Belgium

Online betting is legal in Belgium but tightly regulated by the Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie) under the Gambling Act of 7 May 1999. Online sports betting and online horse-race betting both need a supplementary F1+ licence, and only holders of a land-based F1 licence can apply for one. Companies that serve Belgian players without a licence face criminal action and have their websites blocked by Belgian ISPs.

The regime tightened significantly between 2023 and 2026. A general ban on gambling advertising took effect on 1 July 2023, covering TV, radio, print, websites and social media. The Law of 18 February 2024 raised the minimum age to 21 for all gambling from 1 September 2024, required separate websites for different game categories and banned online bonuses. A total ban on gambling advertising in sports stadiums followed on 1 January 2025, and shirt sponsorship of professional clubs will be banned from 1 January 2028.

EPIS is the part of the system you'll deal with directly. The Gaming Commission has run the Excluded Persons Information System since 2004, and every licensed operator must check your name and date of birth against it before letting you play, online or in person. You can end up on it in three ways: you can exclude yourself, an interested third party such as a partner can request it, or a court can impose it.

In September 2025 Belgium began a six-year restructuring of its gambling regulator. On prediction markets, the Kansspelcommissie blacklisted and blocked Polymarket from 30 January 2025 after its warnings went unheeded, making Belgium one of the first EU jurisdictions to act against it.

Which Betting Sites Are Legal in Belgium?

Only a few betting sites hold licences to serve Belgian players, and that matters more here than almost anywhere else, because Belgium is one of the few countries that pursues individual players with criminal action for using unlicensed sites. Several recognisable international brands hold the right licences:

• Unibetsports.be

• Ladbrokes.be

• Bwin.be

• Goldenpalacesports.be

Belgium Gambling Laws

Online gambling in Belgium was far less restricted before 2011, and players could bet online where and how they wanted. The 2010 overhaul of the Gambling Act of 7 May 1999, implemented in 2011, added a long list of restrictions on online gambling and set out the licensing process for legal betting sites.

You can still bet online from Belgium, but it's your responsibility to play only at licensed sites. The Belgian Gaming Commission website publishes the current list of licensed Belgian betting sites, so check it before you sign up anywhere.

The commission has reportedly doubled its number of compliance officers and amended the Gaming Act to give itself the power to pursue Belgian bettors who play at unlicensed sites. Players caught at the wrong sites could face fines of up to €25,000 and up to three years in prison.

Belgium has used those powers. Several players were charged in 2013 for playing unlicensed betting machines in a bar, and in May 2015, 79 players were each fined €200 for betting at BetClic Everest, which isn't properly licensed in Belgium.

The Gaming Act also allows charges against anyone who advertises, promotes or processes payments for illegal gambling sites, including affiliates, newspapers, banks and ISPs. In practice, the law criminalises every part of working with or playing at an unlicensed site in Belgium.

Types of Gambling Licence in Belgium

Belgium has three classes of online gambling licence, and each is reserved for a specific form of gambling.

• A+ licence: casino games and poker

• B+ licence: gaming arcades, instant-win games and specific types of casino games

• F1+ licence: sports betting

The A+ and B+ licences are similar, but the A+ is the stronger of the two. It lets a site offer a full range of casino games and online poker, and only companies with a land-based casino in Belgium can apply. Belgium has just 9 casinos, so there can be no more than 9 A+ licences. Online gambling companies can partner with a land-based casino to get one, as PokerStars did.

A B+ licence allows a narrower range of games but needs no partnership with a land-based casino. The F1+ licence covers betting on sports and current events. All applicants must pay a €250,000 guarantee before they're awarded a licence.