Online gambling in Hungary: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Hungary?

Act XXXIV of 1991 on Gambling Operations governs the market and the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (SZTFH) licenses and polices it. Since 2023 any EEA company with five years of licensed online experience may apply for an online sports betting licence, but the conditions are heavy, a Hungarian branch with HUF 1 billion capital and a HUF 600 million fee, and as of September 2026 the only licensee is the state-owned Szerencsejáték Zrt. Online casino games may be offered only by the concession companies of Hungary's land-based casinos. The government formed in May 2026 has ordered an audit of the state operator and moved to abolish the SZTFH.

Partially regulated: Some verticals are licensed (usually betting); others are prohibited or unaddressed.

Who regulates gambling in Hungary?

• Szabályozott Tevékenységek Felügyeleti Hatósága (Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities) (SZTFH) — Gambling supervisory authority since October 2021: licences, player-protection register, blocking of unlicensed sites and prohibited payment accounts; its future is under government review in September 2026
• Ministry of Finance (Pénzügyminisztérium) (PM) — Gambling policy and tax legislation; designated to receive concession files from the SZTFH under the September 2026 bill

Hungary gambling licence: how it works

Online sports betting (távszerencsejáték) has been a licensed activity since 1 January 2023. An applicant must be a Hungarian company or an EEA company acting through a registered Hungarian representative, must have organized licensed online gambling in an EEA state for at least five years, must open a Hungarian branch within 90 days and endow it with at least HUF 1 billion, and must lodge security of at least HUF 250 million and pay a HUF 600 million licence fee for a term of up to seven years. A bad-actor rule bars groups that offered unlicensed gambling in an EEA state in the previous five years, and each licence covers one website. Online casino games may be licensed only to the concession company of a Hungarian land-based casino; 11 of the 12 concessions were granted as of late 2025, so no new entrant can obtain an online casino licence in practice.

What an applicant needs

• Hungarian company, or EEA company with a registered representative and a Hungarian branch opened within 90 days
• At least five years of licensed online gambling operation in an EEA state, licensed by that state's authority
• Branch capital of at least HUF 1 billion maintained throughout the licence
• Security deposit of at least HUF 250 million as set by the SZTFH
• Licence fee of HUF 600 million for the full term (up to seven years) plus a HUF 10 million application fee
• No unlicensed gambling by the applicant or related companies in any EEA state in the previous five years
• Online casino: a land-based casino concession in Hungary is a precondition

Gambling taxes in Hungary

• Operators: Online sports betting: 15% of monthly net gaming revenue. Online casino: 30% of net gaming revenue up to HUF 10 billion a year, then HUF 3 billion plus 10% of the excess, with concession fees deductible. Land-based bookmaking 20% of net revenue. Corporate income tax is 9%.
• Players: Winnings from licensed Hungarian gambling are exempt from personal income tax; winnings from unlicensed operators are taxable as ordinary income.
• Also: A supervision fee of 2.5% of net gaming revenue applies to online sports betting licensees. Special sector taxes introduced after 2010 are to be phased out gradually according to the finance minister's May 2026 statement; no gambling-specific change had been enacted by September 2026.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising of gambling that lacks a Hungarian licence is a prohibited advertisement and is blocked and fined; media and intermediaries that carry it can be sanctioned. Licensed operators may advertise subject to the Gambling Act's responsible-gaming requirements and general advertising law, including a ban on targeting minors and mandatory warnings; the state operator remains the dominant advertiser.

Responsible gaming

Players must be 18 or older. The SZTFH keeps a player-protection register of self-excluded persons and of persons excluded by court order, which licensed operators must query electronically. Operators must offer deposit and loss limits and cooling-off periods under the implementing decree, and responsible-gaming rules apply to bonuses and early cash-out.

Identity and age verification

Registration with identity verification is required before play, and the operator must match the name on the player's payment account with the registered name before crediting any deposit; card deposits require the player's declaration that the card belongs to that account. AML obligations under Hungarian law apply to online operators.

Payments

Deposits are accepted only from a payment account or card in the player's own name and winnings are paid back to the same account. The SZTFH can order payment restrictions on 'prohibited payment accounts' used by unlicensed operators, and payment service providers must refuse or return transactions to them or face fines of HUF 1–5 million. Crypto is not a permitted means of payment for licensed gambling.

Notable restrictions

• Online casino games only for land-based casino concession companies
• One website per online sports betting licence
• Deposits only from a payment account or card in the player's name
• Five-year EEA licensed-experience requirement and bad-actor exclusion for betting applicants
• ISP blocking of blacklisted domains: more than 2,000 blocking orders in 2024–2025 (SZTFH)
• Lottery and number games reserved to Szerencsejáték Zrt.

