Lithuania Gaming Supervisory Authority Gaming Control Authority of Lithuania

Licensing & RegulationLast updated 2026.10.06

The gambling regulator under Lithuania's Ministry of Finance. It legalized online gambling in 2016, raised the gambling age to 21 in 2025, and has announced a full advertising ban for 2028, tightening regulation quickly.

Lithuania Gaming Supervisory Authority
Gaming Control Authority of Lithuania
EnglishGaming Control Authority of Lithuania
ClassificationLicenses & Regulation
AuthorityGaming Supervisory Authority (Lošimų priežiūros tarnyba, LPT)
UnderLithuanian Ministry of Finance
LocationVilnius, Lithuania
Legal basisGaming Law (enacted 2001, amended several times)
Online legalization2016
Remote gambling whitelistFrom January 2025
Minimum age21 (from November 2025, excluding state lotteries)
Gambling tax22% of revenue (from January 2025, previously 20%)
AdvertisingRestricted July 2025, fully banned January 2028
Maximum fine€700,000
2025 marketTotal revenue €274.1 million, online €202.4 million (74%)

Overview

The Lithuanian Gaming Control Authority (Lošimų priežiūros tarnyba, LPT) is the gambling regulator of Lithuania, one of the three Baltic states. It operates under the Ministry of Finance and is based in the capital, Vilnius. It licenses and supervises nearly all gambling except the state lottery, including casinos, slot machine venues, bingo, sports betting, totalizators (pool betting, as in horse racing), and online gambling.

Lithuania legalized online gambling in 2016. At first it was an “offline first” structure in which only companies with land-based operations could go online, but since 2022 it has reformed the system and begun managing the digital market in earnest. In 2025 it introduced a higher minimum age, a tax increase, and advertising limits all at once, making it one of the fastest-tightening countries in Europe.

History

2001
Gambling law enacted, land-based gambling such as casinos and slot machines institutionalized
2016
Online gambling legalized (mainly for holders of land-based licenses)
2022
Major overhaul of rules for the online market
2025.01
Whitelist registration for remote gambling sites made mandatory, gambling tax raised from 20% to 22%
2025.07
Advertising limits in effect (TV and radio 15 seconds, up to 3 times per hour)
2025.11
Minimum age raised from 18 to 21 (state lotteries excluded)
2028.01
Full gambling advertising ban planned
2029.01
Unified player card to be fully introduced

License types

Lithuania issues licenses by type of gambling. For online slots, an operator must hold both a slot machine license and a remote gambling license.

LicenseDetails
Category A slot machinesSlot machines without a prize limit (casinos)
Category B slot machinesSlot machines with limited stakes and prizes (slot venues)
Casino (gaming facility)Operating table games and Category A slot machines
BettingSports and event betting
TotalizatorPool betting where participants’ stakes are collected and shared (including horse racing)
BingoOperating bingo games
Remote gamblingOffering the above gambling over the internet, whitelist registration required from 2025

Capital requirement

To obtain a license, you must meet a minimum capital requirement depending on the business type. Casinos have the highest.

Business typeMinimum capital
Casino (gaming facility)€1.158 million
Bingo, totalizator, betting€289,000
Horse racing totalizator€144,000

2025 regulatory tightening

In 2025, Lithuania made a major overhaul aimed at protecting players.

FieldWhat changed
Minimum ageRaised from 18 to 21 (state lotteries excluded)
Behavior monitoringOperators must have systems that detect risky gambling patterns among players
Deposit limitsMandatory deposit limit feature
Staff trainingObligation to train staff to intervene with problem gamblers
FinesUp to €700,000 for serious violations
Bank monitoringLithuanian banks must monitor gambling transactions and report suspicious ones (up to €6,000 for violations)

Advertising regulation

Since July 1, 2025, gambling advertising has been sharply restricted. Brand exposure is allowed only inside licensed venues and on official websites, and TV, radio, and internet ads are limited to 15 seconds and 3 times per hour. Sports sponsorship is still allowed, but gambling brands can’t be included in team or league names.

And from January 1, 2028, gambling advertising is scheduled to be banned entirely. A €4 million transition fund has also been set up for media outlets that will lose advertising revenue.

Taxes

The gambling tax is 22% of revenue (player losses), up 2 percentage points from 20% in January 2025. With the tax increase and the advertising ban arriving together, the industry has voiced concern that players may move to unlicensed sites.

Market size

Total gambling revenue in Lithuania in 2025 was about €274.1 million. Of that, online made up about €202.4 million, or 74%. It is a digitally driven market where online is far larger than land-based venues.

Blocking illegal sites

The gambling authority blacklists unlicensed online gambling sites and blocks internet access and payments to them. By the end of 2025, the number of blocked illegal domains had grown to nearly 2,000. Since 2025, it has also kept a separate whitelist of licensed remote gambling sites, so players can easily check whether a site is legal.

Player card

By January 2029, Lithuania plans to introduce a unified player card system. It lets players see their transactions in one place no matter which venue or site they gamble at, in order to stop one person from moving between places to get around limits. It points in a similar direction as Germany‘s central deposit limit system (LUGAS).

Baltic comparison

CategoryLithuaniaLatviaEstonia
Regulatory stanceTightening (age 21, advertising ban planned)TighteningRelatively open
Online shareAbout 74% (2025)HighHigh
HighlightsPlayer card, whitelistPolicy of reducing land-based venuesLow tax rate, attracting foreign operators

Impact on slot providers

Slot providers supplying games to Lithuanian operators must meet local certification and technical requirements. The market is small, but the industry is watching closely because measures such as the age-21 limit, behavior monitoring, and the unified card may spread to other European countries. Together with the Netherlands and Belgium, it can be seen as a leading example of a “tightening” market.

Location

The Gaming Supervisory Authority is located in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

Related terms