Czech Republic Online Casino Law 2026: Is It Legal?

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

The Czech Republic runs a licensing system for gambling, both land-based and online. Since 1 January 2017 the sector has been governed by Act No. 186/2016 Coll. on Gambling and Act No. 187/2016 Coll. on Gambling Tax. Any company with its seat in the EU or EEA may apply to the Ministry of Finance for a licence to offer online casino games, betting, lotteries or poker. Operators without a Czech licence are blocked. Municipalities have a strong say over where land-based gambling may take place. This guide explains the framework, how it is enforced, the position of players, taxation and the main protection tools.

Key points

Gambling is regulated by the Gambling Act (No. 186/2016 Coll.) and the Gambling Tax Act (No. 187/2016 Coll.), both in force since 1 January 2017. A major amendment (No. 349/2023 Coll.) took effect on 1 January 2024.
The Ministry of Finance licenses operators and keeps the official lists of legal operators. The Customs Administration carries out inspections.
Online casino games are legal when offered by a licensed operator. Unlicensed websites, payment accounts and apps can be blocked.
Operators pay 35% of gross gaming revenue on lotteries and technical games and 30% on other games. Players’ winnings above CZK 50,000 in a category are taxed.
A national Register of Excluded Persons and a 48-hour “panic button” apply to all licensed operators, including online ones.

Regional overview: Gambling laws in the EU and the rest of Europe puts all 55 countries and territories on one map, grouped by how they regulate gambling.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

Overview of the market

Illustrated Czech Republic landmarks with reference books and documents for the overview section

The most detailed public account of the Czech market is the annual Report on Gambling in the Czech Republic. It is published by the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction at the Office of the Government. According to the 2024 edition, operators’ gross gaming revenue was CZK 59.2 billion in 2023, about 10% more than in 2022. For the first time, online gambling produced more than half of operators’ revenue, at 53.2%, up from 50% in 2022. Technical games accounted for 55.8% of revenue, sports betting for 21.6%, lotteries for 17% and live games for 5.4%. “Technical games” is the Czech legal term for games operated through a technical device, such as gaming machines. More recent figures come from the Financial Administration, which published its gambling tax data for 2025 on 24 February 2026. As reported by Měšec.cz, players’ net losses (stakes minus winnings paid) reached about CZK 68 billion in 2025, some CZK 2 billion more than in 2024. Online games accounted for 59.5% of the total, the same share as in 2024, and gambling tax revenue rose to CZK 22.8 billion.

The land-based sector has shrunk sharply. The report counts 24,282 permitted technical-game devices, compared with more than 100,000 in 2011. It also records 3,310 permitted live games, 358 casinos, 349 gaming parlours and 1,765 land-based betting shops as of March 2024.

Gambling is widespread. Surveys cited in the same report estimate that between 28% and 58% of adults gambled in the previous 12 months of 2023, depending on the survey method and whether lotteries are counted. Between 7% and 26% gambled online. Estimates of problem gambling also vary by screening tool. Using the PGSI scale, the report estimates 400,000 to 530,000 adults at some risk and 120,000 to 170,000 in the high-risk group in 2023.

Historical development

From 1990 until the end of 2016, gambling was governed by Act No. 202/1990 Coll. on Lotteries and Other Similar Games. Under that regime gaming machines spread widely: the government’s monitoring report notes that more than 100,000 technical-game devices were permitted in 2011, against 24,282 in 2024.

The government’s monitoring report records that the Lottery Act was replaced by Act No. 186/2016 Coll. on Gambling from 1 January 2017. It was accompanied by Act No. 187/2016 Coll. on Gambling Tax. The new laws created a licensing route for online casino games open to EU and EEA operators. They also introduced blocking of unlicensed websites and a central register of excluded persons.

The next major reform was Act No. 349/2023 Coll., in force from 1 January 2024. According to an analysis by lawyers at DLA Piper, it was the most significant change since 2017. It:

added live dealer games (“live casino”) to the closed list of games that can be licensed;
restructured licensing into an unlimited “initial licence” plus a separate “basic licence” for each type of game;
allowed Czech-licensed operators to serve players abroad, subject to local law;
widened the definition of illegal online gambling from games “aimed at” Czech residents to games simply “available” in the Czech Republic, and added app blocking to website and payment blocking;
introduced the 48-hour “panic button”;
raised the gambling tax on several types of game and cut the tax exemption for players’ winnings (see below).

