It looks like Belgium will be joining the United States in restricting the gambling sites that citizens can access. The Belgian government has passed a law that will block access to any non-Belgian online gambling sites, including many popular international poker sites.
Now, unlike U.S. law, the Belgian law doesn’t make online gambling or online gambling sites completely illegal. The new law states that gambling sites within the country must operate from Belgium or obtain a permit from the Belgian government allowing them to operate within the country. The argument of the Belgian government seems to be that sites outside of Belgium are operating outside the control of the Belgian government so they are unable to guarantee the safety of Belgian citizens. While this seems a worthwhile goal, it remains to be seen how many online casinos will be willing to jump through the extra legal hoops to offer their site to Belgian citizens.
Gambling itself is not illegal within the country. In fact, eight legal gambling facilities currently operate in the country. These are brick-and-mortar casinos with the largest consisting of twenty-one table games and fifty-four slot machines. So, while Belgium doesn’t come close to rivaling Los Vegas, Atlantic City or Monaco for casinos, they are present in the country. Belgium even has its own poker club – Poker Club Belgium which offers forums and advice for Belgian players. Forums on the site are currently debating the new regulations which may not prove to be very popular with Belgian players.