Casinos without the 5-second rule: what the rule requires and where it does not apply

Searching for a casino without the 5-second rule means searching around one single provision: under § 22a (6) of the German State Treaty on Gambling 2021 (GlüStV 2021), virtual slot games must meet the requirement “Ein Spiel muss durchschnittlich mindestens fünf Sekunden dauern” – a game must last at least five seconds on average. The rule sets the pace at the slot, not the size of the stake and not the deposit. How it fits next to the deposit limit, the stake limit and mandatory breaks is laid out on the overview page about online casinos ohne Limit.

Behind searches such as “online casino ohne 5 sekunden pause”, “casino ohne pause” or “casino ohne wartezeit” lie several different waiting times in the State Treaty. The five seconds apply to every single spin, the five-minute break follows the hourly notice, and another five-minute waiting period applies when switching between operators. On top of that comes the ban on playing several slots at the same time.

The sections below separate these rules: first the wording of the provision, then its scope, then the data on Tsars, Goldenbet, Slotum, Rabona and Spinsy, the question of turbo and quick spin functions, the breaks, and playing on several machines.

IIThe rule word for word: § 22a (6) GlüStV

§ 22a GlüStV 2021 is the provision on virtual slot games, meaning slots on the internet. Paragraph 6 contains the sentence the whole discussion goes back to: “Ein Spiel muss durchschnittlich mindestens fünf Sekunden dauern.” The period runs from the declaration to play, the triggering of the spin, until the result is displayed. Two words carry the rule: “durchschnittlich” (on average) and “mindestens” (at least). The wording therefore sets a lower bound for the average duration of games.

The rule has nothing to do with the payment method, even though the search “casino ohne 5 sekunden regel paysafe” links the two. Paysafecard is listed among the deposit methods at Tsars, Slotum, Rabona and Spinsy, at Goldenbet it is not listed in the AskGamblers method list. Under § 6b (4) GlüStV 2021, “Ein- oder Auszahlungen über anonyme Zahlungsmittel sind im Fernvertrieb nicht zulässig” – deposits or withdrawals via anonymous means of payment are not permitted in distance selling. Which amounts can be deposited when paying with Paysafecard and which alternatives exist is covered on a separate page.

The minimum duration does not stand alone in the section. Paragraph 7 caps the stake: “Der Einsatz darf einen Euro je Spiel nicht übersteigen” – the stake may not exceed one euro per game. Paragraph 4 prohibits program sequences that, after one game, “selbstständig ein weiteres Spiel beginnen lassen”, i.e. start another game on their own; a game starts only on the player’s declaration. Paragraph 9 prescribes the break after the hourly notice, and paragraph 10 bans simultaneous play. Together these paragraphs define how a slot runs under the State Treaty: one spin after another, each triggered by the player, with a minimum duration and a maximum stake.

The GGL, the joint gambling authority of the German states, picks up this rhythm in its 2024 guidance on interpreting the GlüStV 2021 for individual virtual slot games. It states: “Das Ansammeln über einen Spin hinaus ist nicht zulässig” – accumulating beyond one spin is not permitted. The guidance also requires RTP and the probability of the top win to be shown permanently at stake level, multipliers to be listed exhaustively, and gamble features to be offered only with a notice.

IIIApplies to virtual slot games, not to table games (GGL)

The 5-second rule sits in § 22a and therefore in the provision on virtual slot games. The State Treaty distinguishes online casino games from these. In its FAQ the GGL describes them as “virtuelle Nachbildungen von Bankhalterspielen”, virtual replicas of banking games such as roulette or blackjack. According to the GGL, these online casino games are regulated by the states themselves; as of May 2025 there were 5 concessions, in Schleswig-Holstein and Bavaria. Slot operators with a GGL permit may not use the term “Online Casino”.

