First Licensed Online Poker Room Goes Live in Croatia

Croatia's first licensed online poker room – SuperSport – was launched last week and, according to initial information, has so far beaten traffic expectations.

The website was expected to go live in mid-2016 but owners decided to delay launch for regulatory reasons. Under Croatia's gambling laws, a license for the operation of online poker is valid from January 1 to May 31. An operator must also pay a licensing fee of around €600,000 in order to be given the nod to operate in the country.

In other words, SuperSport would have had to pay the same amount for a license that would have been valid for several months only, if it had insisted on launching sometime in mid-2016.

Croatia became the 28th member state of the European Union in May 2025. Shortly after, the country announced that it would amend its existing gambling laws in order to make them compliant with EU requirements. The proposed changes were approved by the European Commission in May 2025. However, not much has happened in the country since then.

Sports betting, casino, poker, bingo, and lottery are the products that are currently regulated by the local market. Apart from lottery services, which are provided by the state monopoly, literally any operator can apply for a license for the operation of any of the other gambling services.

However, there is one important requirement that needs to be met, in order for an interested party to be eligible for a license from the Croatian gambling regulator. Operators need to have physical presence in the country so as to be allowed to provide online services. To be more precise, they must own a land-based casino.

SuperSport has been running gambling operations in the local market for 13 years now. The brand owns a number of betting shops across Croatia as well as a small brick-and-mortar casino. It has also been providing online sports betting options for the past seven years.

The new online poker room currently features No-Limit Hold'em games only as software is in beta mode. More poker variants are to be added in near future. Owners said that they are happy with the feedback they have received so far.

Foreign players, excluding ones from the US and several other jurisdictions, will be able to access the SuperSport poker site. However, given the fact that the website uses local currency, it is expected that Croatian players will account for the bulk of overall traffic.

Although poker is a popular game in Croatia, its newly opened online market is not likely to expand into a major one. One of the main reasons for this, if not the main one, is the fact that the physical presence requirement will scare off big names like PokerStars and 888poker that are usually keen on exploring newly regulated territories.

Tagged with: