Belarus

Gambling in Belarus is built on Presidential Decree No. 9 (2005), with online play legalised by Decree No. 305 (2018, effective 1 April 2019) and tightened by Decree No. 226 of 6 June 2025 (key provisions effective 11 March 2026). The Ministry of Taxes and Duties (МНС) licenses casinos, slot halls, bookmakers, totalisators (covering sports and horse racing) and virtual establishments; licences run about five years and operators must connect to the state Special Computer Cash System (СККС), run by the Monitoring Center for Gambling Business, which transmits real-time turnover data.

Servers must sit in Belarus. Users must be 21+, verify identity and use their own funds; a single-account rule applies. Decree No. 226 lengthened video retention to 60 days and, from March 2026, banned bank transfers to foreign operators, pushing players onto licensed .by platforms. Online gaming income is taxed; players pay income tax on withdrawals.

Prediction-market platforms have no Belarusian framework and fall under the general ban on unauthorised gambling.

Belarus allows gambling in the real world at land-based casinos located across the country. Minsk alone is home to more than 30 casinos.

Belarus Betting Sites

Online gambling was long prohibited in Belarus apart from the government-owned state lottery website, but it has been legal under licence since 1 April 2019. Customers can visit loto.by, the official site of the state Superloto lottery run by the republican unitary enterprise “Natsionalnye sportivnye loterei”, to buy tickets and check draw results online.

Online gambling has already changed: in 2018, President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 305 to legalize online gambling and sports betting in Belarus. Under the law, operators may apply for licenses to offer real money games and sports betting to Belarusians.

The law took effect on 1 April 2019, and licensed Belarusian online gambling sites have been operating since. Customers may still visit foreign gambling sites to bet online, but visitors should be aware that it is still unlawful to play at unauthorized betting sites — and from 11 March 2026 banks are barred from transferring players’ payments to foreign gambling operators.

The government does take it seriously. A myriad of laws require ISPs, internet café owners and even people with guests in their houses to keep track of everyone’s browsing habits. Failure to report a crime can result in penalties and fines for computer owners.

If you’re dead set on betting offshore, some foreign betting sites will still accept you as a customer, but from 11 March 2026 Belarusian banks are barred from processing payments to foreign gambling operators.

Playing at unauthorised foreign sites remains unlawful in Belarus, and since 11 March 2026 Belarusian banks have been barred from transferring players’ payments to foreign gambling operators, so card and bank-transfer deposits to those sites can no longer be relied on.

Gambling Laws in Belarus

The government of Belarus does not look kindly upon unlicensed online betting. Citizens may only place bets at licensed Belarusian betting sites that operate on .by domains — and since online gambling was legalised in 2019, a range of licensed bookmakers and online casinos now operate there.

Reports began circulating as early as 2014 that draft laws seek to give the government the ability to license and tax certain gambling sites who keep servers on Belarus land. The draft proposal also included the possibility of a government-run casino site.

This looked like a realistic proposal from the beginning considering Belarus already allows brick-and-mortar casinos. It took some time, but the government finally moved in 2018 to legalize online gambling with the passage of Decree No. 305.

Belarus actively censors and monitors internet usage within the country. In fact, it’s so bad that Reporters Without Borders once labeled Belarus an "enemy of the internet." Current laws give the government the authority to block access to sites it deems offensive or dangerous and prosecute those who access or disseminate restricted information.

Laws enacted in 2011 require anyone in Belarus selling goods or services online to register their websites on Belarusian land on .by domains. Internet service providers are required to keep activity logs of all users for one year while internet café owners are required to log peoples’ passports before granting access to the internet. And perhaps worst of all, homeowners are held responsible for any websites that their friends or family members visit.

So in summary, it is legal to gamble online in Belarus with operators licensed there, while unauthorised foreign sites remain off-limits. It would be best to stick with operators licensed in Belarus. Online gambling has been legal under licence since 2019, so the smart thing is to play only with licensed operators.