Gambling Commission Licensed Casinos
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Equipment technical requirements
The government intends for operating and premises licence fees to be harmonised between 1968 Act casinos and Small 2005 Act casinos. This will help ensure that operators are operating within the regulations and enable licensing authorities to undertake appropriate licence checks. Currently, 1968 Act casinos are not required to have a table gaming area so the premises plan will need to be updated accordingly. It will not be possible for a licensee to rely on an ancillary remote betting licence, even where the SSBT offer is alongside a non-remote offer as the ancillary licence is bound to a betting premises licence.
UKGC Directory
Remote betting intermediary operating licence Remote betting host virtual events licence Remote betting host real events licence Remote general betting standard virtual events licence Remote general betting standard real events licence Navigating the complex web of UK casino laws is essential for new operators aiming to succeed.
Guidance for small businesses and sole traders running a gambling business. View guidance about what you need to tell us when you apply for a licence Guidance about the information we’ll ask for when applying for a licence. Find out how much it will cost to apply for a licence and ongoing annual fees. Information about the activities we licence, the fees you need to pay and when. If you want to complain about a gambling business or need further help please contact us.
The Commission works alongside local licensing authorities, which are responsible for issuing premises licences for land-based gambling venues. Established under the Gambling Act 2005, the Commission oversees all commercial gambling in Great Britain — from high-street betting shops and land-based casinos to online slots, poker rooms, and sports betting exchanges. You can apply to us for a licence to provide casino games in a premises (non-remote) or online (remote). It requires remote gambling operators selling into the British market, whether based here or abroad, to hold a Commission licence to enable them to transact with British consumers. The legislative changes also introduced changes to gaming machine entitlements for converted casino premises. For casinos which exercise the extended entitlement and other larger converted casino premises, a new mandatory condition in paragraph 4 of Part 5 of Schedule 1 to the 2007 Regulations requires that the floor area of the gambling area is less than 1,500m².
427.These sections prescribe the procedure for making an application for a premises licence. 426.In addition to responsible authorities, a wider group of people may play a role in the premises licensing process under this Part. This is the case, for example, for a casino licence under Part II of the Gaming Act 1968 or a bookmaker’s permit under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963. 415.This section sets out the principles that licensing authorities should apply when exercising their premises licensing functions under this Part. Other sections in this Part give permission for particular kinds of premises licence to authorise more than one type of activity. The effect of this requirement is to limit the principal activity on the premises to the provision of facilities for a particular type of gambling activity.
- Currently, Category D machines have no age restrictions nor area restrictions in licensed/permitted premises.
- The policy proposals set out in this government response are intended to modernise the land-based gambling sector and help it to thrive sustainably.
- Industry responses frequently highlighted the commercial pressures placed on their businesses in recent years – as a result of COVID-19 inactivity and rising energy costs – as a central reason for necessitating greater commercial flexibility.
- A licensed operator is any company that holds one or more gambling licences issued by the Gambling Commission.
The personal information we collect and process is the data provided to us directly by you in the responses to this consultation. We welcome evidence from all parties with an interest in the way that gambling is regulated in Great Britain. By submitting non gamestop casinos your responses via email you are agreeing to the terms outlined in the privacy notice. (Mandatory responseYes / No / I don’t know
Category D machines include a range of low stake machines, such as coin push, crane grabs and slot-style fruit machines. However, the intended objective is to allow customers to pay by the means they prefer and preserve the viability of the gaming machine sector which is at risk of being eroded by the move to a “cashless” society. Should net position be visible at all times to the customer on machines accepting direct cashless payments?
The UK is constantly working to make the gambling industry safer. Understandably, industry regulations are continuously updated to prevent criminal activity in this massive industry. The UK is the second-largest gambling market in Europe, with British gamblers spending approximately £14 billion ($18.9 billion) per year.
A casino site with a high Domain Score and a high Trust Score is in the strongest position across both dimensions. The screenshot confirms the domain was serving active gambling content and wasn’t pointing at an error page, a parked domain, or an unrelated site. From the operator page, you can access the full Trust Score, licence history, any enforcement record, and the corporate structure cross-referenced with Companies House.
Up to 20 percent of total gaming machines can be Category B. This rule mandates that at least 80 percent of all gaming machines in Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs) and bingo halls must be Category C and D. As above, 1968 Act casinos will retain the option of continuing to operate under the existing regime should they not wish to increase their machine allocations.
Should card account verification (such as chip and PIN or Face ID on mobile payment systems) be required if direct cashless payments are permitted on gaming machines? The authorisation required by the account holder in these systems mitigates against the risk of cashless payments facilitating crime through stolen cards being used on gaming machines. The risk would be that some forms of direct cashless payment (such as contactless) lack account verification and could allow stolen cards to be used on gaming machines. Therefore, the government’s position is to consult on what principles and player protections should be put in place to support any relaxation of the rules around playing gaming machines with a debit card. Permitting cashless in a targeted way, for example allowing debit cards to be used to pay for particular types of gaming machines or machines in certain types of venues, would not provide clarity on the principles and player protections required within a cashless framework. Over this same period, the weighted average weekly income from gaming machines for Landlord & Tenant pubs fell from around £215 to approximately £190, whilst for Managed pubs this fell from around £230 to approximately £180.
