Austria licensed casinos are a special case, because Austria does not run an open licensing market for online casino at all. Under the Austrian Gambling Act, the Glücksspielgesetz, online casino and lottery are a state monopoly, and only win2day, operated by Casinos Austria and the Austrian Lotteries, holds a valid national concession from the Ministry of Finance. A genuine casino with an Austria license really means win2day, while most international sites Austrian players use instead hold an EU licence such as Malta and operate in a legal grey area.
Below you will find how the Austrian situation actually works, what protection you get, and how to check the status of a casino before you deposit. You can also compare every regime we cover in our casino licensing hub.
The name most people reach for is the wrong one. OVWG, which turns up constantly in discussions of Austrian gambling, is a trade association for operators, not a regulator. It cannot issue anything. The only body that grants an online casino concession in Austria is the Ministry of Finance, and it has granted exactly one, running to 2027. That is why there is no list of Austrian licensed casinos below: there is only ever one holder.
Everything else Austrians play at sits in a grey zone. Those sites usually hold a Maltese licence and argue that EU freedom to provide services covers them, while Austrian courts have repeatedly sided with players trying to recover losses from unlicensed operators. Reform to open the market is under discussion for around 2027. Until then, the practical question is which foreign regulator actually stands behind a site, so start with Malta licensed casinos.
How do I recognise an Austria license?
In the strict sense there is only one truly Austria licensed online casino, win2day, which holds the sole Ministry of Finance concession and links to the national player exclusion system. Any other site claiming to serve Austria is almost always licensed elsewhere, typically in Malta, rather than by Austria itself. So the key check is which regulator actually appears in the footer: win2day for the Austrian monopoly, or an EU regulator like the MGA for the grey market sites many Austrians use.
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Austria’s model is one of the last true monopolies in Europe. The Glucksspielgesetz reserves online casino and lottery to a single concession, and the Ministry of Finance is the body that grants it.
For players this creates a genuine paradox. win2day is fully legal but limited in its product range, while the wider choice of games sits with EU licensed operators that Austrian courts treat as operating without a national permit. Because of that, a casino with an Austria license is not really comparable to a Malta or UK licence, it is a monopoly concession.
The Austrian concession is granted by the Ministry of Finance, which sets out the official Austrian gambling framework. For a comparison with a common offshore alternative, see our guide to casinos with a Curacao license.
The only casino operating under a genuine Austrian concession, win2day, is safe and fully regulated by the state, with connection to the national self exclusion system. For every other site Austrian players use, safety depends entirely on the EU licence that operator actually holds, most often a Malta licence, rather than on anything Austrian.
Handled this way, you can tell the difference between the Austrian monopoly and the EU licensed sites around it. The casinos we list below have been tested by our team, with their actual licensing made clear.
The only genuine Austria licensed online casino is win2day, which holds the sole Ministry of Finance concession and is fully legal and state regulated. Other sites serving Austrian players are not Austria licensed at all, they rely on EU licences such as Malta and sit in a legal grey area. So safety depends on which licence actually applies rather than on an Austrian one.
A true Austria licence means win2day, operated by Casinos Austria and the Austrian Lotteries under a Ministry of Finance concession. Any other casino claiming to serve Austria is almost certainly licensed elsewhere, usually in Malta, so check which regulator appears in the footer rather than assuming the site is Austrian licensed.
In practice many Austrian players use casinos licensed in the EU, most often in Malta, because private operators cannot obtain an Austrian licence under the current monopoly. Austrian law treats these as operating without a national concession, which is why the choice of a strong EU regulator matters, and why some players have pursued court claims over losses.
Yes. Austria has been preparing a major reform of the Glucksspielgesetz that would end win2day’s exclusive online casino concession and open the market to multiple licensed operators, expected from around 2027. Until that reform takes effect, the monopoly remains in place and win2day stays the only genuinely Austria licensed online casino.
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