Online Casino Licensing in Switzerland: ESBK Rules, Concessions & Blocklist

Switzerland does not issue standalone online casino licences. Under the gambling law, Swiss land-based casinos have the possibility to operate online casino games, but a casino must first obtain an extension of its concession from the Federal Council, and then the specific game authorisations from the ESBK, before it can go live online. An operator with no physical Swiss casino concession therefore has no route to a Swiss online casino authorisation. For the current, authoritative list of operators with authorised online platforms, check the ESBK’s own published register directly, since it changes over time.

A frequent misunderstanding among operators and players alike is that a strong foreign licence, such as one from Malta or the UK, provides a route into the Swiss market. It does not. A foreign gambling licence does not itself authorise an operator to offer online gambling in Switzerland. Swiss players are not liable to prosecution under the Gambling Act merely for playing on an unauthorised platform, but the platform itself is operating outside the Swiss licensing framework regardless of what licence it holds elsewhere.

ESBK and Gespa jointly maintain a public blocklist of unauthorised gambling domains, which Swiss internet service providers are legally required to block. The list is updated regularly, so a fixed domain count can quickly become outdated. The blocklist covers unauthorised gambling websites, including offshore casinos and sportsbooks, as well as websites that facilitate access to unauthorised gambling services.

This is a distinction worth getting right: winnings from a physical Swiss casino are exempt from federal withholding tax. Winnings from online casino games, by contrast, are subject to withholding tax once they exceed the applicable annual exemption threshold set by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration. For the 2025 tax year, the threshold was CHF 1,070,400. These thresholds are adjusted periodically, so readers should check the Federal Tax Administration for the current tax year. Tax treatment of winnings from unauthorised operators can differ and should not be assumed to receive the same treatment as winnings from licensed Swiss online play.

Spielsperre, Switzerland’s central self-exclusion register, blocks a registered player’s access to licensed Swiss operators, both online and land-based, for as long as the exclusion remains active. Since 7 January 2025, Switzerland and Liechtenstein recognise each other’s exclusion orders, so a ban registered in one country is enforceable in the other as well.

Because a foreign licence does not satisfy Switzerland’s domestic licensing requirements, Swiss authorities maintain a gambling-specific DNS blocklist, and none of the internationally licensed operators in our own data hold a Swiss licence, we are publishing this page as a factual regulatory explainer rather than a recommendation list.