The 5-second rule at online casinos

Three requirements decide how online slots run at operators holding a German permit: a game lasts at least five seconds on average, the stake is in principle capped at €1 per game, and no spin starts by itself. All three are set out in § 22a of the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV) and are addressed to operators that the Joint Gambling Authority of the German states (GGL) lists on its whitelist. Anyone looking at casinos without OASIS ends up with brands that hold no German permit and to which § 22a does not apply; what else is missing there besides the speed limit, from the exclusion register to the deposit limit, is summarised in the overview.

Behind the searches are two questions. „5 sekunden regel slots“ asks what exactly the rule requires and whether it changes the chances of winning. „Online casino ohne 5 sekunden pause“ asks for sites where the rule is absent. The first question is answered by the text of the law, with its source and date. For the second, what counts is the data published by casino.guru, askgamblers.com and lcb.org on 7Signs, Wild Tokyo, MyStake and Sportaza (as of 05.10.2026), and none of them states a value for the duration of a spin at any of these brands.

The core sentence reads: „Ein Spiel muss durchschnittlich mindestens fünf Sekunden dauern“, meaning a game must last at least five seconds on average. The time is measured from the player's declaration, i.e. triggering the spin, to the display of the result (§ 22a(6) GlüStV, gesetze-bayern.de, as of 06.10.2026). The provision covers virtual slot machine games, which is what everyday language calls online slots or an online slot hall.

The decisive word is „on average“. The treaty prescribes a minimum duration across games; it does not require a fixed pause after every spin. A single game may therefore be shorter, as long as the average does not drop below five seconds. Anyone who notices a waiting time in a slot is seeing exactly this requirement: reels and result display together have to fill that time on average.

In arithmetic terms the rule caps the pace considerably.

A second time requirement comes on top. Under § 6h(7) GlüStV the elapsed playing time is displayed, and after every 60 minutes the player must expressly confirm a notice before continuing. For virtual slot machine games, § 22a(9) allows play to resume only „fünf Minuten nach der Bestätigung der Kenntnisnahme des Hinweises“, i.e. five minutes after confirming the notice. Every full hour of play is therefore followed by a break of at least five minutes.

Whether the rule changes the chances of winning is not something § 22a(6) addresses: the provision concerns the duration of a game, not its outcome. For the chances, § 22a(3) applies. It requires the probability of the top prize and the average payout rate to be shown clearly, and the game rules must be understandable. In its interpretation guidance on virtual slot machine games of 09.09.2024, the GGL requires both values to be visible permanently at the stake level. This rate has nothing to do with withdrawals without OASIS, i.e. moving money from the player account to the player's own account: it only describes what share of stakes a slot pays back as winnings on average.

The GlüStV contains several short time limits side by side, and forums and guides sometimes mix them up. They regulate different things and sit in different sections:

• 5 seconds: the minimum average duration of a game, from the player's declaration to the result (§ 22a(6)).
• 60 minutes: the interval for the notice on elapsed playing time, which the player must expressly confirm (§ 6h(7)).
• 5 minutes after the hourly notice: the break in virtual slot machine games after the confirmation (§ 22a(9)).
• 5 minutes when switching operators: the active flag in the activity file is only removed five minutes after logging off (§ 6h(4)).
• 30 minutes without input: after this time the operator must report the log-off itself (§ 6h(4)).

The waiting period when switching operators is linked to another ban. Under § 6h, „das parallele Spiel von öffentlichen Glücksspielen durch einen Spieler“ (parallel play of public gambling by one player) is not permitted; through the activity file a player is only ever flagged as active with one operator. § 22a(10) goes further for slots: even at the same operator, several virtual slot machine games may not run at the same time, not even two windows of the same game. Together with the five-second rule this means: one slot, one spin, five seconds on average.

§ 22a(7) GlüStV sets the second limit: „Der Einsatz darf einen Euro je Spiel nicht übersteigen“, meaning the stake may not exceed one euro per game. The same subsection allows the competent authority to adjust the maximum stake to changed circumstances (gesetze-bayern.de, as of 06.10.2026). The GGL has made use of this.

According to the GGL FAQ on the deposit limit and maximum stake, from 1 July 2026 „eine gestufte Abweichung von dieser Grundregel auf bis zu maximal 5 Euro“ is possible, i.e. a tiered deviation from the basic rule up to a maximum of €5. The first tier allows up to €3 per spin for players aged 21 and over. The second tier allows up to €5 per spin once the player's gambling behaviour has shown no signs of addiction for 90 days. The arrangement is limited until 31.12.2027 (gluecksspiel-behoerde.de, as of 06.10.2026). The basic rule therefore remains €1; higher stakes depend on age and playing history.

The tiers change nothing about the five-second rule or the autoplay ban.

The maximum stake is not the same thing as the monthly deposit limit. The stake limit applies per game and is enforced inside the slot itself. The deposit limit under § 6c GlüStV, known as the LUGAS limit, applies per calendar month to all deposits at operators with a German permit combined and is checked in the limit file before every deposit; anyone who tries to enter more than €1,000 is asked to correct it.

