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Online casino, slots, poker and sports betting are legal in Armenia only on sites licensed by the Ministry of Economy and run by an Armenian-registered company on a .am domain; the State Revenue Committee (SRC) supervises them. Online lotteries are banned, and sites of foreign organisers without an Armenian licence are banned and blocked. The 2003 gambling laws still apply today; the 2024 Gaming Law's main provisions start about 7 February 2027.
| Product | Status | Licensed by | Tax | Key restriction | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports betting | Licensable | Ministry of Economy (lottery licence covering the totalisator today; bookmaker licence from about 7 Feb 2027) | AMD 600,000,000 a year, plus bet-right duty of AMD 150,000,000 per AMD 50 billion of stakes | Armenian-registered company; until about 7 Feb 2027 its founders must be Armenian citizens or Armenian companies; bank deposit of AMD 1,200,000,000 | Only on the organiser's own website and inside its own venues |
| Online casino and slots | Licensable | Ministry of Economy (internet winning-game licence) | AMD 600,000,000 a year, plus bet-right duty of AMD 525,000,000 per AMD 100 billion of stakes | Armenian-registered company; payout programmed at 90% or more; today the servers, an Armenian IP address and the .AM domain must all point to Armenia | As for Sports betting |
| Poker | Licensable | Ministry of Economy (internet winning-game licence) | As for Online casino and slots | Not named in either law; card games stay winning games, so the casino licence conditions apply | As for Sports betting |
| Lottery | Limited | Ministry of Economy (lottery licence) | AMD 600,000,000 a year | Offline only: no online lottery route today, and the Gaming Law prohibits organising a lottery electronically or by internet access in Armenia | Only on the organiser's own website and inside its own venues; a draw lottery may also advertise at its sales points |
The Gaming Law (HO-263-N) has been in force since 1 July 2024, but its main provisions start only on the day after six months from the designation of the state technical operator. That operator was designated on 6 August 2026, so counting from Art. 58(4), the start is about 7 February 2027, and the 2003 laws HO-1-N and HO-3-N are repealed on that date. Licences issued before then lapse unless they are brought into line within six months after it. From the same date HO-349-N takes effect: sites of organisers not licensed in Armenia are blocked, and Armenian banks and payment providers may not pay them, identified by card merchant category code.
Gaming Law HO-263-N ↗Law HO-349-N ↗Decision 1155-A (operator) ↗
See the full official list of licensed operators and their authorised domains.
4 items · last change 12 Oct 2026
The 2024 Gaming Law (HO-263-N) is in force, but its main provisions operate only from about 7 February 2027: the day after the sixth month from the designation of the state monitoring operator on 6 August 2026 (Art. 58(4)). The 2003 laws are repealed on that date, and existing licences must be brought into line within six months or lapse (Art. 58(6)). Law HO-349-N, adopted on 3 July 2026 and operative with the Gaming Law, blocks the sites of any organiser not licensed in Armenia, bars Armenian payment providers from paying unlicensed organisers (identified by card merchant category code) and removes the online route for lotteries. Law HO-278-N (in force 1 January 2027) moves the five-year self-exclusion button into the Gaming Law and bars people aged 70 or over from games of chance and betting. Still drafts on e-draft.am: the blocking procedure (project 10521) and the operator's maximum prices (project 10591: up to 1.8% of monthly GGR per type of activity).
The 2024 Gaming Law operates from the day after the sixth month from the operator's designation (Art. 58(4)); the 2003 laws are repealed and existing licences have six months to conform or lapse. Law HO-349-N (unlicensed sites and payments, no online lotteries) and the winnings tax start with it.
Source: 1
Law HO-278-N puts the five-year self-exclusion button into the Gaming Law and bars people aged 70 or over from games of chance and betting.
Source: 2
Parliament began debating a bill to create a national, mandatory self-exclusion system with a 5-year minimum ban period.
