- Uk Online Gambling License Application
- Uk Online Gambling License Cost
- Uk Online Gambling License Renewal
In the UK it is a criminal offence to commercially take bets or offer a betting exchange service if you do not have a Gambling Commission (GC) license.
According to the UK gambling laws, online casinos and sports betting sites that are licensed by the UKGC are often required to provide payers with responsible gaming tools. Aside from that, problem gamblers may use services such as Gamstop to self-exclude themselves from UKGC-licensed casinos. The online sports betting market in the UK is estimated to be worth £650 million which has seen a compounding annual growth rate from 2009–12 of approximately 7%. The total online gambling population in the UK is estimated at 2.1 million customers.
In this article we list bookmakers license numbers from our own recommanded bookies, we explain why gambling licences are needed in the first place, what they mean for operators, how bookmakers get hold of these licences and what happened if they contravene the conditions of the commission. We also discuss gambling law, including the latest Gambling Act 2014 and what this means for both the betting industry and the punter.
Gambling law in the United Kingdom provides some of the most stringent legislation and protections in the world. Gambling licences are in place to protect not only punters from unlicensed operators but also to protect bookmakers and betting operators.
- Gambling Law:
Gambling License Details For Major UK Bookmakers
Name | Location | License Number | Review | Visit |
---|---|---|---|---|
Licence Malta, Location Curacao | 43173 | Read Review | ||
Gibraltar | 39430 | - | ||
Europort, Gibraltar | 39028 | Read Review | ||
St Julian's, Malta | 39091 | - | ||
Europort, Gibraltar | 39584 | Read Review | ||
Atlantic Suites, Gibraltar | 54743 | - | ||
Santa Venera, Malta | 39426 | Read Review | ||
Waterport Place, Gibraltar | 39544 | Read Review | ||
World Trade Center, Gibraltar | 39576 | Read Review | ||
Dundalk, Ireland | 39469 | Read Review | ||
Licenced and Located in Gibraltar | 54743 | Read Review | ||
Gzira, Malta | 39325 | - | ||
Birmingham, UK | 537 | - | ||
Maidenhead, UK | 38750 | - | ||
London, UK | 44448 | - | ||
Based & Licensed In Gibraltar | 54743 | Read Review | ||
Sliema, Malta | 39198 | - | ||
Europort, Gibraltar | 39448 | - | ||
Silema, Malta | 39264 | - | ||
Silema, Malta | 39483 | - | ||
Pieta, Malta | 39170 | Read Review | ||
Douglas, Isle Of Mann | 39440 | - | ||
St. Venera, Malta | 39426 | Read Review | ||
World Trade Center, Gibraltar | 39576 | - | ||
London, UK | 22201 | - | ||
Zug, Switzerland | 45143 | - | ||
Licenced from Zug in Switzerland | 45143 | Read Review | ||
Pieta, Malta | 54498 | Read Review | ||
Vilnius, Lithuania | 39126 | Read Review | ||
Registered Under Platinum Gaming Limited, Gibraltar | 45322 | Read Review | ||
St Julian's, Malta | 44662 | - | ||
Watersport place, Gibraltar | 39225 | Read Review |
Is Gambling Online Legal in the UK?
The simple answer is yes but only under licence. It may surprise many that up until 2005 the industry was unregulated online and until 2014 operators based outside the UK didn't have to have a UK licence. If you gamble with an agent that does not possess a licence they are operating illegally and you risk losing your funds.
Clicking on the licence numbers in the table above and this will take you to that operator's specific gambling commission issued licence. You can also search for licences of operators not in the table. Never gamble with a betting website from within the UK that doesn't have a licence, if you do your funds will have no protection under the law. Mega millions jackpot winners holland casino real money.
What is a Gambling Licence
This is a licence that all gambling providers who are based in or operate in the UK are required to have. This came in to force under the Gambling Act of 2005 and stipulates that anyone wishing to commercially advertise to or transact with customers for the purposes of gambling must carry a licence.
To apply for a licence companies are required to demonstrate they have several protections in place for the prevention of crime and protection of customers.
The Gambling Commission was set up to issue and administer licences. You can check if an operator has a licence by visiting their site. Operators must also display their licence details properly on their website or premises. You will either see a reference for the licence or the full licence number, either can be searched on the commission's website. In the table at the top of this page we list all the licence numbers for bookmakers reviewed on our site. Clicking the number will take you to their individual licence.
