Belgium’s Enforcement Against Illegal Gambling
The blacklist, blocking by internet providers, criminal fines and the Commission’s sanction powers
Last verified: 2026-10-06
Operating without a licence, and knowingly playing on, advertising or recruiting for an unlicensed site, is an offence. The Commission blacklists unlicensed sites and asks internet providers to block them, and the Act sets criminal fines of EUR 26 to EUR 120,000 or EUR 72,000 before surcharges.
Belgium’s enforcement against illegal gambling
Overview
Three offences are central under article 4 of the Gambling Act: operating a game of chance or gaming establishment without a licence, knowingly taking part in, facilitating, advertising or recruiting players for an unlicensed game, and using another person’s personal data to gain access to a game. The Commission keeps a list of unlicensed websites offering games in Belgium, publishes it in the Official Gazette and passes the URLs to internet providers, who are asked to block them as soon as possible. Its public list shows decisions as recent as 28 September 2026.
For players the Commission says it can do nothing about complaints on illegal sites except add them to the list. It states, without dating the estimate, that about 20% of players end up on illegal sites, and its June 2026 press release lists the risks: unpaid winnings, fraudulent use of personal data, no player protection and the risk of prosecution. In a joint statement on 18 June 2026, nine European regulators including the Commission said that prediction markets comply with no national regulations and offer no consumer protection.
Statutory fines were reset by the Law of 7 May 2024, published in the Official Gazette on 22 May 2024: EUR 26 to EUR 120,000 under article 63 and EUR 26 to EUR 72,000 under article 64, before the legal surcharge and doubled in defined cases (article 65). The Commission’s explanatory pages quote other figures, EUR 26 to EUR 25,000 for players and EUR 100 to EUR 100,000 for organisers (each multiplied by a factor), and its FAQ gives EUR 208 to EUR 576,000 for one offence, which is the article 64 range times eight. Those pages are explanatory material rather than the statute, and this record relies on the statutory ranges.
The Commission’s illegal games of chance page. [1]
The Commission’s blacklist of illegal gambling sites. [2]
The Commission’s online-gambling FAQ. [3]
Articles 4, 15 and 63 to 68 of the Act as coordinated by the Commission. [4]
The Law of 7 May 2024 as published in the Official Gazette of 22 May 2024. [5]
Verification status of this record
This record is at the source-review stage. Every claim in it is marked Verified: each rests on a primary source, namely the Gaming Commission’s own pages, the Gambling Act as coordinated on the Commission’s website, the Official Gazette, the Federal Government’s Council of Ministers communiqués or the Flemish Government and Parliament. Article-level provisions follow the Commission’s unofficially coordinated text of the Act. The provisions changed by the Law of 7 May 2024 (the fine ranges in articles 63 to 65, article 4 §§4-5, article 8/1, articles 54/1, 55 and 55/2 and the blacklist in article 43/8 §4) were cross-checked against that law as published in the Official Gazette of 22 May 2024, read through the etaamb.openjustice.be copy of the Gazette. The official consolidated text on ejustice.just.fgov.be could not be retrieved. Several Commission and government pages were read through search excerpts because the sites block automated retrieval. Market statistics from the Commission’s 2025 Annual Report are not included, because the report itself could not be read; they will be added once verified against it.
Key facts
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Verified
Three offences are central: operating a game of chance or gaming establishment without a Commission licence (article 4 §1); knowingly taking part in, facilitating, advertising or recruiting players for an unlicensed game (article 4 §2); and using someone else’s personal data to gain access to a gaming establishment or game, or handing over one’s data knowing it will be used for that (article 4 §4).
Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie), Belgian Official Gazette (copy on etaamb.openjustice.be)
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Verified
The Commission keeps a list of URLs of sites offering games of chance in Belgium without a licence, publishes the updated list in the Official Gazette, and passes the URLs to internet service providers so they block access as soon as possible (article 43/8 §4); sites that are no longer accessible or no longer exist are removed from the public list after at least five years, and the list shows decisions as recent as 28 September 2026.
Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie), Belgian Official Gazette (copy on etaamb.openjustice.be), Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)
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Verified
For complaints about illegal sites, such as unpaid winnings, the Commission says it can do nothing except add the site to the list of illegal sites; complaints are not investigated, an official report is drawn up for the list, and it warns that on illegal sites players cannot assert rights on payouts, blocked accounts, legal playing limits or bet outcomes.
Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie), Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)
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Verified
The Commission’s June 2026 press release lists the risks of illegal betting sites as being unable to collect winnings, fraudulent use of personal data, lack of player protection and the risk of criminal prosecution.
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Verified
Criminal fines are set by articles 63 to 65 as amended by the Law of 7 May 2024: EUR 26 to EUR 120,000 for operating without a licence and certain other breaches (article 63) and EUR 26 to EUR 72,000 for breaches including knowingly taking part in or advertising an unlicensed game (article 64), both before the legal surcharge and doubled for repeat offences within five years or offences against a person under 21 (article 65), with confiscation of stakes and equipment (article 67) and possible closure of the establishment (article 68).
Belgian Official Gazette (copy on etaamb.openjustice.be), Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)
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Verified
The Commission’s explanatory pages quote fine figures that differ from the statutory ranges: its illegal-games page states EUR 26 to EUR 25,000 for players who knowingly played on an illegal site and EUR 100 to EUR 100,000 for organisers (each multiplied by a factor), and its online-gambling FAQ gives EUR 208 to EUR 576,000 for using someone else’s identity while excluded (article 4 §4), which equals the article 64 range of EUR 26 to EUR 72,000 multiplied by eight; the statutory ranges are those in articles 63 and 64 as replaced by the Law of 7 May 2024, and this record relies on them.
Belgian Official Gazette (copy on etaamb.openjustice.be), Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie), Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)
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Verified
Against licensed operators, the Commission can warn, suspend or revoke licences and ban the operation of games (article 15/2) and imposes an administrative fine, under the conditions of article 15/1, for breaches of articles 4, 8, 26, 27, 43/1 to 43/4, 43/8, 46, 58, 60 and 61 second and third paragraphs (article 15/3); the conditions are that the public prosecutor has not responded within six months of receiving the original report or has said no action will follow (article 15/1).
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Verified
The Commission’s investigators may enter premises and IT systems used to operate games at any time of day or night, question people, demand documents and seize evidence, and the original of an official report goes to the public prosecutor, with a copy to the Commission and the person concerned; the report is evidence until proven otherwise (article 15).
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Verified
The Commission states, without dating the estimate, that about 20% of players end up on illegal sites, and the Always Play Legally logo launched by the Commission may only be used by licensed operators; its awareness campaign ran from 26 April to 11 June 2021.
Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie), Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)
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Verified
On 18 June 2026 nine European regulators, including the Gaming Commission, issued a joint statement saying that prediction markets comply with no national regulations and offer no consumer protection.
Sources
- Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)Primary source — Illegal games of chance — https://www.gamingcommission.be/en/gaming-commission/illegal-games-of-chance
- Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)Primary source — List of illegal gambling sites blocked by the GC — https://gamingcommission.be/en/gaming-commission/illegal-games-of-chance/list-of-illegal-gambling-sites-blocked-by-the-gc
- Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)Primary source — FAQs on online gambling — https://www.gamingcommission.be/en/faqs-on-online-gambling
- Gaming Commission (Kansspelcommissie)Primary source — Kansspelwet 7 mei 1999 (unofficially coordinated text, Dutch) — https://www.gamingcommission.be/nl/wetgeving/kansspelwet-7-mei-1999
- Belgian Official Gazette (copy on etaamb.openjustice.be)Primary source — Wet van 7 mei 2024 tot wijziging van de wet van 7 mei 1999 op de kansspelen (Belgisch Staatsblad 22 mei 2024) — https://etaamb.openjustice.be/nl/wet-van-07-mei-2024_n2024004501.html