Source: 3
Not yet in force: drafts, laws adopted without a start date, and sections of the law still to be commenced. An item moves to the timeline below on the day it takes effect.
Armenia recognises none of these 8 foreign licences.
BannedMalta (MGA) · United Kingdom (UKGC) · Gibraltar (GRA) · Isle of Man (GSC) · Curaçao · Kahnawake (KGC) · Anjouan (AGB) · Alderney (AGCC)
Not recognised. Only an Armenian-registered company with an Armenian licence may offer gambling. Sites of foreign organisers without one are banned, their advertising is banned, and they are DNS-blocked on the list the Minister of Economy approves (HO-1-N Art. 4.4, HO-3-N Art. 4, decision 1699-N). From about 7 February 2027 Armenian banks and payment providers must also refuse payments to unlicensed organisers (HO-349-N). How such sites still reach players in Armenia was not checked.
Bonuses are legal in Armenia: they count as winnings, and each operator's rules, approved by the authorised body, must set out the bonuses and promotions it offers. What limits them is advertising: a bonus may be promoted only on the operator's own website and in its own venues, and a player who has self-excluded may not be sent bonuses or promotional offers.
No cap on bonuses or wagering requirements and no rule on VIP schemes was found; the bonuses must be described in the operator's approved rules (Gaming Law Art. 11(3)(9)). Self-excluded players may not be sent bonuses or promotional messages.
Warning: participation in the game carries a risk of material damage
The SRC fines a breach of the gaming laws' advertising duties AMD 2,000,000 per violation; heads of advertiser and carrier companies face fines under the Law on Advertising, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission fines misleading or unsolicited gambling advertising as unfair competition.
A third fine within two years is a ground for terminating the licence.
Every gambling advertisement must carry '21+' ('18+' for lotteries) and the loss-risk warning, at least as prominent as the rest of the advertisement. From about 7 February 2027 every game advertisement needs the authorised body's approval before publication (today only lottery advertising does).
| Date | Operator | Violation | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Mar 2025 | Four bookmaker companies (KABARKO LLC, DIGITALINE LLC, SOFT CONSTRUCTION CJSC, GOOD SOFT LLC) | Marketing messages sent without the citizens' separately expressed, time-limited consent and without the age restriction or the loss warning. | AMD 983.876 million | Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, 19 March 2025: fines for advertising messages |
| 20 May 2024 | Two operator groups | Umbrella-brand advertising on social networks, through influencers, on payment terminals and in feature films. | AMD 740.702 million | Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, 20 May 2024: fines for umbrella advertising |
| 28 Oct 2022 | Three operators | Promotions advertising whose essential terms were not stated (misleading advertising). | AMD 433,075,078 | Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, 2 November 2022: fines for misleading promotions advertising |
Armenia bans gambling advertising everywhere except on the organiser's own official website and in or on its own gaming venues (Law on Advertising Art. 15(15)), and the same rule applies to sports betting and casino. The exceptions for border crossings and four-star hotels were deleted in July 2025, and marketing messages, sponsorship and influencer posts all count as advertising.
