Online gambling regulation in Croatia

Ministry of Finance; day-to-day supervision by Tax Administration. Open licensing model. Checked 2026-09-21.

Advertising unlicensed gambling banned: Not confirmed
Public licence register: Not confirmed
Online casino: Licensed
Online sports betting: Licensed

Casino, sports betting, poker and more

Casino, sports betting, and poker are all legal only under Croatia’s Ministry of Finance licensing system, but online access is tethered to a local land-based concession. The available sources show sports betting and online casino are licensed alongside poker, while lottery remains state-controlled.

Product	Status	What that means
Online casino	Licensed	—
Online sports betting	Licensed	—
Online poker	Licensed	Online poker is legal but licensed under Croatia’s Games of Chance framework; operators need Ministry of Finance approval and a land-based concession tie-in.
Sweepstakes and social casinos	Not confirmed	Unconfirmed/unclear. I found no Croatia-specific sweepstakes-social casino regime; offshore sweepstakes models appear to sit in a grey area rather than a clearly licensed category.
Prediction markets	Not confirmed	Unconfirmed. I found no Croatia-specific rule for real-money prediction markets; likely depends on whether offered as gambling or financial derivatives.
Mystery boxes	Not confirmed	The Games of Chance Act 2009 (amended 2025) defines gambling broadly, but I found no Croatia-specific ruling on loot boxes/mystery boxes as of 2026.

Advertising unlicensed gambling in Croatia

Not confirmed. Unconfirmed provision in the amended Gambling Act.

Likely prohibited, but exact provision unconfirmed from the sourced material.

Regulator and law

Ministry of Finance; day-to-day supervision by Tax Administration

Gambling Act, as amended in 2025; exact section numbers unconfirmed.

Online casino: Licensed. Online sports betting: Licensed.

Checking a licence

We could not confirm a public register. A public licence list is referenced in secondary sources, but an official public register URL was not confirmed.

How the black market is fought

Unconfirmed: domain blocking, payment blocking, fines, criminal sanctions, and platform notices are used.
Tax Administration supervises and enforces online gambling compliance.

Advertising rules for licensed operators

Licensed ads only 23:00-06:00 on TV, radio, and internet.
No print or billboard gambling ads.
No celebrities, influencers, or social-media creators in ads.
Promotional bonuses and free spins are tightly restricted.

Recent developments

2025 amendment tightened ad rules from 1 January 2026.
National self-exclusion register became operational in 2025-2026.
Google announced Croatia-targeted gambling ad restrictions from October 2026.

Questions

Is it illegal to advertise unlicensed gambling in Croatia?

We could not confirm this. Likely prohibited, but exact provision unconfirmed from the sourced material.

Who regulates online gambling in Croatia?

Ministry of Finance; day-to-day supervision by Tax Administration. The main law is Gambling Act, as amended in 2025; exact section numbers unconfirmed..

How can I check whether a gambling operator is licensed in Croatia?

A public licence list is referenced in secondary sources, but an official public register URL was not confirmed.

What we could not confirm

Exact law title and section references.
Whether an official public whitelist/register is published online.
Specific black-market tools beyond supervision and penalties.
Whether Croatia explicitly bans or licenses sweepstakes/social casinos
Whether Croatia has a specific legal classification for mystery boxes/loot boxes
Whether prediction markets are treated as gambling, securities, or derivatives in Croatia
Whether non-licensed offshore online poker is expressly prohibited for players versus only operators

Sources

Researched 2026-09-21 from public sources and summarised by the Brandfense team. Not legal advice — confirm with the regulator or your counsel before acting.