Austrian Law on Casino Bonuses

The relevant statute in Austria is the Gambling Act (GSpG): § 3 GSpG reserves the right to operate gambling to the federal state and expressly calls this reservation the gambling monopoly. That applies to any bonus at an online casino as well. For online gambling, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) lists electronic lotteries on www.win2day.at, operated by Österreichische Lotterien GmbH, as the scope of the concession. According to the BMF, this authorisation runs until 30 September 2027.

A BMF entry for the bonus brands on OlympusBonus is not documented in the source data. According to the cited sources, their licences come from Curaçao, Kahnawake, Anjouan or the Philippine PAGCOR, and for 22Bet additionally from Estonia; some sources name no licence at all.

On bonuses themselves, case law so far exists in tax law: the VwGH assumes a stake of zero for a free spin. A dedicated bonus provision, § 57a GSpG, appears only in Government Bill 594 d.B. It has not been passed, and the Finance Committee has not yet started its deliberations.

Current law, case law and draft

Current law means the GSpG, the Criminal Code (StGB) and the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) in their present versions. Case law means the VwGH and OGH decisions that interpret individual terms. A draft is Government Bill 594 d.B., which has not been passed and therefore regulates nothing.

The table assigns every provision named here to one of these groups. What a specific offer demands, such as the playthrough before cashing out and the stake limit, is set by the operator.

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Gambling monopoly, win2day and participation from Austria

Who may offer gambling in Austria under the monopoly is published by the BMF on its page for concession holders and licensed operators. For the internet it lists one entry: Österreichische Lotterien GmbH with win2day. As the scope of the concession, the BMF expressly names electronic lotteries, that is, online gambling. A second concession holder for online gambling is not documented in the source data.

The operators of the brands on this page are not listed as concession holders in the BMF register. According to the sources, their licences come from Curaçao for Jet and from Kahnawake for National, from Curaçao and Kahnawake for Bizzo, from the Philippine PAGCOR or Anjouan for Wazamba and from Curaçao, Kahnawake and Estonia for 22Bet; some sources name no licence at all.

For players, the BMF answers directly in its FAQ on the gambling monopoly: participation in foreign electronic lotteries from within Austria is not permitted. The penal provision is § 52 para. 5 GSpG. It makes participation in unlicensed electronic lotteries punishable where the stakes are placed from within Austria.

The Act also states the amount: up to €7,500 for intentional participation, otherwise up to €1,500. § 52 GSpG deals with administrative offences. Criminal law proper is separate. Here the BMF refers to § 168 para. 2 StGB: the ordinary player remains criminally unpunished, provided he or she does not gamble on a commercial basis. What a bonus is in legal terms has so far been answered by the VwGH in tax law.

Licences of the listed casinos

All third-party data is as of 15 October 2026.

Bizzo: According to casino.guru, Bizzo holds a Curaçao Gaming Authority licence with the number OGL/2024/590/0758. The list of restricted countries that AskGamblers reproduces in part includes Israel, the Netherlands, Turkey, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine and Malta. Austria is not named there; according to AskGamblers the full list is in the terms and conditions. An own check of the list in the terms is not documented.

National: For National, casino.guru names the Kahnawake Gaming Commission as licensor, while LCB states: no licence. Nothing is documented on Austria's status in the terms.

Wazamba: In its own website texts, Wazamba states an Offshore Gaming License from PAGCOR (Philippines) with the number 22-0025. AskGamblers names the Anjouan Gaming Board, and according to casino.guru the offer runs without a valid licence. Wazamba itself names Liernin Enterprises LTD (Marshall Islands) as operator, casino.guru names Naale Limited. Austria is not in the list of "Excluded Jurisdictions" (T&C section 2, item 3). In the terms of the sports first-deposit bonus, Austria is expressly mentioned in connection with the maximum bonus amount.

Jet: For Jet, casino.guru names the Curaçao Gaming Authority with the number OGL/2024/169/0146. LCB lists Austria in the country list of its own exclusive offer for Jet Casino; a country list from the operator's terms is not documented.

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One overlap stands out: casino.guru gives the same licence number OGL/2024/590/0758 for both Bizzo and 22Bet, and TechSolutions Group N.V. appears as operator for both brands.

Concession system and EU law

On whether the Austrian monopoly is compatible with EU law, there is a recent decision. In 6 Ob 157/25v the OGH held that the Austrian concession system does not breach EU law. The BMF writes in its FAQ on the gambling monopoly that a concession from another EU or EEA state does not entitle the holder to offer gambling in Austria.

