🇬🇷Greece gambling regulation

Legal framework at a glance

Greece regulates online gambling under Law 4002/2011 as amended by Law 4635/2019, which ended a long interim period and created an open licensing system for online betting and other online games. OPAP keeps exclusive rights to lotteries and retail betting, while land-based casinos hold separate licences. The result is a hybrid model.

The regulator

The Hellenic Gaming Commission (Επιτροπή Εποπτείας και Ελέγχου Παιγνίων, EEEP) is an independent authority that licenses and supervises gambling, maintains the whitelist of licensed online operators and blacklists illegal domains. Its 2023–2027 strategic plan makes player protection, especially for young people, the top priority. In 2024 it restructured, created an in-house legal service and expanded its staff.

Licensing

Law 4635/2019 created two online licence types:

Licence	Scope
Betting licence	Online sports and other fixed-odds betting
Other online games licence	Online casino, live casino and poker

Licences run for seven years and carry substantial one-off fees, with additional technical and capital requirements. A company can hold both types. For a comparative view, see licensing costs compared.

Online products — what is and isn’t legal

Online betting, casino and poker are legal with HGC-licensed operators. Lottery games are reserved to OPAP. Offering gambling without a licence is illegal; the HGC blocks such sites and can fine operators. The minimum age for online gambling and casinos is 21, while OPAP’s retail betting agencies admit adults from 18.

Taxation

Online operators pay 35% of gross gaming revenue earned from Greek players, plus corporate tax. Players are also taxed on winnings through a withholding system. A June 2026 consultation bill proposed revised per-session taxation of online winnings; check the final text, as details may have changed during the legislative process. See gambling taxation compared.

Advertising and marketing rules

Licensed operators may advertise, but adverts must carry the 21+ notice and responsible-gambling messages, must not target minors and must not present gambling as a solution to financial problems. The HGC has sought powers to stop advertising linked to illegal operators immediately. See gambling advertising rules.

Player-protection requirements

• Identity and age verification before play.
• Deposit, loss and time limits, reality checks and self-exclusion offered by every licensee.
• No marketing to self-excluded players.
• Responsible-gambling information and links to support services on every site.

Self-exclusion

Greece relies on operator-level exclusion; there is no single national online register. Our Greece self-exclusion manual explains how to exclude from every operator and close the gaps.

Enforcement against unlicensed operators

By December 2025 the HGC said it had blocked about 11,000 domains linked to illegal betting and gaming, while noting that thousands of new gambling domains are registered every month worldwide. The regulator estimates the illegal betting market at well over a billion euros a year. See spotting unlicensed and black-market operators.

What this means for players

The single most useful check for a player in Greece is whether a site appears on the HGC’s list of licensed operators. Licensed sites must verify that you are over 21, offer limits and self-exclusion, and hand over winnings under Greek rules. Blacklisted sites may still be reachable through mirrors or VPNs, but they offer no protection if they refuse to pay out or keep taking money from someone who has asked to stop.

Some practical points:

• Age: 21 for online gambling and casinos, while OPAP’s retail betting agencies admit adults from 18. Families of young adults should know about the difference.
• Exclusion: because there is no national online register, exclude from every licensed account, not just the one you use most.
• Limits: deposit and loss limits are most effective when set before a problem develops; see setting deposit, loss and time limits.
• Complaints: raise disputes with the operator in writing first, then with the HGC. Our guide on how to file a complaint against a gambling operator explains what evidence to keep.
• Young people: European research cited by the regulator suggests many teenagers have tried illegal online gambling, so parents may want to read young people and gambling.

Anyone worried about their own gambling, or someone else’s, can call the 1114 helpline on weekdays.

Recent developments and what to watch

In June 2026 the Ministry of National Economy and Finance put out for consultation a bill that would:

• require banks to block transactions with unlicensed operators;
• toughen penalties for illegal gambling, including prison terms of up to ten years and fines of up to several hundred thousand euros;
• expand the HGC’s powers and grow its staff from 80 to 110;
• revise taxation of online winnings.

Its final form and status should be checked against official sources. For free help, see our Greece help directory. This page is general information, not legal advice.