Best Online Casinos in Ireland for 2024

History of Gambling in Ireland

Ireland, as a territory, was separated from other Europe in the early seventeenth century, when the British Empire took control of the island after its possession. After that, the first significant gambling activity in Ireland turned up between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Between these centuries, horse racing became sought-after in Ireland.

Blackjack, roulette and baccarat were available in most of European states, but they went to Ireland lately via the Englishmen. The British nation presented cards as well as board games, yet the inhabitants played more on horse racing. Nowadays, betting on races is a center of all types of gambling in Ireland. It is believed that the Irish have a traditional soft spot for horses, so it is argumentative that horse racing betting became sought-after.

Nevertheless, despite its popularity, race tracks were not built all around Ireland for a long time. Virtually, until the twelfth century there were no gambling facilities in the state. However, at that time several gaming entertainments were held in Ireland.

The most important turning point was in 1956 with the Gaming and Lotteries Act. If the Gambling Act provided the basis for regulating rates in Ireland, after 30 years this regulation did the same for casinos and lotteries. In summary, the law forbade casinos from working in any part of the country, while only lotteries for charity purposes were allowed. Nevertheless, the breach in this act allowed many “private clubs” to participate in gambling entertainment. These mostly self-regulating clubs were essentially casinos that provided slots machines and board games. It changed reputation of the gaming industry in Ireland into a bit of clandestine.

In the meantime, this situation changed only in 2015, when the Betting (Amendment) Act, which regulated all types of online betting in Ireland, was passed. In a different way, many initial laws were kept. Foreign operators are rightfully authorized to run business in the state and guided by Irish inhabitants.

In May 2015, the Minister of Justice suggested a series of new regulations in the Cabinet to implement new measures to overcome difficult issues related to gambling activities. The plan is to perform an independent observer, who must impose high fines on regulators that do not meet the requirements.

The report of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA) divulged that 64% of the full-grown population gambled in one way or another in 2015. Howsoever, the report did not pinpoint the form of gambling activities and contained everything from the purchase of lottery tickets to gambling online slot machines, besides it didn’t include its frequency.

Types of Online Casino in Ireland

In Ireland, online gambling activities are very widespread, as in most countries around the world. In 2013, the authorities started regulating online casinos, and the Gambling Control Act identified that any operator providing such gaming services to the Irish customers has to get a relevant license.

Despite the fact that all websites are rightfully forced to have licenses, citizens may gamble freely on any foreign gaming website with or without license. In contradistinction to other countries, the profits are not taxed by the authorities. Essentially, in Ireland all estimable online casinos are available, and most of them admit payments in euros. In Ireland, the most frequently visited websites are Dublinbet, All Slots, Spin Palace, CasinoUK, Bet365 casino, etc.

As in almost all the states with the high-quality Internet connection, online poker is great business in Ireland. In 2013 the authorities decided that online poker facilities serving Irish gamblers would have to get licenses, but the inhabitants may gamble freely, wherever they want without limitations or taxes. Most of the main worldwide services are available in Ireland, and almost all of them accept payments in euros. There are several famous poker services such as PokerStars, Party Poker, Carbon Poker and 888Poker available.

The Betting Act of 1926 made it clandestine for betting houses without a license in Ireland to bid rates. Nevertheless, it did not do anything about the foreign gambling websites that cater to Irish gamblers. It became a difficult problem in the 1990s, when the Internet users had access to betting services from all around the world in Ireland.

Universal bookmakers, located in such places like Gibraltar, Malta, Antigua and the Isle of Man, created a great presence in Ireland from the 1990s till the present time. The 2012 Betting Bill demanded that foreign bookmakers, who serve Irish gamblers, have to get a government license.

In Ireland the most popular online betting house is Paddy Power that was established as a bookmaker in 1988, yet started betting on the Internet in 2001. A few foreign betting shops are well-known in Ireland, for instance, Bet365, Bodog, William Hill and Ladbrokes.

The Gambling Control Act of 2013 demanded that all gaming operators, including bingo websites, providing services to the Irish gamblers to get licenses from the Gaming Control Office. In addition to the available licensed websites, the Irish bingo devotees may gamble freely at any website they wish, no matter whether they have a license or not.

