Will gaming arcades & casinos be open on Christmas 2024?

Year after year, many players ask themselves whether casinos and gambling halls are open at Christmas. Just a few days ago, the German Gambling Authority pointed out that the Christmas holidays can have an impact on gambling behavior. We have researched the current casino opening times for Christmas 2024 and present them in today's article.

The last time we published an article on GambleJoe in 2019, it was about the question of which casino or arcade is open at Christmas. For this reason, we have now taken an interest in the current casino opening hours at Christmas 2024. At Christmas time, land-based casinos in particular offer a festive atmosphere consisting of twinkling fairy lights and lavishly decorated rooms.

Casino opening hours Christmas 2024: Where can you play?

The fact is that most German casinos are closed at least on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, however, the situation looks much better in many places. In our overview below, you can find out the current casino opening times for Christmas 2024:

Please note: The casino Christmas opening hours stated refer to the slot machine game. The opening hours for classic games may vary.

Are casinos closed at Christmas?

The opening hours of casinos on Christmas 2024 differ from the opening hours of casinos. Whether a casino is open at Christmas depends on the individual regulations in the individual federal states. The following is therefore only an excerpt of the legal regulations in each state:

• Bavaria: In Bavaria, casinos must remain closed on "quiet public holidays". However, this does not include Christmas. Consequently, many arcades in Bavaria are open half-day on Christmas Eve and regularly on Christmas holidays.
• Baden-Württemberg: According to the Automatenverband Baden-Württemberg, casinos here must remain closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, the arcades may reopen from 6:00 a.m. onwards.
• Berlin: According to the official service portal "service.berlin.de", amusement arcades must remain closed on December 24 and 25, 2024. However, many arcades in the capital will be open on Boxing Day. Amusement arcades are generally not allowed to open between 3 a.m. and 11 a.m., regardless of the day (closing time).
• Brandenburg: In neighboring Brandenburg, amusement arcades are theoretically allowed to be open until 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, there are no restrictions imposed by law, meaning that every arcade here is likely to be open at Christmas.
• Hamburg: Gambling arcades in the Hanseatic city must remain completely closed on December 24 and 25, 2024. However, there are no restrictions on opening on December 26. The closing time for arcades on Boxing Day is of course still from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. and on the Reeperbahn from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
• Hesse: In Hesse, amusement arcades must close at 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, all arcades are closed and on Christmas Day, the arcades are closed between 04:00 - 12:00(more details here).
• Lower Saxony: In Lower Saxony, there are no closing times for casinos on Christmas Eve, meaning that they are theoretically allowed to be fully open. However, many operators close their arcades by the early evening of December 24 at the latest out of consideration for their employees. On the following Christmas holidays, many arcades in Lower Saxony are open again without restrictions. As always, the closing time in Lower Saxony applies from midnight.
• North Rhine-Westphalia: The amusement arcades in the most populous federal state may be open until 4 p.m. at the latest on Christmas Eve. On the following Christmas holidays, opening is possible without restriction, although the regular closing time begins at 1 am.
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: According to the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Public Holidays Act, amusement arcades must close at least on Christmas Eve from 1 pm - midnight. All arcades are closed on Christmas Day and are allowed to reopen on Christmas Day.
• Rhineland-Palatinate: Here, all amusement arcades are closed at Christmas. Gaming operations will only resume on Boxing Day.
• Saxony-Anhalt: In Saxony-Anhalt, arcades must close from 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, the venues must remain closed all day and on Christmas Day, they will be closed until 5 a.m. due to the curfew(more details here).
• Schleswig-Holstein: In the northern federal state, casinos are completely closed on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, opening is possible between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m.

Gaming arcades closed at Christmas: What is the alternative?

If you would like to play in a casino or gaming arcade over the Christmas holidays and are unable to do so because many of them are closed, you will inevitably have to look for an alternative. One alternative is licensed online casinos.

Get to know the best online casinos at GambleJoe now!

Conclusion

The casino opening hours on Christmas 2024 vary greatly in some cases. In most casinos, however, the lights will remain off at least on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The situation is somewhat different in many casinos, where some will still be open on Christmas Eve, depending on the federal state. On Boxing Day, both land-based casinos and smaller arcades will resume full operations.

Source of the image: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/weihnachtsfeiertage-festlich-4711779/