What is GGL?

The GGL (Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder, the Joint Gambling Authority of the German States) is Germany's central regulator for online gambling, established under the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling and taking over its core licensing and enforcement duties from 2023. It oversees virtual slots, online poker and sports betting across the federal states, and runs one of the strictest regimes in Europe. Its rules are deliberately restrictive: a €1 maximum stake per slot spin, a default €1,000 monthly deposit limit applied across operators, a minimum five-second spin time, no Autoplay, no parallel play across several games at once, and mandatory integration with the OASIS nationwide self-exclusion register, plus a panic button for instant time-outs. Worked example: on a German-licensed slot, each spin is capped at €1 and must take at least five seconds, so the rapid, high-stake Autoplay sessions available under lighter regimes are simply not possible. A player's deposits are also tracked against the €1,000 monthly ceiling that follows them across licensed sites. The GGL matters because it shapes the entire product available to German players and to affiliates targeting the market. The common mistake is assuming an EU or Malta licence covers Germany; it does not — operators need a GGL licence and must connect to OASIS. See also OASIS, Autoplay, the Deposit Limit and Self-Exclusion.