This becomes practical for brands that state an EU licence alongside an offshore one. For 22Bet, the English version of casino.guru names Kahnawake, Estonia (Tax and Customs Board) and Curaçao, while the German version names Curaçao with the number OGL/2024/590/0758 and Kahnawake. AskGamblers lists Curaçao, Kahnawake, Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya.

For 22Bet, Austria is not in the list of restricted countries that news.22bet.com reproduces from the terms. The countries named there are the United Kingdom, Russia, the USA, Belarus, Latvia, Cyprus, France, Israel, Estonia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Malta, the United Arab Emirates and Belgium. The terms themselves could not be retrieved. A country missing from a restriction list says something only about the operator's terms and conditions, nothing about Austrian law.

Bonuses in tax law

The most important case law on bonuses comes from proceedings on gambling duties. There the VwGH has formulated three statements that relate directly to bonus offers.

• Concept of stake: A stake is everything the player must spend to obtain the chance of winning.
• Free spin: For a free spin, a stake of zero is to be assumed for that participant.
• No deduction: Bonuses granted, such as discounts and free spins, may not be deducted as winnings paid out, because they are not the result of a gaming round.

The VwGH confirmed this line in 2024.

For the operator this means that bonus credit may not be treated like winnings paid out when calculating duties. The concept of stake explains why a free spin counts differently in law from a spin with own money: with a free spin the player spends nothing, so according to the VwGH there is no stake.

The VwGH's concept of stake has nothing to do with the limit that bonus terms set as maximum bet per round. The one is a contractual rule of the operator for its bonus credit, the other a concept of tax law.

Planned bonus rules from 2027

The GSpG amendment sits as Government Bill 594 d.B. in the Finance Committee of the National Council. Deliberations have not started and nothing has been passed. Everything in this section is therefore planned and subject to a resolution.

§ 57a (planned): According to the Government Bill, § 57a defines bonuses as free or partly paid stakes and expressly includes free spins. Bonuses are to count as stakes within the meaning of § 2 para. 1 no. 2 for §§ 17, 57 and 58. § 57a is to enter into force on 1 January 2027, subject to a resolution.

For these provisions the Bill treats bonuses as stakes, whereas the VwGH assumes a stake of zero for a free spin.

Deposit limits (planned): The draft provides deposit limits of €250 per week until the 26th birthday. From age 26 it names a limit of €1,680 per month. A deposit limit is a ceiling; the minimum deposit is the floor that an operator requires for activating a bonus.

Advertising bonuses and fair-trading law

Two statutes affect how bonuses are advertised. The first is the GSpG itself. Under § 52 para. 1 no. 9 GSpG, anyone who advertises prohibited gambling offers in Austria, or makes such advertising possible, commits an administrative offence.

The second is the UWG. Annex no. 20 lists among the commercial practices that are always unfair: describing a product as "free" or "at no cost" although further costs arise.

How the legislator classifies bonuses is shown by the explanatory notes to Government Bill 594 d.B.: there, bonuses count as advertising measures that encourage more play. The wording does not distinguish between new and existing customers. It hits an entry bonus just as it hits reload promotions.

Advertising words such as "free" say nothing about the conditions. What matters are the deposit, the wagering requirement and the stake limit, which are set out in the operator's bonus terms.

Player protection, limits and recovery of losses

In settled case law, the OGH has held that players can reclaim lost stakes from prohibited gambling. The legal principle carries the number RS0134152. It describes a line of case law and not an outcome for a particular case; whether a specific game falls within it is for a court to decide. This has nothing to do with cashback: cashback is a benefit the operator grants under its own bonus terms.

A player protection office has been set up at the BMF under § 1 para. 4 GSpG. It is anchored in the Act itself and is not based at an operator.

Help with gambling problems is offered by Austria's gambling-addiction helpline (Spielsuchthilfe). The counselling is free of charge across Austria, confidential and, on request, anonymous.

The concession holder win2day names two protection tools: a deposit limit per week up to age 26 and per calendar month from the 26th birthday, and a self-exclusion for the whole platform or individual gaming areas that, according to win2day, takes effect "immediately" and cannot be reversed.

The structure of the win2day limits matches the line the draft GSpG amendment draws: a weekly limit up to age 26, a monthly limit after that. The amounts in the draft are given in the section on the amendment.