Gambling Games in Albania
At the present time Albanian law lists remote electronic games as a category that may be offered online only after licensing, and unlicensed websites can be blocked. Online casinos in Albania are formally subjected to mandatory licensing, but so far no permit has been issued for these kinds of operations: in a notice of April 2026 the regulator stated that no entity is licensed for online games of chance and that online casino advertising on social media is reported to AKEP and the State Police. These are the top-ranking slots that Albanian players prefer most often on SlotsPlay: Fruit Cocktail, Gnome and Crazy Monkey by Igrosoft, Hot Scatter by Amatic, and Sizzling Hot 6 Extra Gold and Book of Ra Deluxe 6 by Greentube.
Albania has no developers of gaming software products. Nor is there any information about Albanian offices of foreign companies that specialise in this business. On SlotsPlay, Albanian players especially favour the games made by such companies as Igrosoft, Greentube and Amatic, followed by EGT, JILI and IGT. Today Albania has a Law on Gambling No.155/2015, which came into force at the beginning of 2016 and was amended by Law No. 140/2016, Law No. 75/2018 and Law No. 18/2024. The law lists the following varieties of gambling: Online sports betting, Betting on track races, Casino, Casinos in five-star hotels, Resort casino, Remote electronic games, National lottery and TV bingo.
Gambling Legislation
The nation has a special government body that oversees the compliance with the gambling laws - the Gambling Supervision Authority (Autoriteti i Mbikëqyrjes së Lojërave të Fatit, AMLF, amlf.gov.al). The regulator is authorised to exercise the following powers:
- Participating in an operator's licensing procedure through its Licensing Commission
- Overseeing the compliance with the current law
- Examining the operator's documentation
- Collecting a supervision fee of 3% of gross gaming income, but not less than 1.5 million ALL a year
In order to reduce gambling addiction among the local population, the authorities have introduced the option of voluntary limitation of access to gambling. An application can be submitted by the player or his/her relatives, for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or permanently. Advertising of gambling is allowed only under the restrictions of the law: it must not target minors or people under 21, and online sports betting operators may not sponsor sports teams. A hotel that hosts a casino must have 5 stars. Gambling facilities must not be located in close proximity to religious or educational institutions. The minimum distance to these facilities must be at least 100 meters in a straight line.
Each visitor must produce a personal identification upon entry. The minimum gambling age is 21 (18 for the National Lottery and TV bingo). Violation of these provisions of the law will result in fines starting at 500,000 ALL, suspension or revocation of the licence, while serious cases may be prosecuted as criminal offences. Albania uses the Central Online Monitoring System (COMS) to control gambling establishments. Any gambling facility must be linked to the system.
Gambling Licensing
According to the AMLF register, the licensed operators today are one casino (Regency Casino Tirana), eight companies running casinos in five-star hotels at nine locations, and one TV bingo operator; no National Lottery or online sports betting operator is currently listed. Licenses are issued by the AMLF following review by its Licensing Commission, under the Ministry of Finance (Ministria e Financave e Republikës së Shqipërisë). Online sports betting licences are awarded by tender to companies registered in Albania with at least 40,000,000 ALL of capital and at least three years of experience in three EU or OECD countries. The operator should fill out an application and submit an appropriate package of documents along with it.
The license of any type will remain valid for 10 years. Founders that have no debts before the state or any problems with the law are ones who qualify. The operator must possess a guarantee fund for winners in the amount of at least 5,000,000 ALL and a further 10,000,000 ALL fund for obligations to the AMLF (120,000,000 ALL and 50,000,000 ALL for online sports betting). Gambling taxes are set separately for each category of game, and corporate income tax is paid under the general tax legislation. The casino license fee starts at 1,000,000,000 ALL for one gaming hall. For casinos in five-star hotels the fee is 70,000,000 ALL and for resort casinos 50,000,000 ALL, while online sports betting licences cost at least 400,000,000 ALL and remote electronic games 200,000,000 ALL, paid in equal instalments over the licence term.
Development of the Gambling Market in Albania
Demand for gambling games grew significantly in the decade before 2019, when the closure of betting shops and electronic casino halls sharply reduced the legal market. No official figures on total gambling spending are published today; legal activity is limited to a small number of hotel casinos, one stand-alone casino and TV bingo, while demand for online games is served by unlicensed foreign websites that the authorities seek to block. The planned licensing of online sports betting under Law No. 18/2024 is expected to be the main change in the legal market once the first licences are awarded.