| Channel | Status | Vertical & Platform Split (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Ads | Banned | Online gambling advertising is allowed only on the operator's own official website (Law on Advertising Art. 15(15)), so search ads for sports betting or casino are not permitted. From about 7 February 2027 Law HO-350-N also requires advertisers and carriers to exclude Armenia from banned advertising on international platforms, for example by geo-targeting.41011 |
| App Store Publishing | Restricted | A licensed operator's apps are named in its licence, and gaming outside the named site and apps is unlicensed (Gaming Law Arts. 14(2), 16(2)). Apple and Google Play also require proof of a licence for each country where a real-money app is offered.11213 |
| Google/Apple App Store Ads | Banned | Paid app-store ads are advertising outside the operator's own website and venues, which the Law on Advertising bans for both sports betting and casino apps.4 |
| Meta (FB/IG) | Banned | Paid or third-party social media advertising is not within the Art. 15(15) exceptions. In May 2024 the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission fined two operator groups AMD 740,702,000 in total for umbrella-brand advertising that ran on social network pages and through influencers. Whether an operator's own social page counts as its official website is not settled.4814 |
| TV & Radio | Banned | Television and radio advertising of gambling is banned, for sports betting and casino alike; public broadcasters may not name gaming organisers as programme sponsors. The only broadcast allowed is a draw-based lottery's result draw, between 22:00 and 07:00 and for at most 30 minutes.4 |
| Sponsorships | Banned | Sponsorship by a gambling brand is advertising and falls outside the Art. 15(15) exceptions, so team, stadium and shirt sponsorship is not permitted. The May 2024 Commission fines covered a group that included a football club using marks confusingly similar to a gambling brand.48 |
| Digital OOH | Banned | Outdoor advertising is allowed only at the operator's own venue: at most 5 m2 (0.5 m2 next to entrances) and only the logo. Billboards, transit and public-space advertising elsewhere are banned; Law HO-228-N of 3 July 2025 deleted the exceptions for border crossings and four-star hotels.46 |
Channel rules for Armenia reflect each platform's published policy and the sources numbered in each row (listed under Methodology & sources). Verify with the local regulator and your ad-platform account manager before launching.
Enforcement in Armenia runs on three tracks. The State Revenue Committee (SRC) supervises licensees and fines breaches of the gaming laws after a warning and order (AMD 200,000 to AMD 10,000,000 depending on the duty). Sites of foreign organisers without an Armenian licence are DNS-blocked by internet providers on a list the Minister of Economy approves (decision 1699-N); from about 7 February 2027 payments to unlicensed organisers are also to be refused by card merchant category code (HO-349-N). The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has fined gambling advertisers as unfair competition. Illegal gambling is not a crime as such: the Criminal Code reaches it only as illegal entrepreneurship causing large-scale damage.
Material regulator actions, court rulings, and high-profile fines from 2016–2026 against operators serving Armenia. Each entry includes the technical failure and a one-line read-across for other operators in the market.
Marketing messages were advertising, sent without the citizens' separately expressed, time-limited consent and without the age restriction or the loss warning.
Read-across: This signals a low tolerance for direct marketing violations and sets a precedent for significant fines for operators engaging in aggressive or non-compliant advertising.
The operator failed to make a mandatory state fee payment for the second quarter of 2020.
Read-across: The revocation of a major casino's license for non-payment of state fees demonstrates the regulator's willingness to take severe action for financial non-compliance.
The National Assembly amended the law to significantly increase fines for allowing underage individuals (under 21) to gamble.
Read-across: The introduction of a tiered penalty system, culminating in license revocation for a fourth offense, places a greater operational burden on all operators to enforce age restrictions rigorously.
vbet.am
Specific operational risks that have caught new entrants in this market. Each item is country-specific. Generic gambling-ops issues (KYC, RG tools) are not included unless they have a local twist.
Only a commercial organisation registered in Armenia can hold a licence, and a branch of a foreign company cannot apply. Today an internet game counts as organised in Armenia only if its servers, an Armenian IP address and the .am domain all point to Armenia (HO-1-N Art. 2), and for the totalisator (betting) the founders must be Armenian citizens or Armenian legal persons (HO-3-N Art. 4(1)). From about 7 February 2027 the test is the .am domain alone, and servers abroad are admitted if the hosting contract is filed with the application.
From about 7 February 2027 every internet-game, bookmaker or lottery licensee must hold a deposit in an Armenian bank of twice the annual State Duty, AMD 1,200,000,000, for as long as the licence runs (today only the lottery and totalisator licence needs it). On top of the AMD 600,000,000 annual duty, the right to accept bets is bought in blocks: AMD 525,000,000 per AMD 100 billion of stakes for internet games and AMD 150,000,000 per AMD 50 billion for betting, at coefficient 3.0 on our reading, not refundable if unused.
