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Best poker sites available in Croatia in 2024
One of the youngest countries in the European Union, the Republic of Croatia gained independence in 1991. In mere 30 years, a small country with a 4-million population managed to overcome social and political turmoil, earning a place among the top tourist destination in Europe. Worldpokerdeals explores the legality of online poker in Croatia and offers the best poker sites for Croatian online players with a wide choice of MTTs, nice Omaha and Texas Hold’em action, and flexible rakeback.
Best poker sites for Croatian players
With most of the top offshore poker platforms in the country, you can afford to be choosy. Have a look at the best poker sites available in Croatia for newbies and grinders.
How did we select the leading online poker rooms for Croatian players? We considered several key factors:
- Easy access for players. No alternative links and VPN.
- Hefty deposit promotions, multi-level loyalty programs.
- Busy traffic with cash games around the clock.
- A wide choice of banking options for real money deposits and withdrawals, including e-wallets and crypto.
| Rank | Poker Site | Deposit Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GGpoker | up to $600 |
| 2 | PPPoker | no match bonus |
| 3 | Pokerking | up to $2000 |
| 5 | Betonline poker | up to $1000 |
GGPoker Croatia
Owned by GGnetwork, GG Poker is a go-to option for both amateurs and seasoned players. A nice 100% welcome bonus up to $600 and $2M in weekly prize pools together with a new huge Fish Buffet loyalty program make GGPoker one of the best rooms online. Rakeback grows as you progress through the loyalty levels, reaching 60% at the highest level. The rake for all cash games is 5%.
PokerKing
It’s been more than 10 years since Winning Poker Network launched PokerKing, aiming at players from the US. Newcomers will benefit from a 100% welcome promo that reaches $2,000, lots of weekly tournaments with a total prize pool of $4M, and a 6-level loyalty program. Besides that, PokerKing offers nice rakeback up to 65% and a lot of tables. Although the platform doesn’t have a Croatian license, it boasts an ideal reputation that makes it stand out from the competition.
BetOnline poker
Part of skins of Chico network, BetOnline is known for its massive $10M monthly GDT, a large player pool from the US, and plenty of Hold’em cash games and multi-table tournaments. To top it all off, the site offers a 100% match bonus reaching $1,000.
Online poker in Croatia
Croatia is one of few European countries that completely legalized online gambling, including poker. With almost no pressure on unlicensed offshore operators, Croatian online poker players enjoy a great selection of platforms to play on with exceptions like 888 Poker, which are unavailable in the country.
While being legal, online poker is heavily regulated. Technically, an overseas operator needs to obtain a license from the Ministry of Finance to provide services to Croatian residents, but the conditions are overcomplicated. Apart from a costly annual fee of HRK 3,000,000 (around $500,000), an operator must have additional HRK 3,000,000 in reserves to guarantee payouts. As a cherry on top, the Croatian government won’t grant licenses to companies that don’t own a land-based casino in the country.
With this in mind, as well as certain restrictions on public tournaments, it’s no wonder why there’s a lack of legal Croatian poker sites. Platforms like GGPoker and PokerKing continue to operate in the grey area.
Legal background of online poker in Croatia
All online gambling activities are regulated by the Law on Games of Chance of January 2015. The document legalized online poker and established it as a game of chance, allowing overseas operators to apply for a license from the Croatian government.
From a player’s perspective, gambling regulations in Croatia are liberal. Players who have reached the legal age of 18 are free to join poker tables in both brick-and-mortar venues and online poker sites. Offshore platforms come with certain benefits like no taxes on winnings, while playing in licensed poker rooms may cost you quite a bit:
- A 10% tax on winnings under HRK 10,000 ($1,500);
- A 15% tax on winnings from HRK 10,000 to HRK 30,000 ($6,000);
- A 20% tax on winnings above HRK 30,000;
- And a 30% tax on anything above HRK 500,000 ($75,000).
Available deposit and withdrawal methods
Croatian laws aren’t too strict towards online poker, so the choice of payment options is wide. The most popular ones are e-wallets and cryptocurrency, but some players still use bank cards. You may opt for the following banking methods:
- Credit/debit cards: Visa, MasterCard;
- E-wallets: Neteller, Skrill, Mint, MuchBetter, ecoPayz, and more;
- Pre-paid cards: Astropay, PaySafeCard;
- Crypto: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Ripple, and others.
Keep in mind, though, that most poker sites don’t accept Croatian Kuna. If you’re looking for a platform that accepts HRK, you can go for a state-licensed poker room operated by SuperSport.
Best Croatian poker players
Despite easy access to poker websites, the Croatian poker community is quite small but active. The total amount of money won by players from Croatia in live tournaments is a bit over $11M, ranking the country 63rd in the all-time money list.
The top-3 list of live Croatian poker players is dominated by Goran Mandic ($1.4M, EPT Barcelona and PokerStars Championship Barcelona champion). The 2nd and 3rd places belong to Ivan Zufic ($0.8M, WSOP Online 2020 champion) and Stipo Vladic ($0.3M, WSOPC Live Events International Rozvadov champion).
Croatian online poker sees more action, with the total amount amassed by grinders reaching $38M. The most active online players are:
- Ivan “zufo16” Zufic ($5.9M);
- Ivan “BanicIvan” Banic ($6.3M);
- Gregor “svereii” Sverko ($1.3M);
- Marko “markan991” Tokic ($1.2M);
- “elpadrepablo” ($0.9M).
Summary
Despite Croatian laws making it quite expensive for offshore networks to obtain a gambling license, local players can access unlicensed online poker rooms trouble-free. Platforms like GGPoker, PokerKing, and BetOnline are among the most visited in the country.
Advantages of our affiliate service:
- VIP rakeback deals;
- Professional support seven days a week;
Contact our manager to get yourself a deal.
FAQ
To wrap it up, let’s summarize the most common online poker-related questions in Croatia.
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