At roulette and blackjack tables, the limits that matter are therefore mainly those an operator sets itself. For the five brands they are only partly documented: according to LCB, Goldenbet lists live tables from €0.10 with stakes up to €20,000; Slotum sets a maximum stake of €1,000 for card games in its terms; for Tsars, Rabona and Spinsy no data is given. All five run a live casino, Goldenbet among others with Pragmatic Play Live and Evolution Gaming, Rabona with Evolution Gaming and Ezugi. Table limits for roulette and blackjack in detail are described on the page about live casino without limits.

Unlike the minimum duration from § 22a, the deposit limit does not apply to slots only. Under § 6c (9), the cross-operator deposit limit applies “auf alle öffentlichen Glücksspiele im Internet”, to all public gambling on the internet, except deposits made only for lotteries at most twice a week and prize savings. Under § 6c (1) it may “grundsätzlich 1000 Euro im Monat nicht übersteigen”. How the €1,000 deposit limit is recorded in the limit file and when it resets is explained on a separate page.

The limit file is one part of LUGAS, the cross-state supervision system; the second part is the activity file. Through it, a player is marked as active with one operator under § 6h. For the five brands on this page, no source mentions OASIS or LUGAS by name, and according to AskGamblers none of them takes part in a self-exclusion register. A German licence is not stated for any of the five.

IVSpin speed at the 5 casinos

Whether a spin at Tsars, Goldenbet, Slotum, Rabona or Spinsy lasts less than five seconds is not stated in any of the sources evaluated. The field for the 5-second rule reads “no data” for all five brands. The sources name foreign licences, partly with contradictions.

According to casino.guru, Tsars holds a licence from Anjouan (Comoros) with the number ALSI-202503021-FI1, Goldenbet a licence from Curaçao (Curaçao Gaming Authority), OGL/2024/1798/1048. For Slotum, casino.guru names Anjouan (Comoros) ALSI-202508056-FI2 and the Tobique Gaming Commission (New Brunswick) 0000002, while the operator terms of 09/2025 name the Curaçao Gaming Control Board with OGL/2023/174/0082. For Rabona, “no valid licence” according to casino.guru stands against PAGCOR and the Anjouan Gaming Board according to AskGamblers; for Spinsy, “no official licence” according to casino.guru stands against the Tobique Gaming Commission according to AskGamblers.

In the end, the pace depends on the individual slot. The game selection is documented differently: Goldenbet 5314 slots according to LCB, Rabona over 2000 games according to AskGamblers, Spinsy 13,463 games in “All Games” in the Slovakia country view; for Tsars and Slotum there is no data. The provider lists of all five include, among others, Pragmatic Play and Thunderkick. How long a round lasts in any of these games is not stated in the sources. All five are played via a mobile website in the browser; no source names a dedicated app, and for Goldenbet LCB states explicitly that there is no app.

Autoplay is the only gameplay feature that shows up in the data: at Tsars, according to a player report on AskGamblers, autoplay was used in slots. For Goldenbet, Slotum, Rabona and Spinsy there is no data on it. What the minimum duration means in practice for each spin at the machine is explained in detail on the page about the 5-second rule on slots.

VTurbo and quick spin

“Turbo” and “quick spin” are terms people search for, not terms of the law. For pace, the GlüStV 2021 only knows the measure from § 22a (6): the average duration of a game. A function that spins faster is measured against the wording of this provision, not against its name.

For the five brands there is no data on turbo spins, neither at Tsars nor at Goldenbet, Slotum, Rabona or Spinsy. One name is easily confused here: Quickspin is a game developer and appears in the provider lists of Tsars, Slotum, Rabona and Spinsy. The studio’s name says nothing about the pace of its slots; the sources do not give game durations for this provider either.

Besides the minimum duration, the State Treaty regulates further interventions in the rhythm. The GGL guidance of 2024 names autoplay, including series automation, as prohibited. Under § 22a (8), a win must be a predetermined multiple of the stake.

Pace and stake size are separate questions. The data on the five brands names fixed stake caps only with an active bonus: €5 per bet at Goldenbet, Slotum and Rabona; at Tsars €2 with an active 1st and 2nd deposit bonus and €5 with the 40 % and 25 % bonus according to casino.guru; at Spinsy €100 according to the operator or €5 according to casino.guru. These bonus terms say nothing about the duration of a spin.