Legal framework

The key statutes are:

Act No. 186/2016 Coll. on Gambling (zákon o hazardních hrách). It defines the types of gambling that can be licensed: lotteries, odds betting, totalisator games, bingo, technical games, live games, raffles and small-scale tournaments. It also sets the licensing system, operator duties, player protection, the excluded-persons register, blocking and sanctions.
Act No. 187/2016 Coll. on Gambling Tax, which sets the tax rates and the split of revenue between the state and municipalities.
Act No. 349/2023 Coll., the amending act in force since 1 January 2024.

The Gambling Act gives municipalities an unusual degree of control. A municipality may issue a generally binding ordinance restricting or banning land-based gambling premises in its territory. The 2024 monitoring report recorded 447 such ordinances as of 20 May 2024. It also noted that in 2021, 709 municipalities had ordinances in force, 444 of which banned technical games completely. Municipal ordinances do not apply to online games, which are regulated nationally.

As an EU member state, the Czech Republic must keep its rules compatible with the Treaty freedoms, especially the freedom to provide services. The European Commission notes that there is no sector-specific EU gambling legislation and that member states may choose their own model. In line with that, a licence from another EU state does not entitle an operator to serve Czech customers. The Czech law firm ARROWS makes the same point.

Regulator and licensing model

The Ministry of Finance is the licensing and regulatory authority. It issues licences, keeps the register of excluded persons and the list of unauthorised internet games, and publishes dated lists of legal operators (“whitelists”), updated several times a year. Inspections are carried out by the Customs Administration. According to the Customs Administration’s August 2025 warning, its Plzeň Customs Office acts as the control body for illegal online gambling and reports findings to the Ministry for blocking.

Under the structure in force since 2024, an operator first obtains an initial licence, which has no time limit. It then obtains a basic licence for each type of game, valid for up to six years. Land-based premises also need a placement licence, valid for up to three years. These periods are set out in CMS’s guide to Czech gambling law. CMS also notes that applicants must have their seat in the Czech Republic, the EU or the EEA, must have own capital and assets of at least CZK 50 million, and that there is no cap on the number of licences.

The number of licensed online operators has grown. On 1 January 2024, according to the government report, 25 companies held basic licences for online technical games, 8 for online betting, 7 for online live games and 5 for online lotteries. ARROWS reported in 2026 that, as of May 2026, 27 entities held Czech online casino licences: 24 domestic and 3 foreign. Readers should treat the Ministry’s current whitelist as the authoritative source.

Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced

Online casino games on mobile devices

Licensed operators may offer online technical games (slot-type games), live games such as roulette and card games, live dealer games, odds and totalisator betting, and lotteries, each under its own basic licence. Players must open a registered, identity-verified user account. Minors and persons listed in the Register of Excluded Persons may not play.

Enforcement against unlicensed operators rests on the Ministry’s List of Unauthorised Internet Games. Entries on the list lead to three kinds of blocking:

Website blocking: internet providers must prevent access to listed domains (often called “IP blocking” or “DNS blocking”);
Payment blocking: banks and payment institutions must stop payments to listed bank accounts;
App blocking: since 2024, listed applications must also be made unavailable.

The government report counted 1,119 unauthorised gambling websites on the list at the end of May 2024. ARROWS states that breaches of the gambling rules can lead to fines of up to CZK 50 million, together with blocking and suspension of operations.

Advertising is allowed but restricted. According to CMS, advertisements may not be placed near gambling premises, may not target minors, and may not present gambling as a substitute for income. They must carry warnings about the age limit and the risk of addiction.

Position of players

The official sources we reviewed describe enforcement against operators, through licensing sanctions, fines and blocking. They do not describe any penalty for a player who uses an unlicensed website, and we found no record of players being prosecuted for this. That is not the same as approval. The Customs Administration warns that there is “no guarantee that winnings will be paid out” by illegal casinos. It also points to the absence of protection against underage play and of responsible-gambling tools, and stresses that its role is to combat illegal gambling, not to recover players’ money.

Players can check whether a website is lawful by consulting the Ministry’s whitelist and the list of unauthorised games. Winnings from unlicensed sites also fall outside the tax exemption described below.

Taxation

Operators

The gambling tax is charged on gross gaming revenue, meaning stakes accepted minus winnings paid out. Since 1 January 2024 there are two rates, as confirmed by BusinessInfo.cz, the government’s business information portal, and by DLA Piper:

Type of game	Rate (from 2024)
Lotteries and technical games (including online slot-type games)	35%
Live games, bingo, odds betting, totalisator games, raffles and small-scale tournaments	30% (previously 23%)

Gambling tax brought in CZK 18.6 billion in 2023, of which CZK 11.6 billion came from technical games. A large share goes to municipal budgets, which received CZK 9.5 billion in 2023, according to the government report.

