Online gambling in Greece: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Greece?

Law 4635/2019 replaced Greece's transitional online regime with permanent licences issued by the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC, or EEEP): Type 1 for online betting (€3 million) and Type 2 for other online games such as casino and poker (€2 million), each valid for seven years and renewable. Operators need paid-up capital of at least €200,000, a .gr domain, a data safe hosted in Greece and certified systems, and pay 35% of GGR. Players must be 21, RNG games are capped at €2 per stake and €70,000 per game cycle, and winnings from casino-type sessions are taxed at 20% and 30% above a €100 allowance since July 2026. Twenty-four online operators were licensed at the end of 2025, when online play made up 38.8% of Greek GGR of about €3.07 billion.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Greece?

• Hellenic Gaming Commission (Επιτροπή Εποπτείας και Ελέγχου Παιγνίων) (HGC / EEEP) — Independent authority that licenses online and land-based gaming, certifies systems and games, supervises OPAP and casinos, maintains the blacklist of unlicensed sites and runs the central player registry and self-exclusion scheme

Greece gambling licence: how it works

Applicants must be legal entities with a registered office or permanent establishment in Greece or another EU/EEA state and paid-up capital of at least €200,000. Each application carries a €10,000 participation fee and is decided within two months of a complete file; the licence fee of €3 million (Type 1, online betting) or €2 million (Type 2, other online games) is payable in one sum or four annual installments, and a letter of guarantee is lodged before issue. Licences are personal, non-transferable, valid for seven years and renewable for an equal term if requested a year before expiry. The technical set-up is prescriptive: a .gr domain, a certified central gaming system, an intermediate control system in the EU/EEA and a safe storage facility hosted in Greece. Critical staff need HGC suitability licences and affiliates must be registered.

What an applicant needs

• Legal entity seated in Greece or the EU/EEA with paid-up capital of at least €200,000
• €10,000 application fee and licence fee of €3 million (Type 1) or €2 million (Type 2)
• Website on a .gr domain and Greek-language game guide and terms
• Certified central gaming system, intermediate control system and a data safe hosted in Greece
• Letter of guarantee, criminal-record and tax clearances for owners above 10% and managers
• HGC suitability licences for critical-function staff; registered affiliates only
• Player accounts limited to those aged 21 and over with identity verification

Gambling taxes in Greece

• Operators: 35% of gross gaming revenue (34.5% to the state and 0.5% to the HGC) on online betting and online casino; 30% for horse race betting. Corporate income tax applies separately.
• Players: Casino-type online games (RNG and live casino, slots, poker sessions): tax per playing session on net winnings above a €100 allowance at 20% up to €500 and 30% above €500.01 since 1 July 2026 (previously 15% and 20%). Betting: a lower per-slip scale from a €100 allowance rising to 7.5% on winnings above €500. Lottery prizes are taxed on their own scale.
• Also: Public revenue from gambling reached €1.17 billion in 2025, 63% of it from online operators. The July 2026 increase in players' winnings tax was budgeted to raise about €100 million a year and drew industry objections about channeling.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Permitted under the HGC's advertising rules: no targeting of minors or self-excluded players, no misleading claims, responsible-gaming messaging, and affiliates must hold HGC registration. Advertising of unlicensed operators is prohibited and the HGC blacklists their domains.

Responsible gaming

Age 21 for all online play; playing sessions capped at 24 hours; mandatory deposit and loss limits set by the player; RNG games limited to €2 per participation and €70,000 in winnings per game cycle (jackpots allowed under Type 2 within Greece); betting winnings capped at €500,000 per bet; self-exclusion, cooling-off and a central player registry that the HGC began rolling out in 2025 with seven licensees connected.

Identity and age verification

Age 21. Registration with the player's tax number and identity document, verification before withdrawals, one electronic player account per operator; complaints must be filed within 48 hours of the incident and handled within ten days.

Payments

Debit and credit cards, prepaid cards, e-wallets and bank transfer through payment service providers established in Greece or the EU/EEA; deposits and withdrawals are made directly between player and licensee, third-party instruments lead to forfeiture and cryptoassets are not permitted. The HGC blacklist held 12,642 domains at the end of 2025.

