Yet another gambling operator has been approved to offer online slot games in Germany. Jokerstar, a German gambling operator, became the eighth company that is greenlit to offer such games.
Jokestar Joins the White List
Jokerstar will launch online slots on its Jokerstar.de site, allowing bettors in the country to access its iGaming offerings. Jokerstar will now join the likes of Merkur, SlotMagie, BluBet and others on the government’s white list. Thanks to this, it will be able to provide online slots to gamblers across Germany.
Having been founded in 2021, Jokerstar is a fairly new gambling brand. However, its ownership group, Kling Automaten, has decades of experience in the retail slots sector. Kling Automaten, a German gambling operator, hopes to capitalize on the legalization of online slots and explore this new market.
As per the GlüNeuRStv, online slots and online poker have been legal since 2021. Despite that, the State Administrative Office of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany’s gambling regulator, has only issued online slots licenses to the most reliable of companies. Many of the brands that have been approved to offer online slots are affiliated with the popular Gauselmann Group, one of the biggest local operators. Meanwhile, not a single company has been approved to operate online poker.
Germany Continues to Have a Black Market Problem
Germany’s gambling market has some of the strictest rules in Europe. According to the country’s gambling laws, operators should pay a 5.3% stake tax. In addition, users can only bet $1 per slot spin. They are also unable to deposit more than $1000 a month no matter how many operators they play with.
As a result, some foreign companies have been reluctant to offer their products in Germany. Others, like Kindred Group, on the other hand, exited the German market as it deemed its regulations to be unsustainable.
The regulations have unfortunately prompted many German customers to pick the black market and play with offshore brands. This has led to a severe black market problem that is currently hurting the regulated industry. Deutscher Sportwettenverband, an association of sports betting providers, recently said it identified over 507 unlicensed operators whose offerings are accessible by German bettors. Deutscher Sportwettenverband subsequently pleaded with the Glücksspielbehörde (GGL), Germany’s new gambling regulator, asking it do something about this problem.
The GGL immediately asked Germany’s internet service providers to block offshore sites and warned that those who refuse to do so might receive fines. However, this isn’t going to be an easy battle.