Non UK Casinos

Players in the UK are protected by law under regulations enforced by the UK Gambling Commission. But these protections only apply to casinos with a valid UK Gambling Commission licence. You can find all the UKGC-licensed casinos here.

The best way to make sure you can avoid a non-UK casino is to know which casinos are licensed and which are not. This page outlines the non-UK operators to avoid to make sure you are safe and protected when gambling online.

Non UK Casino Networks

**Warning for UK Players —Do not play at any casinos owned by these companies, they are not regulated by UK law***

This page is for information purposes only so that players in the UK can be better educated on what casinos to avoid. We do not recommend or endorse these companies or the casinos that they operate in any way.

Non UKGC Casinos FAQ

What is a non-UKGC casino?

Simply put, it’s an online casino that doesn’t hold a valid licence issued by the UK Gambling Commission. There are many other iGaming regulators and licensees in the world, but the UK Gambling Commission licence is the only one that offers protection to players who live in the UK. All of the casino network companies we’ve identified above operate without a UK Gambling Commission licence. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re doing anything wrong – it just means that their casinos aren’t considered safe for UK players because they haven’t demonstrated compliance with UK rules.

Can an online casino operate without a licence?

In an ideal world, they wouldn’t. We don’t live in an ideal world, though, so plenty of them do. If a casino operates without a licence, there’s nobody to contact or complain to if you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly at an online casino. If you make a complaint and the casino rejects it, that’s the end of the story – there’s nowhere else to go. The casino can confiscate your money or refuse to pay out a win; there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll mostly find unlicensed casinos outside the UK, further exacerbating the risk of playing at them. If they steal your money, they’re not just outside the jurisdiction of the UK Gambling Commission – they’re outside the jurisdiction of the police.

What if the casino has another licence?

No other licence is considered valid for players in the UK. That’s not because we think that the regulators aren’t doing their jobs or there’s anything wrong with the licences – it’s a simple matter of law. The Malta Gaming Authority, for example, issues a licence that’s known to be robust and is considered sufficient for market access all over Europe, but it’s not good enough for casinos that want to operate in the UK. There are perhaps a dozen or more regulators and licenses out there, from Curacao eGaming to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada, all of which are primarily focused on their local territories. It’s not the job of an international regulator to protect you as a UK player – that’s exactly what the UK Gambling Commission is for and why the UK licence exists.

Will I get in trouble if I play at a casino without a UKGC licence?

Technically speaking, you’re not breaking the law by playing at a casino that doesn’t have a UKGC licence. It’s the casino that’s breaking the law by allowing you to play without a licence. Nobody’s going to come knocking at your door because you’re playing at an international, unlicensed casino site, but that doesn’t make it OK. For all the reasons we’ve outlined above, playing at an unlicensed casino exposes you to an unacceptable amount of risk and leaves you without protection. You might not get in trouble with the police, but you could easily find yourself in financial jeopardy if you’ve shared your financial details with a rogue casino.

What are the risks of playing at a non-UK casino?

We’ve covered this above to some degree, but let’s be specific. The biggest risk is to your money. A casino that doesn’t have a UK Gambling Commission licence can effectively do as it pleases with UK-based players. If it decides to keep your deposit and close your account, it can do that without recourse. If it wants to turn down your withdrawal, it can do that, too. It can ignore your complaint and even block you from contacting the casino any further. In extreme cases, we’ve heard of rogue casinos stealing the identities of players who’ve sent them ID information or making unauthorised debits from bank accounts. A rogue, unlicensed casino might vanish overnight with your money inside it, and if it does, you’ll never see that money again. The risks, as we’re sure you’ll agree, simply aren’t worth taking.

How can I tell whether a casino has a UK Gambling Commission licence or not?

The short answer is that if it’s operated by one of the companies we’ve outlined above, it doesn’t have a UK Gambling Commission licence, and you should leave it alone. If you’re not sure, check the UK Gambling Commission website. There, you can search for casinos both by name and by operator. If you’ve searched the UKGC website and nothing comes up for the casino you’re looking at, you can be sure that it’s operating without a licence. A properly licensed casino should always state its UKGC licence number somewhere on its website – usually somewhere close to the bottom of its homepage. Most of them also feature the UKGC’s logo, so familiarise yourself with that.

What’s the difference between the UKGC and GamStop?

The UK Gambling Commission is a regulator. Its job is to make sure it’s safe for you to play at casino websites in the UK by taking action against casinos that don’t follow the rules. GamStop is not a regulator. GamStop is a self-exclusion service that helps players to stop when they feel like their gambling is becoming problematic. When players exclude themselves via GamStop, the exclusion applies to every UKGC-registered casino and betting site. Since 2020, it’s been a requirement of the UK Gambling Commission licence that any casino covered by such a licence has to recognise GamStop and follow its restrictions. Accepting a player who’s self-excluded via GamStop is a specific offence under the terms of the UKGC. Unlicensed or non-UKGC casinos don’t recognise GamStop or enforce self-exclusions registered through the service, which is yet another reason why you should consider them unsafe.

Is a non-UK casino the same as a non-GamStop casino?

In real terms, yes. GamStop is a UK-specific service, so casinos that are outside the UK or don’t have a UK Gambling Commission licence have no reason to acknowledge the existence of GamStop or any exclusion that it enforces. Given that it’s now a condition of the UK Gambling Commission licence to recognise GamStop self-exclusions, it’s impossible to be a UK casino without recognising GamStop. Therefore, the reverse is also true – a non-UK casino is, by default, a non-GamStop casino.