Notable restrictions

• Minimum age 21 for online gambling
• €2 maximum stake and €70,000 maximum win per game cycle on RNG games
• Mandatory .gr domain and data safe hosted in Greece
• Licence fees of €3 million and €2 million per type; licences non-transferable
• Lotteries and numerical games reserved to OPAP; horse racing under a separate concession
• Live-dealer studios only in EU/EEA-licensed venues

Greece iGaming market: size, players and payments

HGC annual report for 2025: total Greek GGR of about €3.07 billion, up 6%, with online (remote) play at 38.8%; public revenue from gambling rose 11.2% to €1.17 billion, of which online operators contributed €736.9 million (63.1%). Fixed-odds betting was 40.3% of online GGR and casino, slots and poker 59.7%.

Twenty-four licensed online operators served the market at the end of 2025, with further applications in progress; the HGC processed 57 indefinite self-exclusion requests and 586 whistleblower reports during the year.

Greek online play is mobile-led and casino-type games overtook betting as the larger online segment in 2025.

OPAP's Stoiximan is the online market leader, followed by bet365, Novibet, Betsson, Fonbet, Pamestoixima (OPAP), Interwetten and bwin among 24 licensees; OPAP holds the lottery and land-based betting concessions.

Timeline: how Greece got here

1. 2011-08Law 4002/2011 creates the HGC and a transitional online licensing regime
2. 2019-10Law 4635/2019 establishes permanent Type 1 and Type 2 online licences at €3 million and €2 million
3. 2020-07Internet Gaming Regulation (Gazette 3265/2020) sets the €2 stake cap, .gr domain and Greek data safe rules
4. 2021First permanent seven-year online licences issued
5. 2022Law 4949/2022 restructures the tax on betting and gaming winnings by slip and session
6. 2025HGC launches the central player registry and expands the blacklist to 12,642 domains
7. 2026-07Tax on casino-type winnings rises to 20% and 30% above the €100 allowance

Outlook

The July 2026 increase in winnings tax on casino-type sessions will be watched for its effect on channeling, and the industry continues to argue that the 35% GGR rate and player taxes are among Europe's highest. The HGC is completing the central player registry and a unified self-exclusion scheme across licensees, and further online licence applications were in progress at the end of 2025. No change to licence fees or the age limit was announced as of September 2026.

Launching in Greece with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). HGC licences are personal to the operator and cannot be transferred or leased, so a Greek brand runs on GameBridge under the operator's own Type 1 and Type 2 licences; GameBridge holds no Greek licence.

A Greek deployment runs on a .gr domain with Greek content supplied by the operator, an English back office, a euro wallet and card, bank and e-wallet rails through EU/EEA payment providers. The compliance layer enforces the age-21 gate, the €2 RNG stake and €70,000 win caps per game configuration, session limits, player-set deposit and loss limits, the per-session winnings-tax calculation and withholding, and data capture and sealing feeds with a safe storage facility hosted in Greece. Every GameBridge Studios and Originals version ships with the certification package the HGC's recognized test labs require, and the aggregated catalog is filtered to studios with Greek-certified games.

• Age-21 gate and .gr domain deployment
• €2 stake and €70,000 win caps enforced per RNG game
• Per-session winnings-tax calculation and withholding
• Deposit, loss and session limits with self-exclusion
• Data capture, sealing and Greek data-safe feeds
• Certification package for HGC game and system approval

Greek lobbies are slot- and live-casino-led with football and basketball betting close behind; the aggregated catalog is curated to studios with HGC-certified versions, GameBridge Studios exclusives are built to the €2 stake and €70,000 win rules with the certification package included, and the sportsbook module covers the Super League and European competitions.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Internet Gaming Regulation (Government Gazette B' 3265/2020), English translation — Hellenic Gaming Commission (via Vixio), accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling Laws and Regulations Report 2026: Greece — ICLG, accessed 2026-09-11
• Greece: Gambling Law – Country Comparative Guide — The Legal 500, accessed 2026-09-11
• Greek gambling GGR up 6% in 2025, online share hits 38.8% — The iGaming EU, accessed 2026-09-11
• Πώς θα φορολογούνται τα κέρδη των online καζίνο – Τι αλλάζει από την 1η Ιουλίου — Mononews, accessed 2026-09-11
• Τυχερά παιχνίδια: Νέο φορολογικό βάρος από την 1η Ιουλίου — Insider.gr, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.