Introduction
Austria, a small Central European country perhaps best known for its Alpine ski resorts and 18th Century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has fully legal gambling. This applies to both live and online.
In fact, one of Europe’s biggest casino chains is Casino Austria. Despite what the name suggests, they actually have venues in 16 countries. Also, they’re not state-owned. Today, their parent company is the Czech SAZKA Group.
Online Poker Legal Status in Austria
While the live poker scene in Austria is fantastic, the same isn’t necessarily true for online poker in the country. Thankfully, online gambling is legal and regulated, with their Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium für Finanzen, or BMF for) being in charge of licencing and regulation. Since July 2020, the Austrian Tax Office is also involved in the processes. However, the problem is that the Austrian online poker scene is a segregated market.
This means that Austrian players are not allowed to play against players from other countries over the internet. Since the country’s population is less than 9 million, this leads to a scarcity of action at the virtual tables. Luckily, there have been some improvements made on this issue. In February 2015, Austrian players were allowed to join players from other European countries on the servers of Pokerstars.eu. In March 2017, the Austrian gambling site Win2day.at, which also offers online poker, shared its player pool with the Finnish gambling site Veikkaus (both sites are owned by the gambling tech company Playtech), doubling the number of poker players at their tables.
Famous Austrian Poker Players
Niki Jedlicka, better known by his online monikers “KaiBuxxe” on the now defunct poker site Full Tilt and “RealAndyBeal” on PokerStars, is an online high stakes Pot Limit Omaha cash game player. He amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit on those two sites.
Matthias Eibinger has $7.953 million in live tournament winnings. He has an EPT title from 2019, and finished second in a $100K buy-in No Limit Hold’em event at the partypoker MILLIONS Sochi Super High Roller Series for $1.008 million in March 2020.
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Our Selection of Poker Sites in Austria
- Great rakeback!
- Soft games
- GTD tournaments and freerolls
- Wide choice of games & tournaments
- Secure & reliable
- Great, very smooth PC and MAC software
- Good mobile software
- Slow withdrawals with cards
In Short:
Since 1997, partypoker has been one of the largest and most trusted online poker sites. partypoker has been a trusted name inside the online poker industry for years, and given the significance of transaction security, it is safe to say your cash is as secure at partypoker as any other major poker room.
- Overall Rating 90%
- Software 95%
- Games 85%
- Offers 85%
- Payments 90%
- €20 in tickets (Instant) + €200 Welcome Bonus (Play through)
- More than 15 years of existence
- Best Room for Recreational Players
- Software Is Fast and User Friendly
- All Third-Party Software is Banned
- Few tournaments with decent prize pools
- Limited Player Pool
In Short:
At the point when you're planning to start playing Poker and have a shot in in a beginner friendly condition, Unibet is maybe the best choice open!
- Overall Rating 90%
- Software 95%
- Games 90%
- Offers 70%
- Payments 80%
- Great Rakeback!
- Soft Games
- GTD Tournaments % Freerolls
- Great, very smooth PC software
- Good Mobile software
- Getting more competitive
In Short:
With action available from micro to the highest stakes online, GGNet is an ideal network for both beginners and confirmed players !
- Overall Rating 85%
- Software 90%
- Games 85%
- Offers 90%
- Payments 80%
- 200% Deposit Bonus up to 2000$ (clear at 20%)
- Wide choice of Games & Tournaments
- 35% Cashback with SMP
- Secure & Reliable
- PC version only through Emulation and no MAC version
- No HUD available
In Short:
The BestPoker Software is part of the iPoker Network, and is famous for being simple to explore, and is quite exceptional in the online poker world. Games run both in British Pounds (GBP) and Euros (EUR). No-Limit Hold’em traffic is incredible at all stakes.
Play on private apps from Austria
Play with Bitcoin from Austria
The games running on SWC Poker are played in BTC as a currency.
Instant and secure transactions using USDT, ETH, BTC or CHP tokens and no KYC checks.
Austria Poker Sites FAQs
Is online poker legal in Austria?
Yes, it is. The 2010 Gambling Act set up the current framework for licencing and regulation, making their Ministry of Finance in charge of both. Games of chance were legal in the country even before that, both live and online. In fact, the market was a lot less regulated. Rising gambling addiction issues forced the government to step in and draft a new, more regulatory legislation.
Luckily, foreign gambling sites can also apply for and receive licences – and many of them have done so. However, they need to open offices with Austrian addresses to be able to do so.
What is the legal age for gambling in Austria?
The legal gambling age in Austria is 18.
What are the Best Online Poker Sites in Austria?
We’ve mentioned Win2day.at, a “bona fide” Austrian gambling site with online poker.
As for the major foreign poker sites, partypoker, Natural8-GGNetwork, Unibet, and Best Poker (part of the Poker Network) are all available for Austrian players. They can also try real money poker apps like Pokio.
You can read the reviews for these great international online poker rooms above on this page.
Which online poker sites are blacklisted in Austria?
In 2011, the online gambling site Bet-at-home.com was blocked in Austria after failing to comply with licencing requirements – namely for a lack of Austrian office. However, they have sorted out the issue since then and they’re now back in the market. In addition, the online poker room Intertops, part of the Horizon Network, restricts players from Austrian locations.
Which Austrian poker site accepts Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies?
You can make deposits with BTC and other cryptocurrencies on Natural8-GGNetwork, as well as Americas Cardroom and Blackchip Poker.
Latest poker news about Austria
Other Poker & Gambling News in Austria
- 2021/08/04 – Claas Segebrecht is leading the GGPoker Super MILLION$ race – 123 players started the GGPoker Super MILLION$, and there are 9 of them left currently. Claas Segebrecht is leading with 2,541,935 chips, and it’s the first time he’s been able to be at the final table for this event.
