LUGAS Germany: Understanding the €1,000 Monthly Deposit Limit

LUGAS is Germany’s unique central monitoring system for all forms of online gambling. It’s run by the GGL, the regulator of online casinos nationwide. You can find official information on the German gambling regulator’s website. The system was introduced under the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021, which began in July 2021 and completely reshaped online gambling in Germany. The full law (in German) is available on the Bavarian law database.

The basic concept is straightforward: deposit limits should follow you across all sites, not just individual casinos. This is where most confusion arises, so let’s be clear. LUGAS tracks deposits. Only deposits. It monitors how much money you deposit across all licensed casino sites in Germany during a calendar month. It doesn’t track what games you play, monitor individual bets, record your wins or losses, or snoop on how you gamble. This is confirmed in the official explanations of the system’s limit database, which exists purely to enforce deposit caps across providers.

By default, all players at online gambling sites can only deposit a maximum of €1,000 per month. This applies across all licensed sites, not per casino. Switching operators doesn’t reset it, and your allowance refreshes at the beginning of each calendar month. This rule is baked into German law and enforced automatically via LUGAS. There’s a quick overview on the German Wikipedia page if you want more detail. It feels restrictive, but Germany chose certainty over any wiggle room for players, and LUGAS is how they enforce it.

From your perspective, everything runs invisibly until something gets blocked. In the background, the casino checks LUGAS in real time when you attempt a deposit. LUGAS confirms whether you’re still within your monthly cap, and the deposit either goes through or gets refused immediately. If blocked, the casino can’t override it. Customer support can’t manually approve it, meaning you’ll need to wait until the next calendar month starts. This is why customer support sometimes sounds unhelpful when you ask. They genuinely can’t change anything because it’s not their system to control.

You might wonder whether you can raise the limit. Technically, yes. Practically, it’s built to be difficult. Players can request increases, but they’re capped, you’ll have to wait through a cooling-off period, and financial checks are required. German addiction researchers and consumer advocates disagree on whether the system is too strict or too loose. But most agree on one thing: the friction is intentional. There has been plenty of debate in the media about the €1,000 threshold. At its heart, LUGAS isn’t there to make gambling impossible – it’s to stop players from raising limits when they’re frustrated or chasing losses.

The privacy aspect worries many players, especially if you’ve played at online casinos in other countries. According to the regulator, data is pseudonymised, only what’s needed to enforce limits gets stored, and casinos don’t see your full cross-site activity. LUGAS is operated by a public authority subject to GDPR alongside German administrative law. You can read more about the GGL’s data protection information (PDF) for the official version. In practical terms, it’s not linked to SCHUFA (Germany’s credit scoring system), it’s not shared with employers or banks, and it’s not used for advertising or profiling.

It’s worth understanding what LUGAS actually is – and isn’t. It’s not a safeguarding tool. It’s a blunt instrument designed to cap deposits, not to identify problem gambling or intervene when someone’s struggling. The €1,000 monthly limit might slow down someone chasing losses, but it won’t stop them from playing recklessly within that cap. It won’t flag compulsive behaviour. And it won’t help someone who needs support, just restriction. That’s not a criticism of LUGAS. It’s simply what the system was built to do: enforce deposit limits across operators. Full stop.

If gambling is becoming a concern for you, LUGAS won’t solve that. Self-exclusion tools let you block yourself from all licensed German sites for a set period through the OASIS system, the national self-exclusion register. Support organisations offer confidential help if gambling is becoming a problem – BZgA (the Federal Centre for Health Education) runs a free helpline and provides resources in German. You can also set deposit limits lower than €1,000 at individual casinos through your account settings. LUGAS gives you a hard ceiling. Responsible gambling requires setting your own floor well below it. The system isn’t there to judge or catch you out. But if you find yourself frustrated when hitting the limit month after month, that might be worth paying attention to.

A few myths need clearing up. Casinos aren’t tracking your losses – LUGAS only sees deposits. You’re not on some kind of blacklist – hitting your cap isn’t a flag against you. Support can’t unlock your account if you ask nicely – the system is automated and outside their control. And LUGAS won’t probably disappear soon – it’s federal law and it’s not going anywhere. Knowing these facts doesn’t make the system less restrictive, but it does make it less confusing.

If you live in Germany and play at licensed sites, LUGAS is here to stay. It’s not watching how you play. It’s not judging your choices. It’s simply enforcing what’s written in the law – no exceptions, no workarounds. The good news: it works exactly as intended. The bad news: it works exactly as intended. Grasping that distinction makes the system feel less mysterious, even if it still feels limiting.

Further Reading: You can find more detailed information on the German gambling regulator (GGL) website, read the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021 (the actual law), check the LUGAS overview on German Wikipedia, or review the deposit limit FAQs from the GGL.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are some of the most commonly asked questions and answers about the LUGAS system.