How to Check if a Gambling Site Is Licensed

A gambling licence is the foundation of almost every consumer protection you have: fair and tested games, protected identity checks, safer-gambling tools, a complaints procedure and someone with the power to sanction the operator. But claiming a licence costs nothing. Verifying one takes a few minutes, and it is the single most useful safety check you can make before depositing money.

Step 1: Find out which regulator matters for you

Licensing is national (or, in the United States and Canada, state or provincial). The licence that protects you is generally the one issued by the authority where you live. Examples include:

Country	Regulator	What to look for
Great Britain	Gambling Commission	Public register of licensees
Ireland	Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland	New regime being phased in; check current status
Netherlands	Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa)	Register of licence holders
Germany	Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL)	Official “whitelist” of permitted operators
Sweden	Spelinspektionen	Licence register
Italy	Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM)	List of authorised online operators
France	Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ)	List of approved operators
Malta	Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)	Licensee register

Our regulation hub has a profile for each country, including the regulator and how its licensing model works, for example the United Kingdom. If your country runs a monopoly, only the designated operator may be legal at all; see gambling licensing models.

Step 2: Find the licence details on the website

Look in the footer, the terms and conditions and the “about us” page. You are looking for:

• The name of the company that operates the site.
• The regulator that issued the licence.
• The licence or account number.
• The company’s registered address.

A legitimate operator states these clearly. Vague phrases such as “licensed and regulated” with no regulator named, or a number with no company name, are red flags.

Step 3: Search the regulator’s register yourself

This is the crucial step. Do not rely on a link in the website footer, as it could lead to a lookalike page. Instead, go to the regulator’s official website by typing its address yourself or searching for it, then use the public register or licence search.

When you find the entry, check:

1. Status. Is the licence active? Registers may show licences as suspended, revoked, surrendered or expired.
2. Licence type. Does it cover the product you want to use? A betting licence does not necessarily cover casino games.
3. Domains. Many registers, including the British one, list the websites (domains) operated under each licence. The exact address you are using should appear. Criminals sometimes copy a genuine operator’s licence number onto a cloned site.
4. Company name and address should match what the website states.
5. Regulatory action. Some registers record sanctions, fines or conditions, which can tell you a lot.

Step 4: Check that the licence covers your country

A site may hold a genuine licence from one jurisdiction while illegally targeting players in another. For example, an operator licensed only in Curaçao or Anjouan is not licensed to serve players in the Netherlands, Germany or Great Britain, where a local licence is required. If something goes wrong, your home regulator may be unable to help, and the issuing regulator may have limited reach.

Curaçao’s regime changed under the National Ordinance on Games of Chance (known by its Dutch initials, LOK), which entered into force on 24 December 2024 and moved licensing to the Curaçao Gaming Authority, which publishes a licence register. Even a valid Curaçao licence, however, does not make a site legal in markets that require local licensing.

Step 5: Look for what licensed sites must do

Operators in well-regulated markets typically must:

• Verify your age and identity, usually before you can gamble.
• Offer deposit limits, reality checks, time-outs and self-exclusion, and connect to any national self-exclusion scheme.
• Publish a complaints procedure and name an independent dispute-resolution body.
• Explain how customer funds are protected if the business fails.
• Display responsible-gambling information and helpline details.

Absence of these features does not prove a site is unlicensed, but presence of all of them is reassuring.

Warning signs that should stop you

• No licence information, or a licence you cannot find on any register.
• A register entry that does not list the domain you are on.
• Acceptance of players from a country where a local licence is required, without one.
• No connection to your national self-exclusion scheme, or claims of being “not on” it as a selling point.
• Pressure to deposit using cryptocurrency, vouchers or transfers to personal accounts.
• Terms that allow the operator to void winnings at its “sole discretion”.

Our companion guide on spotting unlicensed and black-market operators covers these in depth.

Why it is worth the five minutes

If a licensed operator treats you unfairly, you have routes to redress: the operator’s complaints process, an independent dispute-resolution body and a regulator with enforcement powers. With an unlicensed operator, you may have none of these. A quick register check before you sign up is far easier than trying to recover money afterwards; see how to file a complaint.