG.com,”[w]here an operator features gaming with no license, he can face criminal… and civil charges. The site will be banned and added to a blacklist.”
Hence, any bettors that opt to use an unlicensed sportsbook at 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 that sportsbook from within the country. … [T]he secure play for Italian bettors would be to use a sportsbook that’s licensed in Italy.
Consequently, the safe play for Italian bettors is to utilize a sportsbook that’s licensed in Italy. Fortunately, as a result of rather liberal licensing system (which lets up to 200 licenses), there are a multitude of options that provide competitive odds on the most common Italian markets, like football, F1, horse racing, tennis, and biking.
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 country.
Netherlands
Counterintuitively, the typically liberal lawmakers in the Netherlands have a very conservative approach to internet sports gambling. At present, online sports gambling is illegal in the Netherlands except at the sites run by the government-controlled De Lotto corporation.
Despite the strict regulatory regime, many overseas sportsbooks offer their services to Dutch bettors. On the other hand, the regulatory authority from the Netherlands (the Kansspelautoriteit ) takes a hands-on approach to punishing offenders and has imposed heavy fines on a number of these websites. As a result, several online sportsbooks have done away with their Dutch-language choices (etc.) and there are relatively few online betting sites that appeal to Dutch customers.
While prosecution of people who bet at these sites is not a large concern, the capacity for Dutch bettors to shed easy access to their own bankroll is a big concern when it comes to utilizing unlicensed offshore sportsbooks. You definitely do not want to signup with a website and then have it obstruct 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, in turn, offer their services to Dutch bettors.
The good thing is that the problem in the Netherlands is scheduled to change very shortly. A brand 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 get 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 small reason to enhance their product or their odds.
Concerning taxation, Dutch players need to pay tax at a rate or 29 percent of their winnings (over and over $449). But according to Alan Littler of Kalff Katz & Franssen Attorneys in Law,”While participants are accountable for the tax because of decoration, providers are required to withhold the relevant amount when paying the prize.”
Spain
Since 2011 when the Spanish Gambling Act was passed, Spain has obtained a nationally legalize-and-regulate strategy to online gambling, akin to its major European neighbors covered above. To legally provide online betting services to Spanish residents, gaming websites must acquire a permit from the applicable 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 regulation at the provincial level, it was effectively a lawless land where anything went and online sportsbooks operated with impunity, regardless of place, stability, etc..
Even though the imposition of a licensing regime has decreased the amount of (legal) options available to Spanish bettors, that is not necessarily a terrible thing. The program requires sites to meet certain standards and pay certain fees, which helps make sure that only legitimate sports-betting websites are permitted to operate.
As in Italy and France, it is best for Spanish players to utilize a certified website, even though the mere act of placing a wager at an official website does not seem to be prohibited.
Why?
Think about the following from the ICLG:
[I]llegal offline gaming has always been duly prosecuted in Spain. But [before 2011] Spanish authorities were very permissive with regards to illegal online gambling operations.” Now, however, those who breach pertinent gambling laws danger”large fines [and] the chance of qualified authorities suspending or revoking licenses in case[s] of significant or continuing absence of compliance.
That means online gaming websites operating without a license are liable to get their own Spanish surgeries shutdown at any point, which may, in turn, impact users’ ability to get their funds.
Given the diligence with which the authorities have attacked illegal offline gambling, that’s not a risk smart bettors would run.
How do you tell if you are using an illegal website? 1 requirement of obtaining a permit is acquiring a”.es” domain name, for example”Bet365.es” or”WilliamHill.es.” In case the URL of the website you’re using does not end in”. Es” it is likely operating illegally.
On the other hand, the converse is not necessarily true: having a”. Es” domain name doesn’t automatically indicate that a site is licensed in Spain. So Spanish bettors should take action to verify their site of choice has the necessary permit from the DGOJ to operate in Spain. (To translate that page to English using Google Chrome, follow these steps.)
Lastly, note that, when bettors in Spain win anything over $2,500, it has to be declared as income and is taxed accordingly.
Sweden
The Swedish government exercises strict control over the internet sports-betting industry. In theory, any company can receive a license to offer online gaming goods to individuals in Sweden. However, in practice, just one thing was granted a permit, and that is the government-run Svenska Spel.
As in many jurisdictions with thick bureaucratic barriers-to-entry, many offshore sportsbooks provide their services to individuals in Sweden without a license. Unlike in areas like Ireland (where permits are easily obtainable), the fact that a website is available to Swedes with no Swedish license doesn’t indicate anything nefarious (beyond the fact that it is willing to operate in a legal gray area). Operating without a permit is the only option they have.
That does not mean Swedish bettors must signup with the very first website they locate. There are both superior sportsbooks and extremely dishonest ones available to Swedes, and performing background research is vital to choosing a safe, secure, dependable site that caters to your particular preferences.
In some ways, the situation in Sweden is comparable to this in the Netherlands. However, the Dutch regulatory system requires 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 companies that assist juvenile sportsbooks than the sportsbooks themselves:
Since the authorities don’t have jurisdiction over the foreign gambling operators, they have instead concentrated on those in Sweden who carry advertisements for such companies.
The result is that Swedish bettors that sign up at unlicensed offshore sportsbooks are not putting their bankroll at any risk, unlike their counterparts in the Netherlands, {as long as|pro

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