Croatia’s Top 8 Online Casinos and How I Chose Them

Criteria based on which I formed Top 8 list

At the very beginning, I would like to notice, that this Top 8 list is not final, and some other casinos could be included in it. If for some reason you need more online casinos to choose from, I will be more than happy to share my criteria, so that you can expand my rating or even make your own.

My criteria for choosing top online casinos in Croatia:

• Reputation. It is my ultimate parameter, and it is predictable that I start my research at this point. Probably you have heard many stories about how players got their winnings confiscated or even you could have been a victim yourself. The tricky part here that many gambling websites on the internet sell out places in their ratings so that you can not rely on them. Some of them go even further and make completely fake threads on their forums with complimentary posts about clearly scam casinos. How to not fall for it? I prefer to discuss different online casinos in special chats with gambling entrepreneurs and casino managers. This approach has proven to be very solid since all “bad news” is getting spread very quickly.

• License verification. On each trustworthy online casino’s website, the information about license must be displayed. However, it is common sense not to take anybody’s word and verify it yourself. To do so, I visit the gambling commission’s website in an attempt to establish whether the license is valid or not. Different gambling jurisdiction implements such a feature in a different way.

• Security (account safety and software validity). Then I proceed and validate software on the casino’s platform. Needless to stress out how devastating it could for players if the casino has fake slots ( How to detect fake online slots ? ). Another huge part of cybersecurity is how your account is protected against malicious hackers. I prefer to ask around if there were any successful attacks because every online casino claims to have high-security standards, which doesn’t reflect reality in some cases.

• Responsiveness (customer service). Live chat is a must-have feature at any modern online casino since it allows to resolve player’s issues in the fastest possible way. Even better when live chat is available 24/7. But what matters, even more, is how online casino treats its players when it comes to disputes.

• Variety of games (variety itself and live games). I have made a rating of the best software providers, and I always make sure that at least 10 of them are represented on the casino’s website. Slot producers are not known to impose many restrictions on Croatian casino players. Hence, it is not so hard to grab a few decent online casinos in Croatia, catering a big variety of slots and casino games, including casino games with live dealers.

• Documents and verification. KYC (know your customer) policy is an inherent part of any licensed online casino in Croatia. So to say, you will encounter this procedure sooner or later. At casinos from my Top 8 rating you are going to be asked to download one of these three documents: ID, international passport or driving license. All of them can be downloaded through the casino’s website, which is pretty handy.

• Bonuses and promotions. Nowadays, It is common courtesy for online casinos to provide Croatian players with bonuses. Important ranking factors for casino bonuses in Croatia are wager and wagering weight. At this stage, I also establish true wager of the bonus carefully reading “Terms and Conditions”.

• Deposit/withdrawal policy. In order to be deemed as a top casino in Croatia, the venue have to allow Croatian players to use many deposit and withdrawal methods. Here I need to verify that at least popular e-wallets, bank cards, cryptocurrencies and prepaid cards are in place.

• Design and user-friendliness. Here comes our last but not least ranking factor. An online casino must have clear website navigation so that you won’t get lost trying to find an online slot or something else. Also, an online casino is not supposed to go crazy with colours on its platform, in order to get in my rating.

Gambling laws in Croatia

When it comes to gambling laws, Croatia is following the path that a few countries have chosen. It has two different approaches:

• regarding gambling operators, Croatia introduces relatively high taxes and complicated procedure in order to obtain a local gambling license. It is predictable that nobody is eager to overcome excessive obstacles. Hence, online casinos prefer to operate rather in “gray” area, avoiding Croatian gambling authorities and accepting Croatian players on the grounds of their overseas licenses.

• regarding Croatian citizens who wish to play at online casinos, Croatia doesn’t prohibit online gambling and it is absolutely legal for Croatian players to participate in any online gambling activities. Therefore, playing at online casinos from Croatia won’t get you in any legal troubles.

Legal Age is set to be 18 years for all kinds of gambling in Croatia.

Taxes. For online casino players from Croatia, there is no special tax regime for online casino winnings. So to say, all casino winnings are subject to a progressive income tax (12-40%). The player would be exempt from paying taxes if the casino had a Croatian gambling license. But so far, there are no decent online casinos on the market with a Croatian gambling license.

Self-exclusion for players from Croatia are not implemented at government level. Hence Croatian players with a gambling addiction can rely only on particular casino’s self-exclusion options. All casinos from “Top 8 online casinos in Croatia” allow doing so, letting their players restrict themselves from playing on real money for the period of time or even permanently.

