On 4 August 2026 Austria's Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium für Finanzen, BMF) submitted the draft of its new Gambling Act (Glücksspielgesetz) to the European Commission under the TRIS procedure — triggering a three-month standstill period that runs until 4 November 2026. The reform ends the Casinos Austria monopoly on land-based casinos (replaced by up to 13 licences) and the Österreichische Lotterien monopoly on online gambling (the win2day.at brand), introduces a central self-exclusion register and statutory deposit limits of €250 per week for players aged 18–26 and €1,680 per month for players aged 26 and over. The market is scheduled to open in October 2027.
The current Glücksspielgesetz has been in force since 1989 and locks in a state monopoly: Österreichische Lotterien holds the exclusive right to online gambling and lotteries, and Casinos Austria holds the land-based casino right. That model has been repeatedly criticised by the European Court of Justice and by Austria's Supreme Court for disproportionately restricting EU freedom of services. Pressure from ongoing litigation — including player claims for the return of losses at unlicensed sites — pushed the ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS coalition to announce, in spring 2026, the biggest gambling reform in 26 years. The text is now sitting in Brussels.
We read the EU submission as a technical but politically irreversible step. The TRIS notification triggers a mandatory standstill through 4 November 2026, during which any EU member state or the Commission itself can lodge objections. According to the BMF, the parliamentary process runs in parallel, so Austria's Nationalrat can adopt the law immediately after the standstill ends. A realistic adoption date is December 2026 and market opening is set for October 2027.
In our view, the reform's key player-facing change is not the 13 casino licences but the central self-exclusion register. Austria becomes the last of the major EU markets to introduce such a register at national level, mirroring Sweden's new Spelpaus API live since 1 August 2026 and Germany's centralised LUGAS run by the GGL. The register will cover land-based casinos, slot machines and online gambling, with lotteries excluded. It closes the biggest regulatory gap Austria has carried for decades.
We think the deposit limits are the next major change. €250 per week for younger players (18–26) and €1,680 per month for everyone else is lower than Germany's federal €1,000-per-month cap per operator, but not on an ecosystem basis: in Germany the limit already applies across all GGL-licensed sites at once. Austria will follow the same centralisation logic, and the direction is right. Combined with Germany's tiered slot-stake limits, the Austrian model slows play down even harder: a mandatory 90-minute cooling-off break, reduced machine spin speed and lower maximum stakes.
In our view, the sharpest political question is the fate of Casinos Austria. The company is publicly lobbying to keep the package allocation of licences; smaller operators want individual concessions. Whoever wins that fight, the Österreichische Lotterien online monopoly ends. It is a process that resembles Italy's ADM concession fight and the current retail-reform impasse: market opening comes with an intra-coalition conflict. The government has told unlicensed operators to leave the Austrian market by 1 January 2027 or forfeit the right to apply for a licence. Combined with the fact that the EU AMLA consultation on AML duties in gambling is still open, the Austrian regime is aligned with the broader European tightening vector from day one.
When does Austria's new gambling law take effect?
The EU standstill runs first, through 4 November 2026. Parliamentary adoption in the Nationalrat is expected in December 2026, and the market opens with new licences in October 2027. Companies currently active in Austria without a licence must cease operations by 1 January 2027 or lose the right to apply for a new licence.
What deposit limits will apply at Austrian online casinos?
Players aged 18 to 26 are capped at €250 per week; players aged 26 and above at €1,680 per month. The limits apply to online gambling and slot machines. This is a material change: today win2day.at has no statutory deposit ceiling of this kind, only internal voluntary tools. The caps will apply to all new licensees from the date of market opening.
What changes for players at Casinos Austria land-based venues?
Instead of the Casinos Austria monopoly, up to 13 licences, which may be allocated in packages or individually. This opens the market to international operators, but it does not guarantee multiple brands in every city at once. The material point is that all machines and casinos will be covered by the new central self-exclusion register.
What are the new rules for slot play in Austria?
The reform reduces machine spin speed and maximum stakes and forces a mandatory cooling-off break after 90 minutes of continuous play. This is not a discrete time-out — it is a system-design requirement built into the machine. Operators will have to implement it across all new licences from the date of market opening in October 2027.
As of 6 August 2026, for players in Austria: through October 2027, win2day.at (the only licensed online operator) and Casinos Austria venues remain the legal options. If you play on an unlicensed online casino targeting the Austrian market, that operator must exit by 1 January 2027 or lose its right to apply for a new licence — and your money there can get stuck in the transition. In the meantime, use the voluntary self-limit tools already available on win2day.at until the central register launches in 2027.
We expect the first licence applicants in Austria to file by April 2027, mostly international brands with MGA, UKGC or GGL experience. Players should not rush to switch to sites 'permitted after the reform' until the BMF publishes the final licensee list. Casino play is for adults (18+) and not a way to earn a living; if a gambling budget is slipping out of control, use GAMSTOP in the UK, OASIS in Germany, Spelpaus in Sweden, the ANJ register in France, Cruks in the Netherlands, RUA in Italy or autoexclusão SPA in Brazil — the new Austrian register will only be live after market opening.