European organizations which support more liberal regulations for online casinos have long said that players will ultimately benefit from a competitive market.

The UK casino industry, such as www.jackpotcity.com/uk/, thrives in a market where government pressure comes only in the form of player protections. France employs a system under which players have a choice between licensed independent operators which pay taxes and outright state owned casinos, where profits go straight to the government. Germany’s system is anything but competitive though. No independently operated casinos are allowed in Germany, and Germans are only given the option of a handful of state run outlets. So what most Germans do is simply break the law, and in huge numbers. Almost nobody plays at the state run casinos, which is said to be the result of stagnation brought on by a lack of any legal competition. Some 94% of German bets placed at online gambling venues were placed with unlicensed operators from outside of Germany. This has led many in Germany to question the gambling laws that are preventing Germany from benefiting from the nearly 8 billion euros being wagered in Germany. Add to this the results of several recent ECJ rulings and it is expected that we will soon see a change in Germany’s online gambling laws.