Closely linked to the stake is the jackpot ban in § 22a(8). Winnings must be a multiple of the stake fixed in advance; stakes or winnings may not be accumulated for future prizes. The GGL puts it briefly in its interpretation guidance of 09.09.2024: „Das Ansammeln über einen Spin hinaus ist nicht zulässig“, meaning accumulating beyond one spin is not permitted. The operator must list multipliers exhaustively there. A win therefore comes only from the stake of that one spin times a fixed factor; a growing pot is ruled out.

The third requirement concerns how a game starts. Program sequences that „selbstständig ein weiteres Spiel beginnen lassen“ (that start another game on their own after a game ends) are not permitted under § 22a GlüStV; a game begins only on the player's declaration (gesetze-bayern.de, as of 06.10.2026). The GGL interpretation guidance of 09.09.2024 makes clear that the ban also covers series automation, i.e. any function that works through a set number of spins in a row.

In practice this means every spin needs its own click or tap. Only the combination of the three rules sets the pace. Five seconds on average alone would still allow hundreds of spins without any action during an automatic series; the autoplay ban requires a separate decision for each of these games.

In the same guidance the GGL lists further minimum requirements for slots. Gamble features, which let a win be doubled or lost, are only permitted with a warning. The payout rate and the probability of the top prize are shown permanently at the stake level. Under § 22a(5) virtual slot machine games run only in euros and cents, and conversion into other currencies is prohibited. And under § 22a(11) the terms „Casino“ and „Casinospiele“ may not be used for virtual slot machine games; operators with a German permit therefore speak of an online slot hall (Online-Spielothek) when they mean slots.

According to their licence data, the brands in this comparison hold no German permit. For 7Signs, casino.guru names the Tobique Gaming Commission (New Brunswick) and Anjouan Gaming (Comoros), while askgamblers.com names only the Tobique Gaming Commission. Wild Tokyo holds a licence from the Curaçao Gaming Authority (OGL/2024/589/0556). MyStake holds a Curaçao licence according to casino.guru (OGL/2024/250/0115), and licences from Curaçao and Anjouan according to lcb.org. For Sportaza, casino.guru names Anjouan Gaming and the Tobique Gaming Commission, askgamblers.com only Tobique. A full-text search of the GGL whitelist on 07.10.2026 returned no match for any of the names; this whitelist entry of the GGL is exactly what identifies a German casino licence.

None of the sources states a value for the duration of a spin, neither for nor against a minimum duration. The table therefore shows „no data“ for all brands, and that does not mean „no“. The same applies to autoplay: whether the slots at these brands offer an autoplay function is not stated in any of the sources evaluated. Only the framework is clear: § 22a is addressed to operators with a German permit, and the brands do not have one.

On stakes, the sources only give bonus conditions, not a general limit per spin. 7Signs: a maximum of €5 per stake when playing with a bonus (lcb.org). Wild Tokyo: a maximum of €5 per stake with the welcome bonus (casino.guru). MyStake Casino: a maximum of €5 per stake with a bonus (lcb.org). Sportaza: a maximum of €5 per stake when playing with bonus money (askgamblers.com). A tool with which players can cap their own stakes is listed by askgamblers.com as not available at 7Signs, Wild Tokyo and Sportaza („Wager Limit Tool No“).

The brands also differ on the counterpart to the hourly notice. askgamblers.com lists a reality check, which reminds players of their playing time, only at Wild Tokyo Casino; there is also self-exclusion at the operator and a time-out of 1, 3 or 7 days. For 7Signs the same source lists no limit tools, no self-exclusion, no time-out and no reality check, only a self-assessment questionnaire. Sportaza offers self-exclusion and a self-assessment according to askgamblers.com, but no time-out and no reality check. For MyStake, casino.guru records „limited responsible gaming options“, and a player report there mentions no cooling-off period and no deposit limits.

The jackpot ban plays no role at these brands either: casino.guru lists jackpot games among the game types at all of them. According to lcb.org 7Signs has 6,646 slots and MyStake over 4,500 titles; Sportaza states over 5,000 games according to askgamblers.com, and for Wild Tokyo there is no total.

What missing player protection looks like in practice is shown by cases on askgamblers.com. One player asked 7Signs Casino in writing to be excluded („I want to be self-excluded please“) and, by his account, received no response for two months despite more than ten messages. At Sportaza, a player reported after a permanent self-exclusion: „I noticed that my player account had been reopened!“ The GGL describes this gap in general terms: operators without a German permit lack player protection measures such as deposit limits or self-exclusion. According to askgamblers.com, 7Signs, Wild Tokyo and Sportaza do not participate in the OASIS block register; for MyStake there is no data.

Anyone who experiences their own pace of play or their stakes as a problem can reach the free BIÖG telephone counselling service on 0800 1 37 27 00 (Mon–Thu 10:00–22:00, Fri–Sun 10:00–18:00); the GGL lists check-dein-spiel.de as a further service.