Often licences are held by holding companies that then operate several branded gambling entities. Each bookmaker listed on this site have a full UK gambling licence, details of which can be found in the table or in our betting site reviews.
It is quite amazing in a way to think that internet gambling went unregulated until 2005 and in many countries it still is. This is why betting in the UK betting and gaming industry is now one of the safest in the world.
Who Are The Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission was originally set up in 2005 under the previous gambling Act. The body is an independent non-departmental public body that receives funding and support from the UK governments department for culture, media and sport. The commission acts as regulator for all commercial gambling operators including bingo, bookmakers, casinos, gaming arcades, etc. The commission is also responsible for regulating lotteries in the UK including the National Lottery since taking over the responsibilities of the National Lottery Commission in 2013.
The commission employ over 250 people, are based in Birmingham and are largely funded by licence fees paid by bookmakers and other operators. The gambling commission do not cover spread betting and other forms of index betting, this falls under the jurisdiction of the financial conduct authority (FCA).
For more about the UK Gambling Commission read our dedicated guide.
What Do the Gambling Commission Do?
The GC have some principal objectives:
- Crime Prevention – This is both in terms of preventing illegal bookmaking (protecting the punter) and betting fraud from punters (protecting the bookie).
- Promote and Open Industry – This includes promoting honesty about betting operations and gambling including responsible gambling. For example offers, terms and bonuses need to clear and transparent without conflicting or false language.
- Protect Venerable People – Possibly the most important aim of the commission ensure children under the age of 18 and vulnerable people are prevented from gambling. This includes age and identity checking and monitoring. See responsible gambling.
What Don't the Gambling Commission Do?
The commission is there is ensure a safe and responsible industry they will not:
- Mediate Customer Complaints – Operators must have their own systems in place to properly handle complaints. If you want to escalate a complaint you can use the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) service. Read our complaints article for more.
- Legal Advice – They will not give advice but they will give general information pertaining to the Gambling Act or any relevant legislation.
- Check Every Gambling Website – Whilst it is the law that operators need to possess a licence to operate in the UK it is up to you to check there is a licence in place before you gamble.
How Do The Gambling Commission Regulate?
The commission is limited in its scope and resources so they will always attempt to mediate disputes and will only take legal action in cases that present the greatest risks to the licensing objectives.
If operators fail to comply with the Licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) then the commission will step in. If you feel you know of an operator who are not meeting the LCCP you can report them anonymously to the commission.
In rare events where illegal activity is serious enough the GC has the power to revoke licences and issue legal action against operators. All major legal action and information is published on their website.
In general the GC are seen as a body that are trying to work with bookmakers and other gambling agents to ensure a safe industry rather than being an enforcement agency.
Gambling Law and Legislation in the UK
There are specific laws on all aspects of commercial gambling from prizes and games run in public houses to gaming machines, remote operators and fees and duty charges.
For a full list of all gambling legislation see the commissions own gambling related legislation page.
Gambling Act 2005
The act of 2005 was brought in to give the UK government greater means of regulating a diverse gambling industry. This was the first major piece of legislation since the Betting and Gaming Act 1960. In fact it legislated the creation of the Gambling Commission itself as an independent body to enforce and regulate the contents of the Act.
The country had reached a point where gaming needed renewed legislation with the new millennium seeing a glut of new ways to gamble from fixed odds terminals in shops, new lottery games and more advanced gaming arcades. The act was also brought in to also regulate online betting for the first time.
Basically the 2005 gambling act is designed to enforce the principal objectives of the gambling commission described above with specific legislation such as fee limits, payout limits etc., for individual aspects (such as how much a fruit machine in a pub can pay out).
Gambling Bill 2014
The 2014 Gambling (Licencing and Advertising) Bill is effectively an add-on to the 2005 legislation. This is more encompassing and more focused towards online and remote betting to ensure all gambling companies that operate in the UK fall under the law and the GC, wherever they are actually bases. This makes it easier to define what gambling is and whether a company and its advertisers are permitted to operate in Great Britain.
One important aspect of the 2014 act is to ensure that off shore operators are also required to have a UK gambling licence to advertise in the UK. As most online bookmakers are based in the likes of Gibraltar or Malta this was a critical piece of legislation. It also entitled the government to a 15% tax on gross profits earned in the UK.
History of UK Gambling Law
Gambling and betting through history has courted much attention. It has been banned or restricted several times by various monarchs and the republican Oliver Cromwell, who banned most sports and betting with his puritan ways. In 1541 the Unlawful Games Act was enacted by the parliament of England and was designed to restrict several new games. The idea at the time was new games and sports were causing the death of archery as young adolescents became distracted by newer ventures.