These rules come from the State Treaty on Gambling of 2021, which limits deposits, stakes and playing time as well as game duration. Which limits it sets overall and what casinos without a German licence mean for these limits is summarised in the linked overview.

VIBreaks: 5 minutes after the hourly notice (§ 22a (9))

The search “casino ohne pause” is aimed more at a longer interruption than at the five seconds. It arises from two provisions. Under § 6h (7) GlüStV 2021, the elapsed playing time must be shown to the player, and after every 60 minutes the player must expressly confirm a notice before continuing to play. For virtual slot games, § 22a (9) adds that play may continue only “erst fünf Minuten nach der Bestätigung der Kenntnisnahme des Hinweises” – five minutes after confirming the notice.

Time rules and stake rules sit in the same section. For the stake limit under paragraph 7, from 1 July 2026, according to the GGL, a staggered deviation is possible under conditions, limited until 31.12.2027. What this means for casinos without the 1-euro limit and which levels the GGL names is covered on a separate page.

A second waiting time concerns switching operators. Under § 6h (4), the active marker in the activity file is removed five minutes after logging off. The operator must make logging off easy on request and must report it itself once more than 30 minutes have passed since the player’s last input. Within one domain, § 4 (5) no. 5 also applies: different forms of gambling run in separate areas, switching is possible after one minute at the earliest, and winnings from one area can be used in other areas only after one hour.

For the five brands, time management looks like this: according to AskGamblers, Tsars has no reality check but a cool-off or time-out function. According to the AskGamblers data sheet, Goldenbet has neither a reality check nor a time-out tool. According to AskGamblers, Slotum has no reality check, but offers a cooling-off period and, on its responsible gaming page, a session limit. According to AskGamblers, Rabona and Spinsy have no reality check or cool-off tool; the operators name a break via customer service or support.

Self-set limits are documented unevenly. Slotum names deposit, loss and stake limits (day, week, month), a session limit and cooling-off on its responsible gaming page. For Goldenbet, the AskGamblers data sheet lists no limit tools, while the running text mentions “account limits”. According to AskGamblers, Rabona and Spinsy have no deposit, stake, loss or time limits, and for Tsars the sources contradict each other. On self-exclusion: Tsars via profile or e-mail, Goldenbet via support for 6 months to 5 years, Slotum in the account or by e-mail, Rabona and Spinsy by e-mail.

VIISeveral slots at the same time (§ 22a (10))

Another rule concerns not the single spin but the number of games running. § 22a (10) GlüStV 2021 reads: “Das gleichzeitige Spielen von mehreren virtuellen Automatenspielen ist verboten” – playing several virtual slot games at the same time is prohibited. The ban also covers playing the same game several times at once.

§ 6h reaches beyond the single operator: “Das parallele Spiel von öffentlichen Glücksspielen durch einen Spieler ist unzulässig” – parallel play of public gambling by one player is not permitted. This ban is implemented through the LUGAS activity file. Together with paragraph 10, this results in a sequence in which one slot runs with one operator at any given moment.

The data on the five brands contains nothing on playing several slots at once. What is documented are game categories that the State Treaty addresses elsewhere. Feature buys show up at several brands: at Tsars, according to a player post on AskGamblers, there is a “Feature buys” category; Goldenbet lists bonus buy slots, Slotum a filterable “Bonus Buy” category, Rabona the category “Bonuskäufe”; for Spinsy there is no data. The sources name jackpot games for all five, for Goldenbet only according to casino.guru. Slotum has a jackpot category and the operator jackpot “Fairy Secrets”, Rabona and Spinsy list Drops & Wins and daily jackpots among others; at Spinsy, jackpot games cannot be played with bonus money.

§ 22a (8) prohibits accumulating stakes or winnings for future wins; the law itself calls this the jackpot ban. What the State Treaty sets out on autoplay, jackpots and bonus buy in detail is explained on a separate page.