SlotOnline gambling is legal and regulated in Belgium, but strictly. You may only play with operators licensed by the Belgian Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie / Commission des jeux de hasard). Each online (“plus”) licence - A+ online casino, B+ online arcade/slots, F1+ online betting - can only be held by a company that already holds the matching Belgian land-based licence, the website must be hosted on servers in Belgium, and unlicensed offshore sites are illegal and can be blacklisted and blocked.
Legal status and the regulator
Gambling in Belgium runs on the Gaming Act of 7 May 1999, which prohibits games of chance in general and then permits them only under licence. The Belgian Gaming Commission supervises and enforces the system, with the stated aim of channelling players toward legal, licensed operators and protecting them from harm.
Belgium has tightened rules sharply. The Law of 18 February 2024 (in force 1 September 2024, implemented by the Royal Decree of 12 August 2024) raised the minimum gambling age to 21 across the entire sector, prohibited gambling bonuses, gifts and free games, and required different game types to be offered on separate websites rather than one combined site.
Licensed vs offshore
| Online licence | Covers | Number available |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | Online casino | 9 |
| B+ | Online arcade / slots & dice | 180 |
| F1+ | Online betting | 30 |
A key rule: an online (“plus”) licence can only be held by an operator that already runs the corresponding land-based activity, and it may offer online only the same type of games it offers offline. If a site is not licensed by the Gaming Commission, it is operating illegally toward Belgian residents. The Gaming Commission publishes a blacklist of unlawful sites and most Belgian ISPs block access to them.
Payments Belgians use
Belgian players use everyday domestic rails: Bancontact (the national debit scheme), Payconiq, standard Visa/Mastercard and bank transfers. Identity and age are verified through the national eID card or the itsme app, which lets operators confirm you are 21+ and check the EPIS exclusion database before you deposit.
Crypto gambling status
Crypto gambling has no clear legal home in Belgium. No Belgian licence authorises a crypto-only or anonymous (“no-KYC”) platform. Because licensed operators must verify identity via eID/itsme and screen every player against EPIS, the anonymity that crypto casinos rely on is incompatible with the licensing rules. The Gaming Commission has also issued a cautionary note about the money-laundering and volatility risks of cryptocurrencies. Crypto casinos aimed at Belgian residents therefore operate without a Belgian licence.
Tax on winnings
For recreational players, gambling winnings are in principle tax-free. The exception is professional gambling (for example a professional poker player), where winnings count as professional income and must be reported to FPS Finance. Note that the Gaming Commission is not itself the tax authority - taxation of gambling falls to the regions. Operator taxation is levied on the gross gaming margin, and in practice the regions apply about 11% for online casino games and 21% for online betting.
Safer-gambling help
Belgium has some of Europe’s stronger player-protection tools:
- EPIS self-exclusion database, checked before you can play; you can also self-exclude voluntarily.
- A default weekly deposit limit of EUR 200 per website (in force since October 2022), which can be lowered instantly; increases are only granted after checks with the National Bank of Belgium.
- A general advertising ban since 1 July 2023 (Royal Decree of 27 February 2023), with a total ban on gambling ads in sports stadiums from 1 January 2025 and shirt-sponsorship restrictions tightening toward 2028.
If gambling stops being fun, use the Gaming Commission’s tools at gamingcommission.be to set limits or self-exclude, and seek support from Belgian gambling-help services.
18+ (21+ in Belgium). Gambling can be addictive - please play responsibly and use deposit limits and self-exclusion if you need them.