Basically, all authorized online bingo websites are available in Ireland and take bets in the euro currency. A few well-known features include Bet365 Bingo and Bingo Palace. Moreover, most online gambling websites, such as CasinoUK and Dublinbet, also provide bingo games.

Types of Casino Games for Irish Gamblers

To tell the truth, there is no casino in Ireland. Some founders may add the word ‘casino’ to the name of their attraction to appeal tourists. However, most of the private clubs in Ireland are sufficiently equipped and provide gambling-driven services. A large range of slot machines and board games, such as electronic roulette, slot machines, poker, roulette, blackjack can be offered by such clubs.

It is obvious that poker is a well-known type of gambling-driven entertainment in Ireland. There is offered a range of card games, and there are provided a lot of poker tournaments in Ireland. In a similar vein, bingo is widespread, but gentler because it is often used to raise funds. It has been a social establishment for a long time, and it is one of a few legitimate types of gambling-driven activities due to the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956. About 10 bingo halls are located in Ireland.

Betting is the most sought-after type of gambling activities in Ireland. In Ireland, the popular appeal of horse racing, in particular, is related to a traditional soft spot of the Irish for horses.

As it is known in other European countries, sports betting (taking into consideration no greyhound or horse racing) is widespread in Ireland. Presumably, soccer is the most popular sport, and football matches are widely distributed in the country. Additionally, in Ireland, there is exceedingly popular Gaelic football betting. The proceeds of bets on horse racing are not subject to taxes, although the off-course gains are subject to the 12% VAT, and rates for other sports betting are taxed at 21%. Sports betting has also increased in popularity as the Internet has made more betting features available.

The lottery is also sought-after in Ireland. The biggest and most profitable lottery is the Irish National Lottery that for all seasons was guided by a branch organization of the Irish Post Office. In 2013, the Irish government conducted a competitive bidding process to grant a new 20-year license to perform the National Lottery. The purpose of the national lottery is charity. Income has been reduced recently when the cost of the ticket reached from €1.5 to €3. In addition, the Irish legislation allows any institution to offer lotteries for a charitable purpose, providing the institution is licensed or authorized by the District Court or the Irish Police Chief.

Finally, online gaming entertainment is very efficient in Ireland and it is fully legal. Therefore, all types of gambling-driven activities are available online, yet online sports betting is the most demanded in Ireland.

Online Gambling Laws and Regulations in Ireland

In Ireland, the legislations on the online gambling industry are very understandable and do not permit ambiguity in their understanding. The state has come a long way to achieve its current conditions for Ireland online gaming activities, so all the regulations on online gambling-driven industry of Ireland have been corrected and thoroughly approved, so you can learn the main points of online gambling legislation in Ireland.

Gambling in the land-based casinos in Ireland is absolutely rightful all around the country, and you may gamble participating in any kind of gaming activities there. Gambling is quite well-liked among the full-grown population, and you are likely to meet many Irish players in the EUR casino or in the betting shop.

What is more, online gambling activities are permitted in Ireland. Online gaming entertainment in Ireland is legal since 2015. At that time this country began regulating the gaming activities on the Internet in Ireland and permitted all the kinds of online entertainment. In Ireland, the online casinos that want to provide their services to the Irish people must buy an online gambling license in Ireland without regard to their location and pay a part of their tax profits.

Under the auspicious conditions and affirmative attitude of the online gambling-driven authority in Ireland, there are a lot of legal online casinos in Ireland that offer all kinds of online gambling activities.

Any provider (located anywhere in the globe) that acts as a distant bookmaker in relation to customers in Ireland must receive one (or both) of the following:

• a distant broker license that covers online betting services;
• a betting intermediary license that allows an operator to provide gambling-driven activities that permit people to bet with other ones (other than the operator) by the distant means.

The primary license fee for distant brokers and betting intermediaries is 10,000 Euros. The cost of restoring a distant license is based on billing and varies from 10,000 Euros to a maximum of 500,000 Euros (for betting houses with an annual income of more than 500 million Euros) or 200,000 Euros for distant intermediaries with an annual income of 500 million Euros or more.

In addition to licensing fees, distant brokers have to pay a 1% fee, too.

The distant intermediaries are obliged to pay an intermediary debt that currently represents 15% of the commission (the amount that the manufacturing parties, using the means of the distant intermediary, deduct from the prize or otherwise, for the use of these funds).

