Serbia – Online Casinos & Gambling Regulations
All forms of gambling, including video slots, table games, lottery, bingo, and poker, are legal in Serbia, so long as you are aged 18 or over. This is great news because it means that Serbians can play at online casinos and make wagers at sports betting sites in a safe and secure manner. In this short guide to gambling in Serbia, the expert writers at GoodLuckMate will guide you on finding the best welcome bonus offers, the things you should look out for when choosing a new place to play, and what options you have for visiting land-based casinos.
Finding the best Serbian casino online
With a fully regulated market, Serbian gamblers have plenty of online casino options and a wide variety of welcome bonuses that can boost your playing funds and often give you a fistful of free spins for top slots as well. But it can be difficult to narrow down which are the best sites for you and your needs. That’s where our casino enthusiasts come in. We cover every aspect of the online casino experience in our reviews of all the international and local gambling sites.
Within our meticulous casino reviews, you will find a full breakdown of the welcome bonus you will receive when signing up and/or making your first deposit(s). We don’t shy away from giving you the full details on any significant terms and conditions attached to the welcome bonuses. And, of course, we cover all of the available games types and give our recommendations on the best online video slots, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, live dealer and poker games to try first.
Furthermore, we will give you the lowdown on exactly which payment methods are available for either depositing or withdrawing your winnings (including transaction times, any limitations, and whether you can use the Serbian dinar). We also fully test the level of customer support that you can expect when resolving any issues. So, before you sign up, tick off all of the following:
- Have you compared casinos using GoodLuckMate’s reviews?
- Have you checked that your payment method is available?
- Does the casino accept dinar for deposits and withdrawals?
- Are the promotions and other key pages provided in Serbian?
- Have you read through all of the welcome bonus T&Cs?
Then, to get the latest bonus offers, click through the banners on the GoodLuckMate review!
Gambling regulation – The Serbian Games of Chance Administration
All online gambling sites in Serbia need to be licensed by the Games of Chance Administration (GCA), while Serbia’s Tax Department and Ministry of Defense does various checks to ensure that companies are following the law, keeping their finances in perfect order and that all of the games are fully tested for fairness. This is all great news for Serbian players, as they can simply get on with playing their favorite games without worrying too much about online safety.
The market was finally regulated after a rather grey area over gambling within the country by the passing of the Games of Chance Act, which came into effect from late 2011 onwards. Another effect of this law was to break up the monopoly that the government had over the iGaming industry, sports betting, and the selling of lottery tickets, for example. This has all created much-needed competition within the industry, which in turn means better deals for Serbian players.
Localized online casinos
A knock-on effect of the above-mentioned laws and forcing all betting companies operating in the market to obtain licenses means that a great many sites are localized for Serbia. Therefore, it’s much easier to find Serbian-speaking customer support agents, and that many sites will have all their promotions, terms and communications translated into the Serbian language. Plus, for those interested in playing live dealer games in Serbia, the croupiers on a few of the tables will often be able to speak Serbian, as well as the far more common English.
The only sticking point you might find is that there aren’t many sites that accept the dinar compared to those that accept euros. So, you may have to convert money when playing.
Casinos in Serbia
Serbians can also enjoy a night out with friends at plenty of different land-based casinos throughout the country. Naturally, these tend to be located in the most populous areas, such as in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, Kragujevac, and Kraljevo, for example. The capital Belgrade has more than 20 high-quality casinos alone. Some of the most famous ones include the Admiral Club, Eldorado, Fair Play Casino, Grand Casino Beograd, and the Hotel Metropol Palace. So, if the Las Vegas-style experience appeals, be sure to take a trip to the capital city when you can.
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.
