Romanian Casino and Card Room Gaming

Casinos and slot halls are legal in Romania.Both land-based casinos and slot halls require a Class 1 (B2C) license plus annual authorisations from ONJN; the law distinguishes between product types (casino games, slots, betting, bingo, lottery) and sets specific fees, guarantees and technical rules for each.

Casino Bucharest, run by Casinos Austria, was the first legal casino in Romania since the formation of the Communist republic following World War II.

In February 2015, the Romanian Chamber of Deputies legal committee approved draft legislation that would ban free standing slot machines, effectively only allowing machines to operate in casinos and in outlets of the Romanian Lottery. This policy has evolved into the current rule under which slot halls may only operate in localities with populations over 15,000 and are prohibited in most small communities, with existing licenses in those areas expiring at renewal.