Online Casinos Switzerland 2025
Up until 1993, all forms of gambling in Switzerland were illegal following a ban which was enforced in 1921. The lift of this ban in the early 90’s came just in time, as the first online gambling site was preparing to launch. While online gambling is considered to be illegal, no legislation enforces it and Swiss players can gamble at an array of secure offshore casinos.
To see the best online casinos in Switzerland, take a look at our top list below, which includes all top online casinos available to players in this country, with links to online casino reviews, offers and more. To learn more about the online and offline gambling laws in Switzerland, keep reading to the end of this page.
Online Casinos in Switzerland
There are online casinos in Switzerland, and Swiss players can play these freely. But before you get excited, there are a few things you need to know about the local laws in this country.
Online Casinos Switzerland 2025 with a FRESH bonuses!
About Online Casinos Switzerland 2025 with a HUGE bonuses!
Swiss Online Gambling Laws
For about 70 years, all forms of gambling, even lotteries, were illegal in Switzerland. This changed following the introduction of a new law in 1993, and immediately there were a number of big gambling games, casinos and more rolled out across the country.
Within a few short years Switzerland had gone from a country where gambling was scarce, into one where around 20% of the adult population gambled on a regular basis. This was a hugely positive shift, and one that helped to change the face of entertainment in the country while also giving the government an injection of tax dollars.
Technically, national lotteries were still illegal during this time, even though Swiss players had really taken to lotteries and were playing them both inside and outside of the country. But the biggest confusion was still to come, because as soon as online gambling became widespread the Swiss government were left in a bit of a conundrum.
On the one hand, they didn’t want citizens to gamble online, but on the other hand they couldn’t stop them as they were using overseas websites. They still tried their best to stop them though and but for a few exceptions people in Switzerland were not able to gamble online.
This changed in 2018 when the government voted on a law that would allow online gambling in the country, but only from Swiss players and Swiss operated online casinos. This means that online gambling is possible, but only from casinos that will focus 100% on Swiss players and not from the big rating casinos that you know and love.
Online gambling in Switzerland: The legal landscape
CH flag iconHistorically, Switzerland showed quite a polarized attitude towards gambling. Up until 1993, all forms of gambling were banned in the country. However, the bill that abolished the constitutional ban on casinos was passed, and gambling became legal. With such a wealthy nation, gambling developed freely and prospered up until the 1998 Federal Act on Games of Chance, and casino came along and once again banned all games of chance on the territory of Switzerland.
However, the timing of such legislation couldn’t be worse as it was just a few years before the boom of online casinos. So, with no specific laws to address the online gambling websites and an inexistent offer of local or land-based alternatives, Swiss casino aficionados were quick to enjoy the services of international sites.
In the past two decades, the online casino Suisse scene grew so much that all the funds leaving the country started to draw a lot of attention from the local authorities. It wasn’t long until, using players protection as the main concern, the government started talking about implementing new laws for online casinos operating in the country.
The Money Gaming Act & how it changed the market
Gambling Act iconIn 2018, a nation-wide referendum was organized to discuss the introduction of the Money Gaming Act. Over 70% of Swiss citizens voted positive, and as of the 1st of January 2019, the Swiss Federal Gaming Board (Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission) was established with the precise aim of regulating the online casino landscape. The Schweizer online casino scene lost a lot of its predominant names as a result of the new laws. This new legislation created the framework for online casinos to apply for a license in order to operate in Switzerland.
Also, any international casinos offering online services to players in the country without having a valid license are added to a blacklist and targeted by DNS blocks. Perhaps the most restrictive part of the new gambling act is forcing international online casinos to have a physical presence in the country in order to be able to apply for a license. This meant that all the big names that wanted to continue providing online casino games in the territory had to form partnerships with local land-based casinos – similar to what’s happening in the USA.
As a result, the only “technically legal” online casinos available to Swiss players are Casino Baden, Casino Lucerne, Casino Pfäffikon, and Casino Davos and their websites, which players can enjoy if they’re above 18 years of age. Furthermore, winnings below CHF 1,000 are not taxed, while over that amount a 35% tax applies, which is quite steep even for a wealthy country.
Are Swiss players fined for playing on offshore sites?
With such high taxation levels, it’s no surprise that a lot of Swiss players still prefer to enjoy casino games on international sites that still accept them. Furthermore, there are no fines or specific punitive measures for players enjoying offshore websites. As long as you have access to an online casino in Switzerland, there’s nothing to worry about. Plus, the bonuses on some of these brands are huge.
How To Embark on Your Online Casino Journey in Switzerland
online casino switzerland. There was a major change in the world of online gambling in Switzerland as of this year. A series of laws were passed and these laws allow only casinos operating under a Swiss license to continue operating in Switzerland.
This is going to cause a lot of upheaval especially on the side of the players. We do know that in the near future, players will find even more and perhaps better online casinos to play at. Also, they could still play at their favorite casinos just by bypassing these laws using cryptocurrencies and VPNs.
Even with the use of a VPN to mask or change your country and the usage of a cryptocurrency, playing an online casino is basically the same like in the rest of Europe. No matter how many laws are amended, the modis operandi of casinos and their basic information don’t go under these amendments. So don’t worry yourself about this law as signing up should be the same like always.