Did the softening of the deposit limit make sense?

Since the new Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV) came into force, a monthly deposit limit of €1,000 per player applies across all providers in Germany. Since September 2023, this limit can be significantly increased in exceptional cases. But how sensible was the softening of the deposit limit really?

There is no doubt that the monthly deposit limit of 1,000 euros in German online casinos is one of the most annoying player protection regulations. Since last autumn, however, it has been possible to increase the flat-rate deposit limit in some online casinos under strict conditions. After a corresponding credit check, players can then deposit up to 10,000 euros online, and in exceptional cases even up to 30,000 euros per month.

How can the deposit limit be increased in German online casinos?

Anyone who registers at an online casino with a German licence and makes a deposit can generally do so without any problems up to an amount of 1,000 euros per month. This limit is monitored by the cross-national gambling supervisory system, LUGAS for short. Each individual deposit is transmitted to LUGAS in order to ensure that each player deposits a maximum of 1,000 euros per month in all online casinos combined. Once this amount has been reached, no further deposits are possible until the first of the next month.

To increase the deposit limit temporarily or permanently, gamblers must first log into the personal player account of the respective online casino. Here, the LUGAS limit itself can sometimes be increased to up to 3,000 euros per month.

However, increasing the limit to up to 10,000 euros per month always requires the consent of the respective provider. For this purpose, the gambling provider will carry out a credit check, which requires the player's co-operation. If this check is positive, deposits of up to 10,000 euros will be permitted and possible in future. If the check is negative, the standard limit will remain in place.

At the end of November, we at GambleJoe already reported that the deposit limits at Lapalingo, Lord Lucky and Tigerspin had been significantly increased. Here, even higher limits are possible under certain conditions, meaning that players can even deposit up to 30,000 euros per month after a corresponding credit check.

Was the softening of the deposit limit sensible and correct?

The question of whether the softening of the blanket 1,000 euro limit was right is certainly debatable. However, the fact is that every player is in a different financial situation.

While around 5.5 million people in Germany were receiving citizen's income on 1 August 2023, there were more than 3 million people in Germany with a gross annual income of over €100,000 on almost the same date.

In view of such a wide gap between rich and poor, it is only sensible and right to take account of the different income situations by applying different limits. After all, it would be disastrous if a citizen's allowance recipient with a standard rate of 563 euros per month gambled away "only" 250 euros in the online casino. A high earner, on the other hand, could easily afford to gamble €2,000, €3,000 or even more in online gambling in exceptional cases and possibly even lose money.

At the beginning of March, we at GambleJoe reported that a deposit limit of €5.35 per day could soon apply to young people in the Netherlands.

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