The consultation asked the following questions on licence fees. We would expect operators to inform the Commission that they are intending to move onto the expanded regime as these changes will have a material impact on an operator’s business. Operators moving onto the new regime would almost certainly result in a material change to the layout of the premises.
The UK Gambling Commission requires operators to contribute financially to organisations focused on research, prevention, and treatment of gambling-related harm. The list of operators and personal licence holders who have had a regulatory sanction imposed on them is published on the site of the Gambling Commission. They also collaborate with other UK organisations and the police in cases where suspicious betting or gambling activities are detected. The list of responsibilities of the Gambling Commission includes work to ensure that licencees act in accordance with the requirements imposed by the Gambling Act 2005 and other related regulations and standards. Previously, an operator in one of the whitelisted gambling jurisdictions could advertise their services in Great Britain without requiring a separate licence from the Commission.
These are aimed at making sure all gambling is safe and fair, with the UK Gambling Commission overseeing all gambling activities within the UK. Here, you can use their search feature to look up the casino by name. First thing to do is to check the casino’s footer for the UKGC logo. This allows us to give you a balanced and transparent overview of each casino. The ratings are based on comprehensive UK casino reviews carried out by Bojoko’s casino experts. It offers games, ranging from slots to table games and live casino, from over 50 game suppliers.
It also ensures that operators meet certain standards for fairness, integrity, and transparency, issuing licenses to operators who meet these requirements. The Gambling Commission of Great Britain is the primary regulator of the UK gambling industry. To help you navigate the UK’s constantly changing regulatory environment, we’ve prepared a complete guide to UK gambling rules.
The government proposes that account verification should be required on each transaction, in line with the majority of responses to these questions. A response from an advocacy organisation opposed the introduction of direct debit card payments on the basis that there is evidence that cashless payments result in increased and unplanned spending when compared to cash. One betting shop operator was concerned that allowing direct debit card payments would minimise the interactions a customer has with betting shop staff as their current customer journey requires a certain level of interaction with a staff member. They stated that it would be an unnecessary and disproportionate burden for a low stake and low prize machine. Over 70% of responses also agreed that card account verification should be required on each transaction. The Commission will consult further on minimum transaction times, limit setting functionality, staff alerts, safer gambling messaging and the display of session time and net position.
They also highlighted the importance of card account verification given the potential for stolen debit cards to be used to make direct payments to gambling machines. They also stated that individual gambling businesses should be allowed to decide if they would like to update their systems to provide direct debit card payments as it would be a significant cost to businesses to update all machines to have this functionality. We expect that operators will ensure that Category C and D machines made available to meet the ratio are available for use and have genuine customer appeal. We received some responses which suggested that Option 1 would be preferable to Option 2(a) for ensuring that a genuine offer of Category C and D machines are made available to customers.
We help you find UK licensed casinos, including the latest sites launched with UK Gambling Commissions stamp of approval. This stands for Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and is the UKGC’s framework for online casinos to follow when it comes to the way they operate. If a game developer provides its games to a UK online casino then it must have its own UKGC licence, with software complying to strict standards as well as many required features incorporated into each game.
The arcade sector similarly reported that Option 1 and Option 3 would result in the removal of underused Category C and D machines, whilst Option 2 would have no impact or result in increased numbers of Category C and D gaming machines. This relates primarily to underused Category C and D gaming machines. For example, one large arcade operator projected a 20% increase in the number of Category B gaming machines under Option 1, which corresponded to a projected medium increase in GGY.
Moreover, the current framework does not solve the issue that unless customers actively plan to bring cash to a pub for use on a gaming machine, then they are unlikely to use one. The societal shift towards cashless payments threatens the future of gaming machine GGY. They also noted the cost of refloating machines, which has become more challenging for pubs where cash payments are not taken over the bar.
Industry responses frequently highlighted the commercial pressures placed on their businesses in recent years – as a result of COVID-19 inactivity and rising energy costs – as a central reason for necessitating greater commercial flexibility. The majority of these responses came from respondents who submitted evidence to the original consultation. We also received 16 additional responses to a supplementary consultation which was held specifically to gather further evidence on the reform of the 80/20 rule. A series of key proposals specifically relating to the land-based gambling sector were outlined in the white paper, including measures to adjust outdated regulatory restrictions applying to the sector. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published its gambling white paper in April 2023, which set out the government’s plans for modernising the regulation of the gambling sector.
Read the casinos section of the VOA’s rating manual on GOV.UK (opens in new tab). The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has more information about 1968 Act casinos, including the legal framework. New casinos under the Gambling Act 2005 (opens in new tab) are restricted to the following areas.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates gambling advertising, though LCCP breaches by licence holders are enforced by the Commission itself. The most recent significant RTS update came into effect on 17 January 2025, extending requirements previously applicable only to slots to a wider range of online casino products. The RTS set out the technical requirements for remote gambling systems and gambling software.