Players

Until the end of 2023, winnings from licensed gambling were exempt from personal income tax up to CZK 1 million. From 1 January 2024 the exempt amount was cut to CZK 50,000, as reported by BusinessInfo.cz and DLA Piper. Peníze.cz explains that winnings above the limit are taxed at 15%. For lotteries, the operator withholds the tax. For other categories, players must declare the income themselves. The limit is assessed separately for each category of game, such as betting, technical games and live games.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Secure account login with a padlock and shield The central protection tool is the Register of Excluded Persons (Rejstřík vyloučených osob, RVO), kept by the Ministry of Finance. Licensed operators must check every player against it, both online and in land-based venues. People are entered in two ways:

By law: for example, recipients of certain welfare benefits, people subject to a court ban on gambling, people in insolvency proceedings, and people with unpaid child support. According to the Ministry of Finance, people subject to enforcement proceedings (exekuce) will also be entered from 1 January 2027.
Voluntarily (self-exclusion): anyone may register using electronic identity, a government data box or certified post. Since 1 July 2024 operators must also let players register through their user accounts. A voluntary entry can be removed only after at least one year.

On 31 December 2023 the register held 198,900 people, of whom 9,600 had excluded themselves. The rest had been entered by law.

Since 1 July 2024 every licensed operator must also offer a “panic button”. A logged-in player can use it to exclude themselves for 48 hours from all licensed operators, online and land-based. The exclusion ends automatically.

Support is available through the National Gambling Helpline on 800 350 000, which has operated since 2018, and a 24/7 peer support line on 777 477 877, launched in April 2024. The government report estimates that 3,000 to 4,000 people use specialised gambling treatment services each year. See also our responsible gambling guide. At EU level, Commission Recommendation 2014/478/EU sets out non-binding principles on these protections, most of which Czech law makes mandatory.

Recent and upcoming developments

2024 reform in practice. The main 2024 changes are all in force as of October 2026: higher tax rates, the CZK 50,000 winnings threshold, live casino licensing, app blocking, the panic button (from July 2024) and self-registration in the RVO through operators (from July 2024).
Enforcement. In August 2025 the Customs Administration issued a public warning against illegal online casinos and reminded players to check the Ministry’s lists.
Market growth. The licensed online casino segment continued to expand, with 27 licensed entities reported in May 2026 (ARROWS). Financial Administration data published in February 2026 put players’ net losses at about CZK 68 billion in 2025, with online games accounting for 59.5% (Měšec.cz).
Register of Excluded Persons. From 1 January 2027 people subject to enforcement proceedings are to be added to the register by law, as announced by the Ministry of Finance. No further change to gambling tax rates since the 2024 reform was found as of October 2026.

Sources and further reading

Collection of Laws (e-Sbírka), Act No. 186/2016 Coll. on Gambling (2016, as amended).
Ministry of Finance, Hazardní hry (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Přehledy legálních provozovatelů (whitelist) (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Blokace nepovolených internetových her (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Rejstřík vyloučených osob: nejčastější otázky (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Důležité informace k panic button (accessed 5 October 2026).
Customs Administration / Ministry of Finance, Celní správa varuje: Pozor na nelegální online kasina (2025).
National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction, Office of the Government, Zpráva o hazardním hraní v České republice 2024 (2024).
Šabatka, P., Ščerba, T. and Karabeleš, J. (DLA Piper), Changes to the Czech Gambling Regulation (accessed 5 October 2026).
CMS (Matějovský, T. and Ježek, J.), Gambling laws in the Czech Republic (accessed 5 October 2026).
BusinessInfo.cz (CzechTrade), Konsolidační balíček přinesl změny v daních (2025).
Kučera, P. (Peníze.cz), Výhra v loterii nebo sázkách: limit pro daňové osvobození se zpřísní (accessed 5 October 2026).
ARROWS Law Firm, Online Gambling Regulation in the Czech Republic and EU (2026).
European Commission, Gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
European Commission, Recommendation 2014/478/EU on principles for the protection of consumers and players of online gambling services (2014).
Financial Administration of the Czech Republic, Výsledky provozování hazardních her (accessed 14 October 2026).
Měšec.cz, V hazardu a sázkách Češi loni prohráli 68 miliard korun (2026).

Casino listings for players in the Czech Republic

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator holds a Czech licence. Only operators on the Ministry of Finance’s list of legal operators may lawfully offer games to players in the Czech Republic. Please also check the list of unauthorised internet games.