Today there are 50 casinos in the nation.Latvia faced a strong and fast development in some extent due to the lack of regulation...
Latvia Online Casinos: Welcome players from Latvia, here you will be able to find Latvian online casinos. All the casinos listed on this page offer online casino gambling software in Latvian language and with Lats currency. Also you can expect the support team to answer in Latvian. Pick one of the top online casinos below for a realistic and rewarding casino gaming experience.
Latvia has been described as one of the most vibrant and growing gambling markets in Europe. However much of the gambling is illegal and this is why it is considered not to be a very good place for gambling. The history of gambling in the nation was illegal for quite some time and in the 1950’s it was allowed on horse races conducted at the Hippodrome in Riga after a fire destroyed the venue in 1963. When things were rebuilt again it again became illegal and it was not until the beginning of the early 1990’s after the nation became independent that the gambling was made legal.
It was in 1991 that the first casino made its appearance in the nation. Today there are 50 casinos in the nation. The nation faced a strong and fast development in the beginning. This was to some extent due to the lack of regulation. As laws became more stringent things slowed down a bit however Latvia remains to be a very potent gambling culture.
In 2003 online gambling was made legal. Those websites that were licensed had to make customers in the nation pay a gambling tax of 10% on all revenues. This again did impose some pressure on internet gambling websites however the market in the nation is strong and worthwhile.
Recently Playtech introduced for the European market Live Dealer games and selected Riga as the Headquarters for its operations on account of the relaxed laws with regard to internet gambling. With the passage of time Latvia is going to become a very strong player in the online gambling industry. There are presently 231 Latvian websites that provide English and Latvian games and also accept wagers in Euros and Latvian Lats or Dollars.
In Latvia there are about 20 casinos along with both small and large gambling halls. There are some halls that just house slot machines. One of the prime reasons for the decrease of Latvian casinos in the recent years is due to the introduction and implementation of stringent rules imposed by the government.
In the nation the Casinos must have a minimum of ten tables and in Riga the minimum is five. In most of these casinos it is important for video surveillance to be installed. Not all these establishments have been able to fulfill all these regulations imposed. It is anticipated with the rise of incomes and as the Latvian economy strengthens due to the benefits of the EU the number of casinos is expected to grow again.
When it comes to playing casino games online it is legal. Not all casinos in the nation accept players from Latvia and in 2003 the Government had decided that all online gambling websites that accept players had to pay a tax and so this is the main reason why the casinos do not wish to accept players from Latvia because of this. They do not wish to deal with the hassles of taking taxes when players from this nation visit their websites.
