Turkey – Online Casinos & Gambling Regulations
While gambling in Turkey is very popular, it is mostly illegal to do so. Therefore, we advise you to follow this guide only if you want to discover your Turkish online casino options. If you reside within the country, however, we advise extreme caution as the authorities have been known to go after gamblers and not just the sites providing gambling services. Nevertheless, there are some online casinos translated into Turkish for those that live in other parts of the world. So, let’s dig into those now…
Finding the best Turkish casino online
As we said, gambling is strictly prohibited in Turkey, aside from connecting to the state-owned IDDAA, which is authorized to offer sports betting services to Turkish residents. So, if betting on sporting teams like Beşiktaş, Bursaspor, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray, or Trabzonspor in Europe or the Süper Lig is something you want to do, we advise only placing wagers via IDDAA sites. As for online casinos, however, there are more than a few options in the Turkish language, but none of them are legal to use if you are based within Turkey. Nevertheless, GoodLuckMate always includes the language details of each site in its comprehensive online casino reviews.
The other things covered in our reviews include the latest welcome bonus offers, full details on the significant terms and conditions, what level of customer support you can expect (as well as if it’s available in Turkish), your payment method choices, and much more. Of course, we cover all of the major casino games available too, including slots, table games, live dealers, video poker, and bingo. You can also find in-depth reviews of some of the biggest titles right here, too. Here are a few things you should consider if you want to proceed with signing up at a reviewed site:
- Have you read through the entire GoodLuckMate review?
- Have you checked that your payment method is offered?
- Is it possible to deposit and withdraw using Turkish lira?
- Is the site in question translated into the Turkish language?
- Have you read all the terms and conditions for bonuses?
If you’ve done all of that and you want to play at a Turkish casino from outside of Turkey, be sure to click through the welcome bonus banners on our reviews for the best deals in town.
Gambling regulation – The legal status in Turkey
As pointed out above, online casinos are prohibited under the laws of the country, with hefty fines being meted out for anyone caught gambling. This has been the case since 2006, yet some online casinos with servers based outside of the country still flout the laws and accept players from Turkey. However, seeing as the law enforcement agencies in Turkey have made examples of some players caught breaking the law, we do not advise that you follow suit.
Because of the legal status, there is no Turkish regulatory body governing these sites, but this is not the case for the IDDAA scheme under which some online sports betting is permitted, taxed, and some of the profits from losing wagers given to charitable causes within Turkey. As for land-based casinos (see below), these exist but are liable for prosecution at any given time.
Localized online casinos
Millions of people within Turkey and beyond speak Turkish either as their mother tongue or as a second or third language, so it’s no wonder that some casino sites targetting the Meditteranean area have translated everything into the language. Some even offer things like customer support and live dealer games in the language, making it easy for native speakers to join in with the fun from outside of Turkey. Additionally, it’s not impossible to find sites that accept the Turkish lira as currency, but many others stick to euros, pounds, or US dollars.
Casinos in Turkey
Gambling on horse racing from small shops all over the country and betting on numerous games at land-based casinos used to be perfectly legal and a very popular pastime within the country. However, after the assassination of the so-called ‘Turkish casino king’ Ömer Lütfü Topal in 1996 and numerous accusations of money laundering practices, the government changed its laissez-faire approach and decided to ban the lot almost overnight. This meant that all land-based casinos and privately-owned sports betting shops went out of business once the new laws came into effect in 1998.
Not that this has dented the proliferation of gambling establishments within the country much at all. Land-based casinos can still be found (though often disguised) in many of the major cities, including Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Konya, and Bursa. However, we absolutely do not recommend that you attempt to gamble at these illegal locations because the sentences for getting caught doing so are often harsh, to say the least.
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.
