Online gambling in Jordan
The Kingdom of Jordan is often referred to as an “oasis of stability” in a turbulent region.
It is also considered by most civil liberty rating agencies, and political commentators alike, as a very liberal country compared with most of its Middle Eastern neighbours.
In their assessment of civil liberties and political rights, Freedom House rank Jordan as the second freest Arab country (behind Lebanon). It is also one of only three Arab countries (Lebanon and Kuwait are the other two) listed as “partly free” in their Freedom in the World 2018 report. The report categorises countries broadly as either “free”, “partly free” or “not free”.
According to the Human Freedom Index of 2015 Jordan is the 78th freest country globally and number one on the list of all Arab countries.
Sunni Islam is the dominant religion, practiced all but 5% of the population, but the legal system is only partially based on Islamic Sharia law with the constitution preserving religious and (many) personal freedoms.
Those freedoms do not however extend to individuals’ right to gamble.
Gambling in all forms is explicitly illegal and persons found to be offering a public gambling service will be prosecuted.
Interestingly though, and perhaps indicative of the Jordan’s more passive application of Sharia law, the government has flirted on a number of occasions with the idea of legalising casino gambling.
The first, a 2007 deal that was signed by the then tourism minister awarding a British developer a license to build and operate a casino by the Dead Sea. The deal was subsequently rescinded after it caused a public outcry, in part due to the behind-closed-door manner in which it was reached.
Learning the lessons of 2007, the second attempt took a more public consultative approach.
In 2016 the country’s vice-prime minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb gave speech to the Amman Chamber of Industry advocating casino licenses for tourist areas like Aqaba and Petra. It was proposed the casinos would only be open to foreign passport holders (Iranian visitors were suggested as a key market).
Interestingly, Donald Trump (before becoming president) acquired the trademark for Donald Trump Casino, in Jordan so he must have believed there was some chance of Ali Abu getting his wish.
Online gambling strictly speaking is illegal, but apparently passively tolerated by authorities. Individuals choosing to gamble online in the privacy of their homes are not prosecuted. Nor do authorities make efforts to block offshore casino websites from being accessed by Jordanians. No doubt this would change if local online gambling licenses were ever introduced.
With a population of 10 million and Internet penetration of 76%, Jordan is likely considered a viable market for many offshore operators however few tailor their offering specifically to Jordanian players.
Best live casino for Jordanian players
The below casinos accept players from Jordan and offer USD or EURO (no Jordanian dinar) deposit/account keeping options.
 Casinos |
 Player access |
 Banking |
 Toll free support |
 Local language |
 Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Read review | Visit |
No restrictions | No deposit restrictions. Maintain account in USD (JOD not possible) |
No | Arabic website and support, Arabic dealer tables | European based dealer room with Euro centric games, and high limits |