The 1541 act didn't necessarily restrict gambling directly but did so by proxy in banning the sports and games occurring in the first place. It took however until 1845 for the British establishment to issue binding legislation on gambling in the Gaming Act of 1845.
The gaming act was actually designed to discourage betting. It made a bet unenforceable as a contract under law and therefore an illegal action. Basically meaning if you bet it is illegal under law and you do so at your own risk meaning someone could walk off with your cash. This wasn't actually rescinded until 2001 and needless to say it didn't really stop people gambling.
The 1892 Gaming Act created an exception for the Totalisator (tote) board. This allowed on track betting at race courses in Great Britain but betting and gambling off course was still illegal up until 1960 (with the exception of the football pools) The 1960 Act saw the final repeal of the 1845 gaming act.
Up until 1960 it was however legal to place bets by post or over the telephone. Many bookmakers got around this by employing 'runners' that would take bets from a public phone to the bookmaker. Mr William Hill is a famous early bookie who did what he could to circumvent these laws.
The Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 famously removed the restriction on offsite betting and led to the opening of the first betting shops in 1961. Many cite this as the beginning of the end for greyhound racing and some smaller horse racing meetings in particular.
This worked well enough until the end of the 20th Century, however new forms of betting such as gaming machines and critically the internet meant that new legislation was needed. This was seen in the form of the 2005 Act and 2014 Bill.
Customer Complaints & Protection
The objectives of the the UK government, the gambling commission and bookmakers is to generally protect customers by creating a safe, fair and open environment. The gambling commission will not however mediate individual customer complaints over disputed funds.
You can however report gambling operators (either online or physical) if you think they are contravening the gambling code and putting people at risk. If you think you have been mislead by advertising you are better off contacting the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).
For information on IBAS, the body that mediates disputes between bookmakers and customers, read our IBAS page or for more general dispute advice read our how to make a complaint to a bookmaker article. Can i use ddr2 in ddr slot.
Responsible Gambling
A core objective of the GC is to ensure all operators actively promote responsible gambling. See our article for all features and information relating to responsible gambling.
Welcome to the most trusted UK gambling resource online. We created this
website because we were tired of visiting gambling sites packed with flashing
ads and banners which offered nothing but rubbish and no real
value. We decided to create a list of the best UK gambling sites, but also
provide lots of useful, educational material on betting, casino games,
strategies, and the latest sports betting tips.
How are we able to provide such excellent content? That's down to our team.
We have specialists in each and every area, including sports savants, betting
pros, casino enthusiasts, and semi-pro poker players. The difference between us
and our competitors is down to real-world experience. We're not
a few university students who put together a football blog and added a few
banners on the page. We've used only the best online gambling sites for decades,
so it's safe to say we know what we're doing.
Rank | DE Gambling Site | Deposit Bonus | Products | Get Started |
#1 | 100% Up To €250 |
| Visit Site | |
#2 | Europa Casino | 200% Up To €500 |
| Visit Site |
#3 | 100% Up To €400 |
| Visit Site | |
#4 | 22Bet | 100% Up To €300 |
| Visit Site |
#5 | 100% Up To €400 |
| Visit Site |
UK Gambling Sites by Region
The United Kingdom may be four countries operating as one political union, but many gambling sites ignore the differences between them. For example, if you ask an Englishman to name the top UK bookmakers, you're likely to get different answers than if you ask a punter from Northern Ireland.
We understand these differences, and that's why we've categorized these UK gambling sites by region. Our chief editor has hand-picked the best betting sites for English, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish gamblers. These sites offer sports betting, casino games, poker, and bingo. Go ahead and click your country to view the best gambling sites it has to offer.
The country had reached a point where gaming needed renewed legislation with the new millennium seeing a glut of new ways to gamble from fixed odds terminals in shops, new lottery games and more advanced gaming arcades. The act was also brought in to also regulate online betting for the first time.
Basically the 2005 gambling act is designed to enforce the principal objectives of the gambling commission described above with specific legislation such as fee limits, payout limits etc., for individual aspects (such as how much a fruit machine in a pub can pay out).
Gambling Bill 2014
The 2014 Gambling (Licencing and Advertising) Bill is effectively an add-on to the 2005 legislation. This is more encompassing and more focused towards online and remote betting to ensure all gambling companies that operate in the UK fall under the law and the GC, wherever they are actually bases. This makes it easier to define what gambling is and whether a company and its advertisers are permitted to operate in Great Britain.
