Live Casinos Malta - Top MGA-Licensed Casino Sites

Part of our goals here at LiveCasinos.com is to find the best live dealer casinos in the world. We find, examine, compare, and rate live casino sites by setting them up against hard standards created through decades of experience in the industry.

However, almost all new gambling sites offer live games, which means they all qualify as live casinos. For us to consider an online casino a good choice for Maltese players, it has to meet a lot of important criteria. If you’re wondering how we made our list of top Malta casinos, here are the factors we considered while making our rankings:

• Licensing & safety – Legal casinos in Malta have to be licensed by the MGA -the local regulatory authority. However, many international operators are licensed by the MGA but don’t really focus on Malta as a market, which makes this license the bare minimum for a site to be recommended by us.
• Game depth – Top live casinos have to offer a wide variety of live casino games, preferably from multiple software providers. The number, quality, and variety of these games is an important factors for our reviews and rankings.
• Design & Usability – While games, bonuses, and payment options are all important, making them easy to access and use is just as crucial for your experience as a player. That’s why we consider things like usability and UX when ranking live casinos.
• Banking – If a casino site wants to be accessible to Maltese players, it has to ensure fast and convenient payments. The best options offer varied payment methods, reasonable transaction limits, and fast processing times that let you withdraw winnings as quickly as possible.
• Customer Support – Safe, legitimate gambling sites strive to deal with their customers fairly and transparently. That’s why a good customer service framework is essential for a quality casino experience.
• Player Feedback – Our reviews also consider a site’s reputation with players. We regularly consider player reviews and comments while reviewing casinos, and our top list for Malta reflects that.

Is Online Gambling Legal in Malta?

Yes, both offline and online gambling are legal and Malta and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority. The island nation was one of the first to specifically address online gambling in 2001, establishing it as one of the hubs of the modern gaming industry. Today, some of the biggest brands and names in the business operate internationally under MGA-issued licenses.

Gambling Laws & Regulations

Online gambling was first mentioned by Maltese law in 2001 when the Lotteries and Other Games Act was initially passed. This act established the MGA as we know it today, outlining its duties, powers, and responsibilities. It also outlined the framework for remote gambling regulation that largely remains in effect to this day.

However, the Act was later revised in August 2018 as a result of a legislative and regulatory overhaul of the previous Maltese gaming legislation. While the key goals and principles of the regulations remain the same, the Gaming Act of 2018 consolidated the regulation of all gaming in the country and its territorial waters. Before that point, online gaming and land-based casinos were regulated under different guidelines.

Under these laws, gambling operators can only offer their services to Maltese residents if they own an MGA license. To obtain a license, the operator must adhere to strict policies of transparency, fairness, customer protection, and responsible gambling. Additionally, the law ensures licenses are only issued to respectable and financially stable parties.

The law also ensures that all games, gaming products, slot machines, and other props must be certified and checked by the authority. As a result, many top-notch game providers are also licensed under the MGA, ensuring a level of quality and provable fairness.

Another important feature of Malta’s gambling laws is that it recognises (and is recognised by) the gambling authorities of all EU states. This is another reason why Malta is a popular destination for the headquarters of many gambling companies, including both operators and software providers.

Licensing Authorities and Procedures

All gambling activity in Malta is overseen and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA.) The Gaming Act of 2018 grants this organization exclusive rights to issue licenses, regulate operators, and enforce the rules and guidelines outlined by local gambling legislation.

According to the MGA’s public statements, its responsibilities include:

• Protection of minors and vulnerable persons, while promoting responsible gaming in a safe environment
• Licensing and regulation of gaming operators
• Guidance and cooperation at all stages of the license application process
• Protection of player funds, ensuring that all deposits and withdrawals are secure and enforceable
• Ensuring the integrity of games and gaming devices, via audits and independent testing facilities to ensure the randomness of results of all games of chance.
• Monitoring of licensee activities to ensure compliance
• Safeguarding of player rights, via investigation of complaints concerning the licensees on behalf of the players
• Monitoring of activities to keep gaming free from criminal activities
• Oversight of cryptocurrency transactions under its DLT sandbox and permanent DLT policy, ensuring virtual-asset operators meet AML/KYC, audit and fairness standards.

These duties and powers are standard these days in most jurisdictions where gambling is legal. However, the Gaming Act of 2001 was one of the most robust and comprehensive regulations addressing internet casinos in the world when it was first passed. This established the Maltese gambling legal framework as one of the most reliable and forward-thinking in the industry at a time when most countries failed to address the growing need for regulating online gambling.

That’s why so many online casinos focused on Europe are primarily licensed in Malta. Not only are the regulations clearer and more effective than in many other places, but the license also gives operators access to almost every market within the EU.