Estonia – Online Casinos & Gambling Regulations
The Estonian casino market has been regulated since the mid-’90s and first opened its doors to online casinos in 2010. Residents who wish to enjoy gambling today can choose from a large number of casinos, both land-based and online. Any online casino in Estonia that wants to offer its services within the country has to obtain a local gambling license to do so. Those who attempt to promote their product in this country without a license are blacklisted.GoodLuckMate has sifted through the internet for the best Estonian casino online and has compiled them all into a handy list of operators. You can simply pick and choose from the list, head over to the casino, complete the registration process, and you’re ready to start playing.
Finding the best Estonian casino online
There are quite a few gambling sites that accept residents from this country and allows you to sign up and play with them, and most, of course, hold a gambling license to operate in the country. When you are on the lookout for a new addition to the best online casino Estonia category, you are best off checking out the ones with an Estonian license. Now, with regulations, often comes restrictions, so if you can’t find your dream casino from there, you can always find ones with other licenses or no license at all.
To help you find the golden gambling site that’s perfect for you, we’ve created a checklist. You can use it to find out if the site you’ve got your eye on is safe to use, and more importantly, if it’s a good match for you:
- Which license does the casino use?
- Are they certified as fair?
- Can you choose to see the page in Estonian?
- Is Eesti customer support available?
- Can you find all the games that you’d like to play, such as slots, bingo, betting and live tables?
- Is there an Estonian Welcome Bonus or other promotions for Estonian players?
Before you go out to find answers to these questions yourself, we’ve got something exciting to tell you. We have already checked out all the casinos that accept local players, and put them in one place! The list of casinos online for Estonia that we have, has reviews on each casino, so you don’t have to waste time checking them out yourself. Just sign up and play. Done!
Gambling regulation – Gambling Act
As we mentioned earlier, Estonia has been a regulated market for a while now, although it was mainly the land-based casinos that were regulated, with online gambling being prohibited. In 2011 the country opened up to allow for any operator to apply for an EE-license, both for local and international operators. Obtaining a license in this country is not even that expensive, which is why you, as a player, have a vast array of online casinos to choose from.
That said, lotto, keno, bingo, and scratchcards are game types that state-owned casinos have a monopoly over, which means that you will not find them anywhere else. If you want to play these games online, you might have to seek out an operator without a national license. If you do, however, we recommend that you pick one that is licensed in Europe, to ensure the safest and fairest gaming experience. Just keep in mind that you might have to use a site in English, and we strongly recommend reading their Terms of Service before playing. The reason for this is because some casinos add restrictions to Eesti players, such as not allowing them bonuses or to participate in promotions.
Something that is good to keep in mind when gambling from Estonia is that the minimum legal age is 21.
Casino in Estonia
Estonia was, for a long time, focused mainly on land-based casino entertainment, which was found in classic casinos and gaming shops, primarily run by Olympic Casinos and OlyBet. In 2009 the number of land-based gaming locations almost halved, but the online casino market was still thriving once it became regulated in 2011. Don’t get us wrong; there are still a handful of bricks-and-mortar casinos where you can enjoy live table action and slot machines; they’re just fewer than they used to be.
The number of online casinos available in Estonia is still stable, and any player who wants to enjoy pure online gambling can do so easily from any of the licensed operators available that we’ve listed here at GoodLuckMate. If you feel that the lotto, bingo, keno, or scratchcard selection from government casinos simply isn’t cutting it, then check out the European licensed casinos to find the one for you. We continuously update our list to include the best and latest gambling sites that accept Estonian players.
Dispute resolution – can I get help from a third party?
A gambling license is intended to protect players, and one of its main functions is to provide a mechanism for resolving disputes when they come up. If you have a dispute with a casino, and the casino is being unreasonable, the gambling authority will help you. For many licenses, this means you can contact the gambling authority to get help processing your withdrawals, claiming money the casino has debited from your account, or resolving other disputes that might arise. The likelihood that the gambling authority will help you in ways that are effective, however, depends on the procedures they have in place for this. This is yet another reason why choosing to play at a casino that has a safe license is important.
