Deposit limit for sports betting: 1,000 euros, LUGAS and your own loss limits

With licensed online gambling in Germany, you cannot deposit more than 1,000 euros per month in total. This is set out in the Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2021 (GlüStV 2021). This deposit limit applies across all providers. It is not worked out per provider. Instead, all your deposits with different licensed operators are added together. This is monitored by the LUGAS system.

The 1,000-euro deposit limit applies mainly to licensed online betting, where accounts and deposits are recorded digitally. It does not apply in the same blanket way to cash deposits made in person at a betting shop. If in doubt, ask at the betting shop or the responsible authority. Our guide to cash deposits at the betting shop explains how paying in works on site.

LUGAS is the limit and blocking system that runs alongside OASIS. It is built for the online sector and talks in real time to every licensed online provider in Germany. When you want to make a deposit, LUGAS checks in the background how much you have already paid in this month.

• If you have not yet reached the deposit limit, the deposit goes through.
• If you have used up the limit, the deposit is rejected automatically.
• Providers without a valid German licence are not connected to LUGAS.

LUGAS works closely with OASIS. OASIS manages the access blocks, while LUGAS focuses on checking the deposit limits.

Every licensed provider has to give you the option of setting your own limits below the legal maximum. You usually do this in your account, under the player protection settings. You can choose between:

• Deposit limit: caps how much money you can pay in over a given period.
• Loss limit: caps how much you can lose over a given period.
• Time frame: a daily, weekly or monthly limit is often available.

These personal limits apply on top of the legal total limit. If your own monthly limit is 300 euros, any deposit beyond that is rejected, even if you have not yet reached the legal limit.

You can read more about other safeguards under Applying for self-exclusion and Player protection and help.

Changing your own limits works with a deliberate imbalance: reductions take effect immediately, increases only after a waiting period. This is part of the legal player protection rules.

This rule is there on purpose. In a moment when you feel you are playing too much, you can protect yourself at once. An impulsive decision to deposit more is held back by the waiting period. The exact length of the waiting period can vary from provider to provider.

Once your legal or self-set limit for the current period is used up, the system rejects your next deposit automatically. You can only deposit again once the period resets, for example on the first day of the next month. As long as you play with licensed providers, there is no way to get around the legal total limit within a month.

Limits work as a safeguard and hold a line in place even when self-control is harder in the heat of the moment. Two common patterns in problem gambling are not being able to stop and chasing losses. A loss limit puts a clear, automatic brake on things before the situation gets out of hand.

If you find that limits alone are no longer enough, you will find useful information and places to turn to under Spotting gambling addiction and getting help.