Official language: Bulgarian
Population: 7,640,238
Currency: Lev (BGN)

Current Exchange Rate
1 EUR = 1.9540 BGN
1 GBP = 2.0872 BGN
1 USD = 1.3199 BGN

Casinos in Bulgaria
Bulgarian casinos are a strange thing. While there are several large-scale, Vegas-style casinos to be found in Bulgaria, these are all attached to expensive hotels and are targeted at Israeli and Turkish tourists who come to Bulgaria to gamble. In fact, most big hotels in Sofia, and in the sea resorts around Varna, have casinos and rely on income from them.

The local gambling scene is very different. These small casinos might be better called gambling halls, since they usually only have 3-5 tables and a dozen or so machines. There are several hundred of these mini-casinos in Bulgaria. The reason for their small size is that table games in Bulgarian casinos are taxed twice – first an upfront tax is paid for the right to have a table game, then another tax is paid on the winnings. These small casinos are popular with locals, but have to be kept small and efficient to be profitable.

Online Casinos in Bulgaria
Since early 2008, online gambling in Bulgaria has been fully legal, though it is heavily regulated and the taxes involved are quite high. Bulgarian online casinos must pay a flat tax of 10% on all profits. This tax is opposed by the EU, and of course by internet casinos in Bulgaria, so it will probably be changed eventually. This has lead to a lack of proper Bulgarian casinos on the internet, so many players are still turning to international casinos for their online gaming needs.

A government-run website called Sport Totalizator, which currently only offers sports betting and state lottery, is considering opening up casino games as well. There is even talk of the site pairing with private companies to expand the breadth of what is offered. But because the site gives 50% of its proceeds to Bulgarian sports teams, and a further 35% cut is taken by the government, there is not much left to make the offer attractive enough for third parties, unless some of the rules are changed.