One important aspect of the 2014 act is to ensure that off shore operators are also required to have a UK gambling licence to advertise in the UK. As most online bookmakers are based in the likes of Gibraltar or Malta this was a critical piece of legislation. It also entitled the government to a 15% tax on gross profits earned in the UK.
History of UK Gambling Law
Gambling and betting through history has courted much attention. It has been banned or restricted several times by various monarchs and the republican Oliver Cromwell, who banned most sports and betting with his puritan ways. In 1541 the Unlawful Games Act was enacted by the parliament of England and was designed to restrict several new games. The idea at the time was new games and sports were causing the death of archery as young adolescents became distracted by newer ventures.
The 1541 act didn't necessarily restrict gambling directly but did so by proxy in banning the sports and games occurring in the first place. It took however until 1845 for the British establishment to issue binding legislation on gambling in the Gaming Act of 1845.
The gaming act was actually designed to discourage betting. It made a bet unenforceable as a contract under law and therefore an illegal action. Basically meaning if you bet it is illegal under law and you do so at your own risk meaning someone could walk off with your cash. This wasn't actually rescinded until 2001 and needless to say it didn't really stop people gambling.
The 1892 Gaming Act created an exception for the Totalisator (tote) board. This allowed on track betting at race courses in Great Britain but betting and gambling off course was still illegal up until 1960 (with the exception of the football pools) The 1960 Act saw the final repeal of the 1845 gaming act.
Up until 1960 it was however legal to place bets by post or over the telephone. Many bookmakers got around this by employing 'runners' that would take bets from a public phone to the bookmaker. Mr William Hill is a famous early bookie who did what he could to circumvent these laws.
The Betting and Gaming Act of 1960 famously removed the restriction on offsite betting and led to the opening of the first betting shops in 1961. Many cite this as the beginning of the end for greyhound racing and some smaller horse racing meetings in particular.
This worked well enough until the end of the 20th Century, however new forms of betting such as gaming machines and critically the internet meant that new legislation was needed. This was seen in the form of the 2005 Act and 2014 Bill.
Customer Complaints & Protection
The objectives of the the UK government, the gambling commission and bookmakers is to generally protect customers by creating a safe, fair and open environment. The gambling commission will not however mediate individual customer complaints over disputed funds.
You can however report gambling operators (either online or physical) if you think they are contravening the gambling code and putting people at risk. If you think you have been mislead by advertising you are better off contacting the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).
For information on IBAS, the body that mediates disputes between bookmakers and customers, read our IBAS page or for more general dispute advice read our how to make a complaint to a bookmaker article. Can i use ddr2 in ddr slot.
Responsible Gambling
A core objective of the GC is to ensure all operators actively promote responsible gambling. See our article for all features and information relating to responsible gambling.
Welcome to the most trusted UK gambling resource online. We created this
website because we were tired of visiting gambling sites packed with flashing
ads and banners which offered nothing but rubbish and no real
value. We decided to create a list of the best UK gambling sites, but also
provide lots of useful, educational material on betting, casino games,
strategies, and the latest sports betting tips.
How are we able to provide such excellent content? That's down to our team.
We have specialists in each and every area, including sports savants, betting
pros, casino enthusiasts, and semi-pro poker players. The difference between us
and our competitors is down to real-world experience. We're not
a few university students who put together a football blog and added a few
banners on the page. We've used only the best online gambling sites for decades,
so it's safe to say we know what we're doing.
Rank | DE Gambling Site | Deposit Bonus | Products | Get Started |
#1 | 100% Up To €250 |
| Visit Site | |
#2 | Europa Casino | 200% Up To €500 |
| Visit Site |
#3 | 100% Up To €400 |
| Visit Site | |
#4 | 22Bet | 100% Up To €300 |
| Visit Site |
#5 | 100% Up To €400 |
| Visit Site |
UK Gambling Sites by Region
The United Kingdom may be four countries operating as one political union, but many gambling sites ignore the differences between them. For example, if you ask an Englishman to name the top UK bookmakers, you're likely to get different answers than if you ask a punter from Northern Ireland.
We understand these differences, and that's why we've categorized these UK gambling sites by region. Our chief editor has hand-picked the best betting sites for English, Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish gamblers. These sites offer sports betting, casino games, poker, and bingo. Go ahead and click your country to view the best gambling sites it has to offer.
