Discover Belgium's Thriving Poker Scene and Gambling Laws

Belgium has a rich gambling life. Horse racing, of all things gambling, is especially popular in the country. The famous horse racing track Hippodrome Wellington is located in the coastal city of Ostend.

Both live and online gambling is legal in the country and they’re both regulated by the Belgian Gaming Commission – that, evidently, includes poker as well. The European Union often puts pressure on governments to let foreign gambling companies compete fairly. Given the fact that the headquarters for the European Commission, the most powerful institution of the EU, is located in Brussels, there is even more pressure on Belgium to comply with EU standards. The laws currently in place are dictated by the 2011 Gaming Act.

In 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission made international news. It was for a reason unrelated to poker – the commission decided that loot boxes in video games count as gambling and banned games that are largely played by minors, such as EA Sports’ FIFA series, from including them in their gameplay. The decision caused a ripple effect around the world and now there is a similar piece of legislation proposed in the US Senate.

Famous Belgium Poker Players

Jonas Mols – better known as his online moniker OtB_RedBaron – is considered one of the best online cash game players in the world. According to HighstakesDB, he’s over $2 million in profit after playing 255,000 hands of high stakes cash games on PokerStars. He’s often willing to go as high as $200/$400 in stakes, mostly playing No Limit Hold’em.

One of the most popular poker YouTubers, Joe Ingram made multiple videos on the crazy hands he’s played for huge sums of money.

David Kitai is the first Belgian player ever to win a WSOP gold bracelet. He won the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament for $244,583 in 2008. Since then, he added two more bracelets to his tally – one from the $5,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event in 2013 and another from the $3,000 NLHE 6-Handed event from 2014. Overall, he has $9.9 million in live tournament earnings to his name, which makes him number 1 on Belgium’s all time money list.