Is playing without OASIS legal? Liability, bank, winnings

Whether playing without OASIS is permitted in Germany comes down to a single official list: the whitelist of the Joint Gaming Authority of the German Länder (GGL). An operator on that list holds the German casino licence and has to check the OASIS exclusion file before the first game. An operator that skips this check is therefore not on the list, and that is exactly where the State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV 2021) and the Criminal Code attach their rules.

On forums the questions tend to come in a fixed order: Is taking part allowed? What does § 285 StGB provide? What does the bank do when winnings arrive? Can lost money be recovered, and what about tax?

§ 4(1) GlüStV states that public gambling may only be organised or brokered with a permit from the competent authority; without that permit the law speaks of unauthorised gambling. The operators holding a permit are shown on the whitelist that the GGL has published under § 9(8) GlüStV since 1 January 2023. The GGL page was last updated on 02.10.2026. According to the GGL, every online gambling offer that is not on the whitelist counts as unauthorised. Authorised operators must use OASIS, so in the authority's account an operator without an OASIS connection has no permit.

Two statements from the same FAQ clear up common misunderstandings. A pending application changes nothing: the offer stays unauthorised until the application is approved and the operator is added to the whitelist, and for data protection reasons the authorities give no information on pending applications. A registered office in Germany is not required, but a domain ending in „.de“ is. According to the GGL, offers under other domains never have a German permit.

That answers the search „casino eu lizenz legal“: a licence from Malta or another EU state does not replace a whitelist entry. The same applies to the Curaçao licence, the one most often cited by operators without OASIS; Curaçao is not part of the EU. The payment method does not change the classification either, a crypto casino without an entry has no more of a permit than one that accepts bank transfers. According to the GGL it also makes no difference whether someone takes part in sports betting, virtual slot games or other gambling without a permit.

For the brands compared on this website, a full-text search of the whitelist (list as of 02.10.2026, retrieved 07.10.2026) returned no match. For Sportaza, for example, casino.guru lists licences from Anjouan Gaming and the Tobique Gaming Commission, while AskGamblers lists Tobique only; according to AskGamblers the operator takes part in no self-exclusion register. For other brands people ask Google about, such as „ist platincasino illegal“, the check works the same way: search the whitelist for the brand and the operating company, and check the domain ending.

The penalty range for players is set by § 285 StGB: anyone who takes part in public gambling under § 284 faces imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 180 daily rates. § 284 StGB is aimed at operators; for them the GGL cites imprisonment of up to two years or a fine. The provision makes no distinction by type of game, size of stake or payment route.

The GGL FAQ describes how proceedings come about: the authority investigates offers without a permit and passes its findings to the competent public prosecutors and financial supervisory authorities, who then open their own investigations. In doing so it is „not impossible that individual players also come into focus“, as the GGL puts it. The authority refers explicitly to intentional participation. The sources contain no figures on proceedings against players and nothing on the limitation period.

On Reddit a user asks about new betting sites without OASIS: „Which risks exist in concrete terms (e.g. account blocks, payout problems, legal consequences)?“ Besides the criminal provision, the GGL lists further consequences: no deposit limits or exclusion options, refused payouts of winnings, misuse of ID copies and bank details, and no way to enforce claims in a dispute. According to the European Consumer Centre, offers without an official permit are not connected to the exclusion system, so an OASIS exclusion has no effect there. Anyone who wants to talk about their own gambling can reach the free BIÖG helpline on 0800 1 37 27 00.

Anyone who wins with an operator from the casinos without OASIS category faces two checks: the casino's and their own bank's. The reason for the second is also in § 4(1) GlüStV. It prohibits not only organising gambling without a permit but also „participating in payments connected with unauthorised gambling“. Banks and payment services are therefore themselves addressees of the State Treaty. The GGL names the prevention of money laundering as one of the main reasons for the ban on participation.

A pattern repeats in the player reports collected. On gutefrage.net one user writes after a withdrawal that the bank had called him about a suspicion of money laundering („Geldewäscheverdacht“). Another found the remark „Meldepflicht“ (reporting obligation) on the incoming transfer. On Reddit a player reports that a withdrawal of 9.5k led to his account being frozen; another describes an account block after winnings from crypto casinos, a third the block of his Paysafecard account after a withdrawal of €300. Several of them only realise afterwards that the operator has no licence in Germany: „Only afterwards did I read that this site has no licence in Germany.“

Before the bank comes the payout from the operator itself. The GGL writes that deposits with operators without a permit often work without problems, while withdrawals run into obstacles or never arrive. A Reddit user describes how his account was blocked during a withdrawal attempt for „bonus abuse“, although he had never used a bonus. The limits, checks and payment routes of the compared brands are covered on the page about withdrawals without OASIS.

The search „online casino illegal geld zurückfordern“ links the legal position to one's own account. On gutefrage.net one user asks whether he can reclaim „his losses from the online casino“, another is looking for a „good specialised lawyer“. One answer in the same forum says that with casinos without a licence you can „try to reclaim it through a lawyer“.

The GGL itself does not handle matters concerning transactions with a gambling operator and refers players to legal action through a lawyer. To players who have already played with operators without a permit it names three steps: delete the player account, do not respond to promotional emails or other contact attempts, and report unauthorised gambling anonymously via its contact form if needed. The routes players use for recovery and the state of play in 2026 are summarised on the page on getting money back from such casinos.

The GlüStV 2021, the StGB and the GGL FAQ contain no rule on taxing players' winnings; whether and how winnings from an offer without a whitelist entry are taxed cannot be derived from these sources.