We’ve been getting nothing but great news for online casino fans worldwide this year! Until very recently, online casino was exclusive to only some of the bigger countries, such as UK, Germany and Spain. Even potentially gigantic markets, such as the US, saw incredibly harsh restrictions on all sorts of online gambling. This may sound terrible at first, but it’s, in fact, rather understandable, as online gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry (its market share worldwide is expected to be roughly $50 billion by the end of 2016, if market analysts are to be believed) which, in turn, needs to be regulated and watched very closely in order to prevent potential issues between casino providers and the players, as well as the government. Online casino revenues need to be taxed appropriately so that they can help the economy while also providing the operators themselves with enough revenue to keep sustaining what is potentially a very expensive business.
Despite all these issues, though, people’s desire to engage in online gambling has motivated legislators to push for laws to allow for online gambling to exist, in one form or another. Pennsylvania, for instance, is expected to pass a legislation making online gambling legal within the state sometime in 2016. Other countries, like Sweden and Hungary, have already passed such laws, in some capacity, while countries which passed them not too long ago, like Spain, are seeing a monumental increase in profits. No matter how you look at it, it seems that legalizing online gambling is a fantastic idea for everyone, be it gamblers, the government or, of course, the casino providers. Hungary is also enjoying the benefits of an online casino thanks to Finnish casino providers Finnplay (as gamingintelligence.com reported), who are bringing their Las Vegas Casino Diamond online platform to the country.
In October of last year, Hungary finally legalized online casino gambling, in no small part due to the popularity of poker sites in the country (which have been legal for a while). While the rules outlined by the government are very restrictive (for example, only license holders who already own a land-based casino are permitted to have an online version playable in Hungary), they’re still a lot better than nothing. Las Vegas Casino Diamond’s physical branch has been operating in Hungary since 1992, so that condition’s already out of the way. “We are delighted to be the casino technology partner for the Las Vegas Casino in the regulated Hungarian market,” Finnplay chief executive Martin Prantner said to the presses. “They have an incredibly strong brand in the land-based market, and we look forward to supporting their business growth across the digital channels”, he added. Good luck, Mr. Prantner! Make Hungary, and the rest of the online gambling world that’s looking up to you, proud!