It is sad, but the Croatian language is not available as a rule of thumb

I would like to clarify that there are online casinos with the Croatian language for sure, but I haven’t managed to find trustworthy casinos among them. Given that I decided that it is better to have in my rating online casinos without Croatian language but with more important parameters in place, such as reputation, for instance. I hope you would agree that it is the lesser evil to have such an approach.

Online casino bonuses for Croatian players?

Croatian players can benefit from bonuses and promotions in full extent. Croatian gambling commission doesn’t prohibit their citizens to get bonuses at online casinos, which is great.

There are many bonuses for Croatian players including generous welcome packages and reload bonuses.

Deposit and withdrawal options for Croatian citizens

The majority of popular payment methods on the internet can be used by Croatian players as a deposit/withdrawal method at online casinos. However, some of them are better than others in terms of how long it takes to process the transaction and fees which are applied. Keeping this in mind, top payment methods in Croatia would be like this:

• E-wallets. Skrill, Neteller, Ecopayz are all happy to provide Croatian casino players with their services. This is the most convenient deposit/withdrawal method so far, because of the fastest transactions and reasonable fees. Also, an important thing to mention, that these companies issue debit card by themselves, and this card is getting associated with your e-wallet account so that you can withdraw money at ATM or pay online without traditional banks being involved. All Croatian players are eligible to order a card, but it takes some time to be delivered. So please plan accordingly if you decide to use it.

• Cryptocurrencies are amazing in terms of both fees and transactions speed, but they are less beginner-friendly. Keeping this in mind, I have published an article about how to buy Bitcoin and deposit at an online casino without any wallets (the hardest part of all process). It is a great option in Croatia because cryptocurrencies are legal there, and Croatian players can buy crypto on Binance with a bank card (only VISA for now) or on Bitstamp with bank transfer.

Deposit with Dogecoin at an Online Casino: Buy, Set Up a Wallet, Transfer

• Bank cards (debit or credit). It takes a few days for a bank card transaction to reach its recipient, but they are very popular and will come to the aid if other options are not available for you.

There are some other payment methods worth to mention: prepaid cards (only Paysafecard), bank transfer (using SEPA allows to minimize fees).

Casino Games which are available from Croatia:

• Online slots. There are thousands of video slots which are available in Croatia. Fortunately, the best slots developers provide their services in Croatia, including well-known Netent, Microgaming, PlayNgo, Quickspin and dozens of others

• Roulette

• Baccarat

• Craps

• Blackjack

• Video poker

• Scratch cards

• Bingo

• Keno

What about security at an online casino for Croatian players?

There are no special challenges for Croatian players, when it comes to security at online casinos. It is legal and, hence, you won’t be prosecuted.

Speaking about the security of funds on your balance, it completely depends on particular online casino. Casinos from my list have not been known to have such stains on their reputation.

However, I would suggest you take a few measures on your own. Those are the best practice not only at online casinos but on the internet in general:

• enable 2FA for casino account (if the casino has such option)

• enable 2FA for your email

• use at least 12 characters passwords and change them regularly

Players from Croatia are welcome to participate in Live Games

Being a significant part of online gambling, live games are available for Croatian players with no restrictions. Hence, you don’t need to visit a land-based casino anymore in order to get such experience.

Live games can be easily accessed by Croatian players on the special section of casino’s website devoted to them.

Some questions you may ask

Do Croatian players need to verify their identity? KYC (know your customer) is rather an uncomfortable part of online gambling and Croatian players are no exception. You’d better download a document before making a deposit to be sure that you will be able to withdraw winnings smoothly.

Do Croatian players need to prove Source of Funds? It happens relatively rare, and only when the winning exceeds 20,000 euro at least. If your deposit money comes from legal source then you have nothing to worry about.

Where should Croatian players complaint if an online casino has done anything wrong? There are two places to come after online casino’s support: Gambling commission or complaint section of my site (I have contacts of managers of casinos from my rating).

Are Croatian players eligible to progressive jackpots? Yes, they are. Carefully researching casinos’ “Terms and Conditions”, I have not found any limitations for Croatian players regarding these matters.

Mobile online casinos in Croatia

It is hard to imagine nowadays any online business without a mobile version of it. Therefore, all casinos in my “Top 8” rating are 100% smartphone/tablet compatible. Just download an application from AppleStore/GooglePlay, and you will be able to access your favourite games even if you are not at home.