Best Online Casinos in Bulgaria
Good news for native punters and putning visitors of Bulgaria. This beautiful country has a regulated gambling market that is both business-friendly and player-friendly. All classic types of gambling and betting are legal and controlled in Bulgaria. Both offline and online punting is allowed, and while the operators are not suffocated with huge taxes, the players can safely entertain without being restricted or… taxed.
But wait, there’s more. Bulgarian players can make bets legally and safely not only at online casino Bulgarian run by local companies - international casinos are also opened to them, under the condition that the site has acquired license by the Bulgarian government and meets the necessary requirements. Which means illegally operating sites are blocked from access.
This leads us to the point that gambling is legal and very safe in Bulgaria. You can make bets at any offline venue if you are 18 and older. As for online platforms - if you can access them, they are legal and safe. If you can’t access them - they are probably blocked because unlicensed.
In such favourable circumstances, the only problem is to choose an entertaining and well-paying casino from all that abundance available to Bulgarians. However, you don’t need to waste your time on searching, because we have already collected a long list of the best internet gambling sites Bulgaria below. Look through new online casino sites, choose the most enticing bonus, and start playing!
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List of Online Casinos for players from Bulgaria
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History of Gambling in Bulgaria
Gambling has been part of Bulgarian history for long ages, however, talking about more recent history, the gambling market has not been regulated at all. To reach the point of market development that exists today, Bulgaria had to go through an impressive row of political and economic change.
Bulgaria was among those countries that found itself under the Communist regime. As a result, no casinos were allowed, at least not legally. Gambling was viewed as part of “decadent capitalism”, and was prohibited for everybody but the leaders of the communist party.
In 1979, however, the first land based gambling house was opened, perhaps in order to attract tourism to the country. The casino was opened only to the tourists from the neighboring countries, or more specifically, from the so-called Soviet Bloc. This situation remained for long years.
In 1993, Bulgaria was not longer part of the Soviet Union, and immediately started to develop its outdated gambling market, along with other markets. By 1998, the country has created its State Commission on Gambling, and started issuing legal licenses that allowed operation of gaming venues.
All went well till 2000s, when online gambling started to flourish. The state faced this problem in 2008, initiating the process of online gambling legalization. In fact, Bulgaria turned out to be one of the first countries to confess the existence of the web niche and the necessity of its proper regulation. Eventually, this country became one of the first who has managed to cope with the challenges of web gaming niche.
Already in 2012, the first draft of the Online Gambling Laws was adopted and was applied for regulation. In 2013, the law was amended and the taxes were decreased. By 2014, the law was finally adopted and issued in its final form. As a result, nowadays, Bulgaria is considered to have one of the healthiest gambling markets in Europe.
Current Situation on Gambling in Bulgaria
From the very beginning of the current gambling market development, the Bulgarian government tried to come up with a working scheme that will be practically applicable. They saw gambling market as a good place for getting taxes, creating jobs, and attracting tourism and investors.
Today, Bulgaria shows an example to many European countries when it comes to legalized betting. The benefits of its market include competitive tax rates for businesses, numerous created jobs, government support of the niche, plus player-friendly conditions for both locals and visitors.
Offline venues include all classic punting and betting activities - from lottery and Toto to sports betting.
Talking about Bulgaria online casinos, the situation is a bit more complicated, but at the same time, it is comprehensive and reasonable. All local operators can apply for a license to provide services in the web. International companies can also do so - like Betfair casino. Those sites that offer services to Bulgarians without proper license are blocked. At the time of writing, there were around 300 blocked platforms, and the list is growing.
Players are free to make real money bets at locally or internationally operated casinos. There are no known cases of player persecution if the player happened to make bets at an offshore casino that did not acquire Bulgarian license.
Bulgaria Gambling Laws
The main law applied to gaming in the country is the Bulgarian Gambling Act approved in 2014. There was a Gambling Act before - adopted back in 1999 - but the previous one did not take into consideration the realities of web gaming.
Today, according to the new legislative Act, local operators and offshore companies have to have a locally issued license. However, only businesses that are run from the EU and the EEA countries, as well as in Switzerland, are eligible to apply for a Bulgarian license. Other operators are not allowed and are usually blocked.
