Georgia – Online Casinos & Gambling Regulations
Georgia is fast becoming a popular choice for gamblers in both the online and offline environments. Its location acts as a gateway for many neighboring Muslim countries who live with strict gambling laws, and so the Georgian government has acted upon this and is currently using various gambling opportunities to fuel a thriving tourist industry. One single law covers both the offline and online gambling operations within the country and so the act of gambling, whether that is online or offline, is fully legal. Whereas operators can set up online casino sites within Georgia and recent business acquisitions show the potential of the area, many players still look outwards and sign up to many of the global online casinos that are available.
Find the Best Georgian Casino Online
Georgians now have it quite good in their country because not only are their online and offline gambling hobbies all legalized, but they can also freely enjoy the services of many of the international casino gaming sites as well. It still requires a good level of knowledge to pick out the good from the bad though, and this is where we can step in and lead the way for anyone out there who is new to the online casino environment. Official licenses, plenty of banking options, and lots of games are just some of the things you need to look for. Read on for our full checklist and if you can answer all these positively then the casino in mind should be relevant and appropriate for Georgians and yourself in particular.
- Is there an official gaming license in place?
- Can you use Georgian Lari at the casino?
- Does the support team offer your local language or at least a language you understand?
- Can you play your favorite games at the casino?
- Are there bonus promotions available to you?
The checklist above is a good starting point and as long as you can see the official license and relevant banking options then you should be fine. Factors like local support agents and bonuses help to improve the experience and so if you can find a site with all these ticked off then you will have hit the jackpot in your online casino search. Thankfully, you don’t have to do all that hard work if you don’t want to, as we have reviewed and answered all the questions for you right here at GoodLuckMate.
Gambling Regulation – Law of Georgia on Organising Lotteries, Games of Chance and Other Prize Games No 5448 of 9 December 2011
The stance of gambling within Georgia has been adapted over the years and it is now firmly within the entertainment sector and is used solely to boost the growing tourist industry. It makes life for the Georgian gambling fans a lot easier as they do not need to find hidden paths around restrictive laws that can be found in many countries nearby. All gambling licenses end up being issued by the Ministry of Finance, and in particular, the Revenue Service department, and this also goes for any potential online gambling sites looking to open up as well.
All the legalities fall under one roof and one license and it helps to make the current gambling laws all the more clearer because of this simple setup. While the local online casino site market is currently relatively small with the likes of Adjarabet taking most of the custom, it does look set to grow thanks to the favorable local laws when acquiring the necessary paperwork and gambling licenses.
Localized Online Casinos
As we mentioned earlier, Adjarabet is the most popular local online casino for players in Georgia. This is a fully localized casino tailored to the Georgian population with the site language and banking options both customized to fit the needs of their players. The international online gaming environment also holds a lot of tempting casinos, but having an option in their own backyard is always useful and especially so for any beginners looking to start playing.
Along with the customized language and banking options, players can also freely claim bonus offers and enjoy network promotions across several of the Adjarabet platforms which include a casino, live casino, and a sportsbook. So, it is fair to say that Georgians have a wide range of options when it comes to online casino entertainment which includes both local and bigger international sites.
Gambling with Georgian Lari
Georgian players have got a good thing going when it comes to online casino gaming and this is all thanks to their cooperative government and their open rules on gambling, but it also helps to have a wide range of banking options at your disposal as well. Players can freely deposit and withdraw their Lari at the local online casinos and Adjarabet, for example, provides a wide range of payment methods to do just that with options such as Visa, Skrill, Neteller, and WebMoney to name just a few.
If you head to the international sites then your options widen even more with additional e-wallets available, which is one of the most popular choices for Georgian players at the current moment. Yandex Money, QiWi Wallet, and ecoPayz are all popular payment methods as well. The ability to store money online is a big benefit to players who play at more than one casino, and a quick withdrawal is always appreciated. Lastly, while the Georgian Lari is not widespread across international casinos, you always have the option to convert your Lari into something more convenient to use on the global scene, but just be cautious of the extra fees being charged.
Casinos in Georgia
Due to the recent rise in gambling and tourism across the country, the number of casinos is increasing with more and more being built around the tourist hotspots. A handful of casinos are head and shoulders above the rest and these are the Casino Adjara, Shangri La, and the Iveria. All three offer the full casino experience from slot machines to the blackjack jack tables as well as general casino entertainment throughout the day and night.
Online casinos are still limited in terms of local operations but many of the offline casinos have decided to run online platforms as well. The big one that we have mentioned above is the Adjara brand which is the most popular brand within the Georgian online and offline gambling environments. But the top international iGaming companies are hovering and keeping a close eye on the situation. With the recent acquisition of Adjarabet by Paddy Power Betfair, it could mean that a bigger influx of betting options become available to the Georgian population over the coming years, which can only be a good thing for the locals.
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.