Hungary iGaming market: size, players and payments

Szerencsejáték Zrt. reported 2025 net revenue of HUF 1,310.9 billion, gross gaming revenue of HUF 311.9 billion and payments to the budget of HUF 247.8 billion (company annual report, May 2026). H2 Gambling Capital estimates channelization at about 54% (cited by theiGaming.eu, 2026).

Sports betting was the fastest-growing product of the state operator in 2025, with revenue up 8.6%; the company reports a continuing shift toward fast-paced products (Szerencsejáték Zrt., 2026).

The state operator's Tippmixpro and the licensed online casinos run mobile apps; industry sources describe the online segment as predominantly mobile, but no official mobile share is published.

Szerencsejáték Zrt. (Tippmixpro) is the only online sports betting licensee; LVC Diamond operates the three licensed online casino domains (kaszino.hu, vegas.hu, xcasino.hu) under a concession valid to 2056. No foreign operator held a licence as of September 2026.

Timeline: how Hungary got here

1. 1991Act XXXIV of 1991 on Gambling Operations adopted; Szerencsejáték Zrt. formed as the state operator
2. 2013Online casino games legalized, but only for land-based casino concession companies
3. 2017-06CJEU Unibet ruling (C-49/16) finds Hungary's licensing practice incompatible with EU free movement of services
4. 2018-02CJEU Sporting Odds ruling (C-3/17) condemns the casino-concession requirement for online casino
5. 2021-10SZTFH takes over gambling supervision from the tax authority
6. 2023-01Online sports betting opened to EEA licensees; online casino regime unchanged
7. 2025-03SZTFH president confirms no foreign company has applied for or obtained a betting licence
8. 2026-04Tisza wins a constitutional majority in the general election; new government takes office in May and orders an audit of Szerencsejáték Zrt.
9. 2026-09Government resolution 1277/2026 reviews winding up the SZTFH; bill filed to remove its concession powers

Outlook

Reform is expected but not yet legislated. Government Resolution 1277/2026 of 31 August 2026 asked the justice minister to report by 30 September 2026 on dissolving the SZTFH, a bill filed on 8 September 2026 would remove the authority's concession powers and pass its files to the finance minister, and the finance ministry has said special sector taxes will be phased out. Commentators expect a multi-licence model that separates online casino from land-based concessions, but no gambling bill had been published by September 2026; a further amendment under the previously adopted law takes effect on 27 September 2026.

Launching in Hungary with GameBridge

Model decided with counsel. A Hungarian online betting licence is legally available but untested by any private operator, online casino is closed to new entrants, and the regulator and statute are being rewritten in 2026, so GameBridge recommends a counsel-led assessment rather than a standard model. GameBridge holds no Hungarian licence.

For an operator that decides to pursue the online sports betting licence, a Hungarian brand on GameBridge would run in Hungarian with a HUF wallet, a sportsbook-only lobby for Hungarian geolocation, deposits restricted to payment accounts and cards in the player's name with automatic name matching, payouts to the same account, and electronic queries to the SZTFH player-protection register at registration and login. Until the 2026 reform is clear, GameBridge brands built for other markets keep Hungary on the geo-exclusion list by default, and the page exists so compliance teams can check the position quickly.

• Hungary on the default geo-exclusion list until the operator's counsel confirms a licence route
• Hungarian site language and HUF wallet
• Deposit name-matching against the registered player and same-account payouts
• Player-protection register lookups, deposit and loss limits and cooling-off
• Sportsbook-only vertical controls for Hungarian traffic
• Regulator server access and monthly 15% net-revenue tax reporting

Football and the state operator's Tippmix products define Hungarian betting habits, so any licensed brand would be sportsbook-led; casino, live casino and GameBridge Studios content stay switched off for Hungarian traffic while online casino is tied to land-based concessions.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• 1991. évi XXXIV. törvény a szerencsejáték szervezéséről (consolidated text) — Wolters Kluwer Jogtár, accessed 2026-09-11
• Tájékoztató a távszerencsejáték-szervezés liberalizációjával kapcsolatban — Szabályozott Tevékenységek Felügyeleti Hatósága, accessed 2026-09-11
• Engedélyek (közhiteles nyilvántartás) — Szabályozott Tevékenységek Felügyeleti Hatósága, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling Laws and Regulations Report 2026: Hungary — ICLG, accessed 2026-09-11
• Hungary opens its online sports betting market from 2023 and sets licensing conditions — Schoenherr, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling Regulation in Hungary: A New Era on the Horizon? — GamingTechLaw / DLA Piper, accessed 2026-09-11
• Hungary weighs abolishing gambling regulator SZTFH — theiGaming.eu, accessed 2026-09-11
• Vitézy beadta az indítványt, átrendezik a koncessziókkal kapcsolatos hatásköröket — Economx / MTI, accessed 2026-09-11
• A fogadás húzta legjobban a bevételt 2025-ben (Szerencsejáték Zrt. annual results) — ProfitLine, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.