From about 7 February 2027 every gaming product and the official website need a conformity certificate, and products on the Government's list must be connected to the monitoring centre of the state-designated operator (Games Analysis and Monitoring System LLC, designated on 6 August 2026), which has real-time access to organisers' systems. The Government list, the technical standards and the operator's prices (a draft caps its monthly fee at 1.8% of GGR per activity type) were not yet adopted when the report was written.
The Law on Advertising bans any advertising of games of chance, internet games, lotteries or their organisers except on the organiser's own official website and in or on its own venues (Art. 15(15)). The exceptions for border crossings and four-star hotels were deleted by Law HO-228-N of 3 July 2025. Marketing messages count as advertising: in March 2025 four companies were fined a total of AMD 983,876,000 for them.
Government decision 1155-A designates Games Analysis and Monitoring System LLC (sole founder Random Systems International LIMITED, Malta) as the gaming-sector regulation operator.
Source: 22
Law HO-279-N requires a self-exclusion button on every page of a licensed site and app: five years, renewed automatically unless lifted in the last five days of the term.
Source: 24
Blocks the sites of any organiser not licensed in Armenia, bars Armenian payment providers from paying them (by card merchant category code) and removes the online route for lotteries, from the day the Gaming Law operates.
Source: 16
The SRC introduced a bill to prevent legal challenges from delaying the tender for the operator of the national real-time monitoring platform.
Source: 25
Law HO-228-N leaves gambling advertising only on the organiser's own website and venues.
Source: 6
A comprehensive 10% tax on the turnover of all gambling activities was implemented, fundamentally changing the operator tax structure.
Source: 26
Government decision 1699-N sets the procedure: internet providers block the listed sites by DNS within 5 working days.
Source: 15
Adopted 12 June 2024 and in force 1 July 2024, but put into operation in stages (Art. 58).
Source: 1
The laws on games of chance, internet games and casinos (13 December 2003) and on lotteries (17 December 2003), which still govern today.
Source: 5
Common assumptions about gambling licensing that turn out to be wrong in practice.
No foreign licence is recognised. Only an Armenian-registered company licensed by the Ministry of Economy may offer gambling; foreign-organised sites are banned, their advertising is banned and they are DNS-blocked, and from about 7 February 2027 payments to them are to be refused.
It does not: the Tax Code has no gambling turnover or GGR tax, and gaming organisers cannot use the turnover-tax regime. The cost is the fixed AMD 600,000,000 annual State Duty, the duty for the right to accept bets, 18% profit tax and, from about 7 February 2027, a AMD 1,200,000,000 bank deposit.
Compared on what our records hold for each country: whether online casino, betting, poker and lottery are licensed, state-run or banned, the licensing model, what the operator tax is levied on and its band, how most advertising channels are treated, and how foreign licences are treated. A point we hold for only one of the two countries counts for nothing.
Online casino, betting and poker licensed; lottery limited; licensed market; most ad channels banned.
Online casino, betting and poker licensed; licensed market; most ad channels banned; foreign licences mostly banned.
Online casino, betting and poker licensed; licensed market; most ad channels banned.
The research behind our Armenia coverage
Counted across every Armenia page, not this page alone.
compiled 19 Oct 2026
Across every Armenia page on this site: players, operators and the licence guide. The research report behind them cites official sources: the law, the regulator, the gazette, the courts and each platform’s own published advertising policy. Page sections not yet rewritten from the report may cite other sources.
The same research as a 57-page Armenia report: every one of the 201 checklist questions, each answer cited to the instrument behind it.
Request the Armenia reportOur Deep AI Scan took Armenia through all 201 questions of our regulatory checklist, from 60 official documents, read on 19 Oct 2026. Our research team then traced every figure on this page to the document and sentence that states it. The full research report is due to go to our compliance team. Where a fact rests on a press report or a law-firm summary rather than an official document, the page says so.
60 documents in all. Request the full research report for every source, answer by answer.