Getting help directly from the gambling authority is not always necessary, or even an option. A lot of regulators have now enforced third-party dispute resolution. This means casinos must have an agreement with an arbitrator who will look into disputes on the behalf of players from a particular casino. This ensures your dispute will be reviewed by an objective third party. All trusted online casinos have information about arbitration on their websites if they use this option, or they’ll have the contact information for the gambling authority you should consult. However, you should always try to resolve your issues with the casino first, and a lot of casinos have separate email addresses specifically for handling complaints.
Secure payments – can I trust a casino with my money?
If you’re worried about the security of the transactions you’re making at a casino, you should look for a logo with the acronym PCI DSS. This stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and this is something the payment industry has created. If you see this logo, it means the casino can be trusted for safe money transactions since they follow all of the rules set by the payment industry. Information about this can also be found in an FAQ section on the casino’s website.
Another thing to look out for in terms of payments is where your money is kept while you play. Some gambling authorities, all of the best ones actually, regulate what the casino can do with your money while they are holding it. Your money shouldn’t go into a general bank account held by the casino; it should go into an account that is strictly for holding player funds. This means that as long as you have the money in your player account, it can’t be spent by the casino. Your deposit will be kept separate from the operating funds of the casino until your player account is empty, which will happen if you make a funds withdrawal or if you lose the money while playing.Fair gaming – do the games give me a fair chance to win?
The best known system tool for ensuring that a casino offers fair games is eCogra; however, there are other providers that also offer these kinds of systems. You want to make sure that the casino is using a certified third-party control system to ensure that the games of chance you’re playing are actually based on chance and not on other types of metrics. Rigged games are ones that have been set up to pay out less than they claim to or ones that give some players a greater chance of winning than others.
The eCogra logo can often be found in the footer of the casino’s website, but not all casinos choose to display it. If you can’t see this logo, go to the FAQs and see if you can find information about random number generators. If there are no FAQs on the site, check out their terms and conditions or contact the casino’s support and ask how they ensure their games are safe.
Encrypted website – how is my information kept safe?
An SSL-encrypted website should be mandatory for any casino, and very few casinos operate without this or similar safe encryption features. Always keep in mind that you are giving the casino quite a bit of sensitive information, including your payment details. When you’re uploading and sending documents to verify your identity, you want to make sure that no unauthorized third-party has access to them. Site security, therefore, doesn’t only include the website itself but also what the casino does on the backend. You should always look into a casino’s data security. You’ll normally find information about this in their terms and conditions and their privacy policy. If in doubt, contact their support and ask for more detailed information.
Most trustworthy casinos have information about site security in the website footer, so simply scroll down and look for the logo of a well-known security system.
Gambling license – can I play at a casino from my country?
The gambling license a casino operates under will have a big impact on your security. Not all licenses are equally safe for players for the simple reason that they are issued by different gambling authorities that work in different ways and have different rules. The rules and regulations may be quite similar, but the way they are enforced is a different story entirely. For example, if a casino doesn’t comply with the regulations, some gambling authorities may just issue a fine while others may revoke the casino’s license outright. How often gambling authorities show up for an unscheduled inspection or control will also vary.
The biggest differences between a safe, high quality gambling license and one that isn’t as good will usually show up in the areas of fair gaming, dispute resolution and the rules and systems for identifying and handling problem gamblers (responsible gambling). If your country of residence has its own gambling authority, playing at casinos that are licensed by them will be the safest option for you. Other international licenses that can be trusted are issued by the Malta Gambling Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority. Curacao eGaming is getting better at protecting players whereas licenses from Panama and Costa Rica, for instance, are considered less safe. The worst option is obviously a casino with no license whatsoever.
Our casino experts have tried and tested all aspects of each and every casino, so you can feel confident when signing up.
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