As you'll see, there's no shortage of world-class bookmakers to choose from. That's no surprise. UK punters spent approximately £14.4 billion on gambling online in 2018 alone. The best gambling operators in the world are in the online market because they want a piece of that pie!
Uk Online Gambling License Application
Online Gambling Laws in the United Kingdom
One of the best things about the UK gambling industry is that it's legal,
regulated and controlled. This leads to a cleaner, safer gambling industry which
generates billions in tax revenue.
While there is some variation in land-based UK gambling laws (for example,
casinos are illegal in Northern Ireland), online gambling is a different story.
Online gambling in the UK is regulated by the
Gambling Act
(2005). The regulator is the UK Gambling Commission. This is one of the
strictest regulators in the world, and if a bookie wants to offer legal
services to its players, it needs to have a UKGC license.
Any of the UK gambling sites with this license can be trusted. The UKGC
regularly tests games, fines operators, and constantly pressures gambling
operators to mitigate and eliminate problem gambling. They've publicly
humiliated some of the biggest gambling operators and have fined them tens of
millions on multiple occasions.
What does this mean for you as a player? That you have a legally regulated
gambling environment which puts players' interests first. Once again, the UK
leads the way when it comes to how online gambling should be done. While other
national gambling industries may be crime-ridden and full of shady operators,
the United Kingdom has virtually eliminated all of that by legalizing, regulating, and
taxing all types of gambling online.
How to Choose a Gambling Website
Even if you're a first-time gambler, you probably already know what you're looking for. You may
want to bet on your favourite football team, or perhaps you want to play a
progressive jackpot slot. Either way, the best gambling sites will have what
you're looking for. Keep in mind, most online gambling websites specialize in one or
two areas and offer everything else as a secondary service. Choose the site
which focuses on the type of gambling you most want to engage in.
You'd be surprised by
which UK betting sites treat players unfairly. Some of them are household names,
and unsuspecting new punters blindly trust them on brand power alone. We don't
recommend taking anything at face value. Do your own research, starting with our
unbaised reviews, and find legit online gambling sites that pay on time.
They should also honour all bets, and shouldn't slash your jackpots with
extortionate withdrawal fees.
Something you have to understand is that our
ratings are based on what's right for all of our readers combined. The best
site, on the whole, might not be the best gambling site for you as an individual. For
example, a UK betting site might get five stars from us because it offers a huge
selection of betting markets across lots of sports, but it might have a weak
esports section. That's no good to you if you're primarily interested in betting
on esports, right? The best thing you can do is visit the sites for
yourself and take a look around.
While our team reviews and ranks the websites you see listed here, we consider player feedback,
too. We've delisted more than one UK gambling website because of a number of
player complaints. We do in-depth research, but we can't catch every little
thing, so we'd really appreciate it if you took the time to let us know what you
think about the gambling websites you've tried. Don't forget to contact us and tell us about
the positive experiences as well as the negative!
Top UK Bookmakers
While American sports have made inroads into UK culture in recent years, they
still don't come close in a popularity contest against the good old-fashioned
classics like football, rugby, tennis, snooker, and darts. Naturally, the best
UK betting sites focus on these.
little wonder that the UK population is mad about betting on them. There are
over 8,400 betting shops in the UK, and if you sit down and watch any one of
them for 10 minutes, you'll notice that many of the punters walking through
their doors are wearing club jerseys. But don't forget about the online punters!
There are plenty of online football betting sites to choose from, and we've reviewed tons of them!
Check out the best UK football betting
sites here.
the whole world are on the UK while it happens. It's estimated that over half of
the UK population tuned in to watch Andy Murray play in the 2010 semi-final. The
UK is tennis-mad, and you can find the best UK tennis betting sites and some
great betting tips and tennis info in this section.
Uk Online Gambling License Cost
in the world hail from a given country. When it comes to rugby, the UK has some
of the best teams and players on the planet. England, Wales, and Scotland all
have national teams they can be proud of. To learn more about betting on rugby
at UK gambling sites, as well as learn useful tips about betting on 'the
gentleman's sport', check out this section.
and come out unbruised. While other UK countries don't quite have the same
firepower, cricket is universally loved across the country, and rightly so. You
might be surprised by some of the betting opportunities which cricket presents.
Learn more about betting on cricket and the top UK gambling sites which offer it
here.
Colin Montgomerie, to Ian Woosnam out of Wales, the UK has produced its fair
share of golfing legends. That's probably why there are so many golf betting
sites! Learn about betting on golf and where to do so here.
Uk Online Gambling License Renewal
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