As opposed to many other states where the national lottery belongs to the country, Ireland has granted a license to a private institution called Premier Lotteries Ireland LTD. It will start the lottery for the next two years, and tickets can be purchased both offline and at online casinos in Ireland.

In recent years, gamblers have been able to enter the gaming halls and participate in safe online gambling entertainment in Ireland since the age of 16. However the regulations have changed, and nowadays you can take part in any of the gambling-driven activities only if you are over 18.

In conclusion, gambling at online casinos in Ireland is legal for adults, and all Irish online casinos must gain a license and pay all the required taxes to the budget of Ireland.

Best Deposit Methods for Irish Gamblers

At Irish online casinos, making a deposit can be done using a variety of payment methods, namely:

• Debit/Credit Cards | They are used worldwide in most countries for most daily purchases. Besides, debit and credit cards are the most widely used payment method in online casinos, too. VISA and MasterCard debit/credit cards are the most widespread, but some websites prefer others, such as American Express or Discover.
• eWallets | As it would be anticipated from online gambling industry, digital banking payment methods are very widespread, especially eWallets. The eWallets, that can be found virtually on all the best Irish gambling-driven websites, are NETELLER and Skrill (previously known as Moneybookers).
• Prepaid Cards | Because of the additional security, prepaid cards are an exceedingly prevailing payment method for gamblers. Most of the top-ranked gambling-driven places in Ireland take advantage to the most sought-after prepaid card, Paysafecard. Moreover, the Paysafe Group has several eWallet services, including Skrill.
• PayPal | PayPal is one of the most frequently used online deposit services worldwide, especially in Ireland, that is why you may choose one of online casinos that permit PayPal for payments and withdrawals from an account.
• Bank Transfers | An outright bank transfer has been an extensively used payment method for a lot of online gamblers. Improved safety and techniques have made this feature much more reliable and, therefore, more widespread.
• Pay-by-Phone | The latest way to earn money via online gambling-driven activities, pay-by-phone through such services as Boku and Zimpler, is now permitted for a lot of the most sought-after online bets. Based on the account configured via the telephone service, pay-by-phone services offer a new security payment dimension.
• Bitcoin | Nowadays the cryptocurrency gains significant popularity around the world, and Bitcoin is the most well-known virtual currency that is available. The encrypted currency flourishes because of its outstanding benefits of privacy and security as well as the digital nature of Bitcoin. That is happening because the world of online gambling entertainment has captured Bitcoin as a means of payments and withdrawals.

Accepted Currencies in Ireland

Certainly, if you need to exchange currency during gambling-driven activities, it may be a bit confusing. Therefore, banking features play a considerable role in concluding whether to log in an account or not.

Provided right currency according to your gambling demands is as important as safety precautions to uphold your personal banking information. Many fundraising methods have been expanded, including a variety of currency features. The easier your navigation via the currency is, the more convenient your gambling will be.

It is estimated that Ireland, with fewer than five million citizens, has an online gambling-driven industry of around €3 billion. It is a reasonable hypothesis that much of this money is spent during online gambling activities.

In Ireland, many online casinos are notably aimed at citizens, with easy options of depositing and withdrawing money, as well as the auxiliaries are taught for the requirements of inhabitants of this country.

Anyone cannot underrate the significance of gambling in the casino where your currency is available. Ireland is a part of the European Economic Union, and as you understand, the main currency in Ireland is the euro, so according to statistical data, the euro is now permitted in all top-ranked online casinos. More than 78% of all online casinos in the world allow transactions in euro. In Ireland, gamblers may also use other world currencies to make transactions in online casinos, including the U.S. dollars.

Predictions about the Future of Online Gambling in Ireland

Irish players are definitely happy. In Ireland, the gambling industry prompts recently appeared online casinos to gain licenses, and that is why more and more casinos are available in Ireland.

Nowadays it seems that the Irish gambling industry will develop further, every day, despite some tax changes that can be soon. If these changes do not affect the top 10 Irish online casinos, it is unlikely that they can bring anyone to the gaming industry in Ireland.

Offers from Irish casinos are easily altered and the casino numbers are ready to accept your bets. If you choose any online or mobile casino in Ireland, you will receive extremely positive impressions and safe gambling at the same time. You can play any game from your laptop or computer, and the best slot machines for mobile devices in Ireland are available in the Irish online casino from iOS and Android devices.

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