Hungary’s casino industry has boomed following amendments to its gambling legislation in 2014, which allowed for the opening of a maximum of 11 casinos nationwide.
The casino sector has also felt the positive effects of a ban on street slot machines enacted in 2012.
Only the four casino operators are allowed to offer online casinos, following amendments that entered into force in late 2015, which gave land-based casinos the exclusive right to online casino gaming in Hungary.
The Court of European Justice concluded in March 2018 that Hungary’s policy of limiting online gambling licences to those companies that already operate local land-based casinos violates EU law.
However there has subsequently been no enforcement action taken against the country by the European Commission.
In July of 2017, laws came into effect which made regulator the Gambling Supervision Authority an independent entity, separating it from the National Tax and Customs Administration.
The prospects of these four licensees were further bolstered by harsher payment blocking and enforcement measures for illegal online gambling websites, which were ratified by the Hungarian Parliament in late 2016. Hungary continues to aggressively expand its blocklist of illegal online operators, with its list growing by more than 150 percent in 2020, compared with a year earlier.
From March 2021, there are new anti-money laundering (AML) rules coming into effect.
The new AML order lays down detailed rules governing the minimum requirements for the development and operation of a statutory customer profiling system and compliance with other provisions of the acts.
It encompasses matters that include: rules for the preparation of internal risk assessments; operation of internal controls and information systems; guidance on the application of enhanced and simplified due diligence; and board approval arrangements, where necessary.
| 2017 | 10 |
| 2016 | 9 |
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2014 | 5 |
| 2013 | 3 |
| 2017 | 1200 |
| 2016 | 3000 |
| 2014 | 600 |
| 2013 | 400 |
National legislation requires customers to be at least 18 years of age and registration is required on their first visit.
Players can self-exclude upon their own request for up to two years. They can choose if the ban is 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or 2 years. Casino has to implement the ban within 24 hours. A self-exclusion of 1 year or longer can only be revoked after 7 months.
Players can self-exclude upon their request or can be excluded by court order in the National Tax and Customs Administration office for 1 year, 3 years or for a 5 year period.
It is required that a player protection toll free number should be displayed in the casino and on gaming equipment.
A prevalence study published by Ipsos Zrt. in 2010 indicated that around 1.2 percent of the Hungarian population over the age of 18 is heavily addicted to gambling. With Hungary’s population of around 9.9m, this translates to around 100,000 people.
Problem Gambling Helplines: Emberbarát Alapítvány & NAV Központi Ügyfélszolgálat (NTAC Central Office)
Legal Gambling Age: 18 Years Old
Smoking Ban: YES
Terrestrial: Multiple licences (8)
Online: Regulated (Licences are limited to land-based casino concessionaires)
Terrestrial:Table games: American Roulette with single zero, Black Jack, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Caribbean Stud Poker, Casino War, Three card Poker, Punto Banco, Texas Hold’em Poker, Electronic Roulettes: Alfastreet, EGT, Amatic, Slot machines
Online:Casino games (House banked games eg. Roulette, Blackjack), Slot machines, Card games (Raked games eg. Poker)
Terrestrial and Online:The Gambling Supervision and the Ministry for National Economy
Size of Illegal Gambling Market:Estimated at €100m annually.
Market Protection Measures / Tools to Tackle Illegal Gambling:ISP, payment blocking and advertising restrictions are all available as tools to deter illegal gambling offers.
| 2017 | 1370 |
| 2016 | 1200 |
| 2015 | 1200 |
| 2013 | 640 |
| 2017 | 107 million |
| 2016 | 93 million |
| 2015 | 72 million |
| 2014 | 63 million |
| 2013 | 51 million |
Currency : Hungarian forint (HUF)
Population:9,844,690
(Source:The World Bank)
GNI (2014, Local Currency, Millions): 3,01,60,137
(Source: Eurostat)
Internet Penetration (Internet Users):76.1%
(Source: The World Bank)
Mobile Penetration (Mobile Cellular Subscriptions): 118%
(Source: The World Bank)
Doing Business Ranking (June 2015):42
(Source: World Bank Group)
Last Updated: May 2019