Yet, there is no law that prohibits Bulgarian players to play online casino game real money at unlicensed online casinos Bulgaria. If you cannot access them from Bulgaria, you can do that when travelling abroad, and no persecution is expected. The state makes sure that players were offered safe and licensed sites, and tries to block illegal services rather than persecute people who uses such services - often being not aware they are pretty much illegal.
Regulatory Authorities in Bulgaria
The main authority that regulates all the issues on gaming in the country is the Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling. This Commission grants licenses and withdraw the expired ones, blocks and blacklists illegally provided services, and works on making gambling in the state safe and entertaining.
The Commission works under the supervision of the Minister of Finance, and has a head office in the city of Sofia. The workflow and working arrangements of this agency are determined by the Council of Ministers, while the financing is provided by the state.
Taxation Laws on Gambling in Bulgaria
The following punting and betting activities existing in the country can be run legally, and the businesses running them are subject to tax: lotteries, sports betting, horse and dog racing betting, games of chance, and games of skill - both offline and organized “from distance” (that is, online).
The businesses have to pay only up to 20% of revenue as tax, but in the majority of cases, the tax is not higher than 15%. Compared to some rip-off taxes in the neighboring countries, it becomes clear why Bulgarian gaming market is so competitive.
The players, on the other hand, are not expected to pay any taxes on their winnings, regardless of the type of betting activity, and whether it was online or offline. The only exception is made for the professional poker players for whom Bulgaria online casino winnings constitute a considerable part of their income. However, this is a general rule that exists almost in any country where gambling is legally allowed and tax-free for players.
Land-based Casinos in Bulgaria
Bulgaria does not have a crazy number of land based casinos and betting facilities, but they all are opened to locals and tourists. To make an informed choice what venue to go to, take a look at our short review of three the biggest and the most popular facilities in the country.
Opened in 2014, this land based casino offers some of the biggest variety of games. Namely, there are six table games, four poker tables, and 150 video slots machines. There is also a hotel, and a restaurant.
This facility is a huge hotel that offers accommodation, dining, meeting and events halls, wedding and banquet facilities, and also SPA centers - and of course a casino, and a big one. This casino has 11 table games, over a hundred video slots machines, and six poker tables.
This facility, situated at a very picturesque location in Svilengrad, has a hotel and SPA salon, as it is obvious from the name. There is also a casino included, the one by a very famous brand - Merit. Merit casinos are situated around Bulgaria and also in other countries. This very venue has 18 table games, and over 200 slots machines for your entertainment.
Banking Options for Gambling in Bulgaria
Since gambling in Bulgaria is perfectly legal, and the country is part of Europe, you will be able to deposit and withdraw via an impressive bunch of options. These options include plastic cards:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Maestro
- American Express
And for distant gambling you can use any of the following methods:
- Neteller
- Skrill
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Paysafecard
- Sofort
- 2Checkout
- Braintree
- Ingenico
- Klarna
- Payu
- PayNearMe
- Citadel
- QuickPay
- EcoPayz
- Trustly
- SEPA
- Payone
- Ukash
- Entropay
- GoPay
- PayU
- Paymill
- AstroPay
- Poyolution
Just make sure that the banking option you choose is suitable for both deposit and withdrawal; if not, pick two or three options to facilitate your transactions to and from the casino Bulgaria.
Popular Cities for Gambling in Bulgaria
If you want variety, here is the list of cities that have land based casinos and other betting facilities:
- Kulata - 1
- Nesebur - 1
- Plovdiv - 1
- Sofia - 7
- Svilengrad - 3
- Varna - 2
Facts About Bulgaria
Free gambling market is already enough to entice you to travel to Bulgaria, if you are not there already. However, there are other cool things about the country. For example, did you know that:
- the country is famous for its roses, and is the world’s second biggest exporter of rose oil
- this country is the homeland of yogurt
- the country is also one of the biggest producers of wine in the world
- Bulgarians nod when they say “no”, and shake their heads when they say “yes”
- Bulgaria is the only country in Europe that has never changed its name since the dawn of existence
