There is no simple answer to this question because it depends on the affiliate site. Some, such as Gambling Club, only list legal casinos, while others promote illegal casinos. We demystify everything for you and give you tips on how to avoid falling into the traps of illegal sites.
If you regularly follow the news published on Gambling Club, you may be wondering whether you can still trust all these top sites listing the best casinos and other affiliate sites that list promotions and summarise everything you need to know about Belgian casinos.
At Gambling Club, we believe that player safety and protection come first. That’s why we have chosen to list only casinos that are 100% legal in Belgium on our site. Other Belgian affiliate sites have made the same choice, but many of them prefer to promote illegal casinos because the financial rewards are more attractive.
How can you tell the difference between a reputable affiliate site and one that promotes illegal casinos?
Here are some key tips for recognising a reputable affiliate site that complies with Belgian gambling law and provides information about legal casinos:
- It only lists licensed operators: A legal affiliate adapts its offering to the market, so it will only list .be sites from licensed operators that have a valid licence in Belgium.
- It contains relevant information about casinos: Each review page available is complete with the correct Belgian licence numbers.
- It has a genuine identity: all pages have the same design and are part of a whole, the menus are clear and no matter which page you are on, you can easily return to the root of the site. Here, there are no pages about casinos when the site itself is about a company or, worse, a school.
- It does not try to mislead you: the site is clear, affiliate links are not hidden, and the names of well-known casinos such as Star Casino, PepperMill Casino, Bwin, etc. all have links that work correctly and redirect you to the casino site.
- It does not make false promises: there are no advertisements for free deposit bonuses or sign-up bonuses. It only lists promotions that are legal under Belgian law and clearly explains the terms and conditions of these bonuses.
- It does not circumvent prohibitions: the site does not give any advice on how to circumvent restrictions. If it mentions VPNs, crypto casinos or even casinos on Telegram, it is to warn players by informing them, never to explain how to access these illegal casinos.
- It is updated regularly: this is not a 100% reliable indicator, but it is already a good sign. A website that is updated regularly, whether with industry news or the latest promotions, indicates that there is someone behind it and that it is not an automatically generated page with very similar or even identical content on every page.
If, despite these tips, you are still unsure, here are some affiliate practices used to direct players to illegal casinos that may help you see more clearly:
- Bonus offers that are too good to be true: if the site lists bonuses that seem too good to be true, run away! Welcome bonuses of £500 + 100 free spins do not exist in legal Belgian casinos.
- Too much responsible gaming advice: if the page you are viewing is filled with excessive responsible gaming advice while constantly offering you alternatives with no concrete links, this is usually a bad sign.
- They list crypto casinos: legal Belgian casinos are not allowed to offer cryptocurrencies as a payment method. If the affiliate offers you this alternative, it is definitely an illegal casino in our country.
- They invite you to use a VPN: if you are recommended to use a VPN to access the casino, this is a bad sign. You do not need a VPN to access a legal Belgian casino.
- They highlight the anonymity possible at the casinos listed: Belgian casinos with a valid licence are required to identify you when you register and log in. This is mandatory in order to check whether you are registered on the EPIS list. It is therefore impossible to play legally anonymously.
- Links to legal casinos do not work or redirect to other casinos: some affiliate sites add legal casinos to their top lists. Often these casinos have no reviews, no links or, worse, redirect to a completely different casino. This is another red flag. If the link redirects to a different casino, you can ban this affiliate from your list of trusted sites.
What are the most well-known illegal casino sites in Belgium?
A few names appear very often on the Gaming Commission‘s blacklist via alternative URLs. Here are the most well-known:
- Stake
- Royal Tigers
- Magius
- Boomerang Casino
- Starzino
- Lucky Hour
- Bets.io
- Casino GRANSINO
- Betpanda
- Bet365
- LeoVegas
Some may seem familiar to you, and you probably thought they were licensed in Belgium. This is not the case. None of these casinos have a valid Belgian licence.
Several of these sites often appear at the top of casino rankings on illegal or pirated sites. This is an excellent way for them to remain accessible, and they are willing to pay affiliates a lot of money for this. Via affiliate links, the site’s URL can be updated in a matter of seconds. So if the main URL of an illegal casino is blocked directly by the Gaming Commission, all they have to do is create an alternative URL, and the site will continue to be accessible directly via affiliate sites, a technique that has proven itself time and time again.
You are now well equipped to tell the difference between a reputable affiliate site such as Gambling Club and a site promoting illegal gambling. So stay alert and never hesitate to consult our guide before clicking on a casino link.