Top Online Casinos in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, or as it goes by its official name the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country that is located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. This is a unitary semi-presidential republic and one of the six independent Turkic states. The republic proclaimed its independence from the Russian Empire back in 1918 and has managed to maintain its sovereignty since.

Since this country is located at a crossroad between two continents. It has a very important geopolitical location. Azerbaijan is bordered with the Russian Republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, Iran to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the east. An interesting fact about Azerbaijan is that even though 97% of the population are Muslims, the country’s Constitution does not include any official religion, which is not the case with most countries around the world.

Azerbaijan is a developing country that ranks 87th on the Human Development Index. The current party in rule has been in power since 1993, but it has been accused of authoritarian leadership, censorship, and other activities that deteriorated the country’s human rights record. Hence, civil freedom has been restricted, especially when it comes to the press.

These days, the online gambling industry is at its peak in Azerbaijan. Not only are online casinos allowed to operate, but they can also be licensed by the Azerbaijani government. Considering the fact that land-based casinos are still illegal, this is a very atypical regulation, but it proved to bring a lot of benefits.

Online casino operators are paying millions of dollars in tax money and the online casino industry is a heavy contributor to the economy. Under the circumstances, the growth of the online gambling industry really deserves praise. Thousands of players from Azerbaijan these days access casino sites to have a pleasant and unique gaming experience.

As stated earlier, Azerbaijan faces a pretty atypical situation when it comes to the gambling industry. Land-based gambling was made illegal in 1997 after the president’s son ended up becoming a gambling addict and reportedly owed around $6 million. Before that, tons of casinos were operating in the country, especially in the capital Baku.

But, the interesting thing about the regulation is that online gambling is legal. This is atypical for 2 reasons:

• First off, most countries in the world regulate land-based gambling since online gambling is still a new concept. In all the countries where land-based gambling is considered illegal, online casinos are also prohibited.

• Number 2, Azerbaijan is a Muslim country – 97% of its residents are Muslim. In every Muslim-dominant state in the world, gambling is regarded as a sin, hence it is illegal. That is not the case with Azerbaijan. Not only are online casinos legal to operate, but the government also licenses them.

Additionally, a blockage system is implemented by the authorities. This system blocks all unauthorized/unlicensed online casinos in the country. In doing so, it provides the players with security as they can only gain access to licensed casinos. In most cases, unlicensed sites are often scam sites, but thanks to the regulation, the Azerbaijani players do not have to fear falling victim.

Regulation Laws and Authorities

According to the Presidential decree of 2001, gambling in Azerbaijan is partially legal. Lottery, bingo, and sports betting were legalized, but all other forms of land-based gambling are prohibited. The law that regulates the country lottery games is the Law on Lotteries. Point 525 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Azerbaijan provides further details on the gambling industry in the country.

The regulatory body of all gambling-related activities (online and land-based) is the Ministry of Economic Development. Most online casinos that are available in Azerbaijan are Russian sites. According to the laws on gambling in Azerbaijan, the legal age for participating in all of these activities is 18.

When players access off-shore sites, they are always relying on international regulatory bodies to indicate whether an online casino is legal and licensed or not. With that being said, some of the regulatory bodies that they search for at online casinos are the Malta Gaming Authority, the UK Gambling Commission, and the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

Bitcoin games have become extremely popular all around the world in the recent period, but these games do not have a big impact on the Azerbaijani market. There are two reasons for that. First, online casinos are illegal in the country and even though the players can somehow access these sites, it is not very likely that the site will feature these games.

Secondly, to play Bitcoin games, players need to make a deposit with the said cryptocurrency. Azerbaijani are not too fond of spending money on Bitcoin as it comes at a high price, especially in 2021. These days, Bitcoin is valued at around $50,000, which is more than the players from this region can afford.

Credit and debit cards are by far the most popular way for Azerbaijani players to deposit and withdraw money at gambling sites. They are extremely secure, many people use them for all types of online transactions and pretty much every gambling platform accepts them.

By using credit and debit cards, the players are provided with pretty secure transactions, which are also faster than most of the payment methods accepted at betting sites. All deposits are instant, while withdrawals have a processing time of around 3 business days.

E-wallets can be used sometimes, but they are not as preferred as credit and debit cards. The reason for that is that even though e-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill provide the players with instant withdrawals, they often come with fees. Not only that, but many online sportsbooks do not consider them as eligible payment methods for claiming bonuses.

Less Popular Payment Methods in Azerbaijan

Some less popular payment methods in Azerbaijan include wire transfers, direct banking, and Bitcoin. Due to the rise of this cryptocurrency, some players decided to use it as a payment method. Bitcoin has all of the best advantages of the aforementioned popular payment methods.

All transactions made with this cryptocurrency are instant, users gain a certain level of online anonymity when trading with it, thus their security is increased, and no fees are applied when withdrawing money, thanks to the peer-to-peer focus.

But, it was mentioned earlier that even though Bitcoin has all of these advantages (plus the fact that players can access unique games by using it as a payment method), not many Azerbaijani players use it as it is too expensive to get a hold of.