Chile to speed up proposals to regulate online gambling

Games and Providers the Best Online Casinos UK Must Have

To be included in our UK online casinos list, an online operator must be very generous in choosing the categories of casino games from a range of reliable providers.

Online gambling is any form of gambling that is done via the internet, it could be on a computer or any internet enabled device, online gambling includes, sports betting, poker and casinos.

The first online casino was opened in 1994 when Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade and Processing Actwhich granted licences to corporations who applies to open an online casino.

The importance to update the UK gambling laws was raised in 2003 by Tessa Jowell who was then Culture Secretary. She was of the opinion that gambling regulations should be updated to keep the same pace as technology, this led to the creation of the UK Gambling Commission.

The UK Gambling Commission was created under the gambling act of 2005 to regulate gambling on behalf of the Department for Media Culture and Sports and it main objectives are to;

• Ensure that there are no links between crime and gambling
• Ensure that gambling is conducted fairly and openly
• Protect children and any vulnerable persons from harm or exploitation.

The commission was additionally created to bring the growing online gambling industry under the regulation of the British government.

A major responsibility of the commission is to form licencing procedures for gambling sites located in the UK and these companies in turn pay licencing fees and taxes so as to be allowed to continue operation. Any business looking to go into online gambling is first required to obtain a licence from the UK Gambling Commission; there are several types of licenses issued depending on the form of gambling intended. A business may require all or some of the following types of licences;

• An operating license,
• A personal management licence and
• A personal function licence.

These licences are issued to businesses looking to start any form of online or offline gambling like; arcades, betting, bingo, casinos (offline and top online casinos). The commission further charges an annual fee to licence holders to ensure the continuous validity of their licences. The commission does this to contribute to the achievement of its objectives.

Another way the UK Gambling Commission regulates the industry is through taxes. The UK gambling industry is an immensely viable and profitable one and because players and winners do not pay taxes on their winning in the UK, the casinos are taxed. Under the 2014 amendment to the 2005 Gambling Act, casinos are to pay 15% point of consumption tax on all gross profit; this means all gambling companies including those operating outside the UK but with players in the UK are taxed on profits earned from the UK players. A failure to do this means withdrawal of the licence or inability to obtain one.

The commission has also introduced several regulations and safety measures to protect the interest of players and has also introduced regulations to make sure online casinos follow the data protection and cyber security standards before they are issued a licence. All these makes the UK online gambling community safer.

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Simon’s Guide to United Kingdom Gambling & Online Betting Sites

by Simon | Online gambling, Online Gambling UK, UK Internet Gambling and Betting Websites | 4 comments

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Gambling Guide

Summary: Gambling is legal in the United Kingdom of Great Britain since 1928 (officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, UK for short, an ex member of the EU, Europe’s second biggest economy, with a population of 67 million, and has very strict gambling laws). Online gambling is legal in the United Kingdom since 2005. This guide also contains information about Northern Ireland and the crown dependencies. You can find a list of online gambling websites, which accept players from the UK by scrolling below, or click here to jump to that list: Online gambling websites, which accept players from the UK and Northern Ireland

History of Gambling in the UK - click to expand

Roman Times and Anglo-Saxon Britain: There are no written records of gambling from Roman or Anglo-Saxon Britain. However, dice, tabula (an early form of backgammon) and the Roman board game Ludus Latrunculorum were found in graves, which many theorize could have been used for gambling as well. Although, we do not know for sure.

Middle ages: Gambling was widespread in Britain during the middle ages. It was a popular pastime in inns and taverns, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence from the era1.

However, it was mostly an activity associated with the lower classes (who at the time could not read or write, and left little trace of their lives). Therefore, the first official written evidence is from 1539.

/Comment: If you are interested in gambling in Britain during the middle ages and prior to the 19th century check out the following book from the Public Library of the UK. Most info here is from this freely accessible fantastic book from 1898./

1539: Gambling was made illegal with the 1541 Unlawful Games Act2 (officially the An Act for the Maintenance of Artillery and the Debarring of Unlawful Games), which made all forms of gambling illegal. However, this was widely ignored.

1566 – 1826: Despite the ban, Queen Elizabeth I. launched England’s first national public lottery in 1566 to collect funds (unsuccessfully). And lottery continued to pop up until 1826, when it was finally banned.

1928: The Racecourse Betting Act regulated horse racing betting, which was the first form of gambling to be legalized in the UK.

1934: This was followed by the 1934 Betting and Lotteries Act, which legalized lotteries and greyhound racing betting.

1960: The 1960 Betting and Gaming Act legalized casino gambling, poker, bingo and off-course betting.

1994: The date of the creation of the UK National Lottery.

2005: The 2005 Gambling Act was a comprehensive reworking of the gambling legislation, in compliance with EU gambling directives, and it is the start of the modern gambling era in the UK. It also legalized online gambling.

2014: An overhaul of the online gambling regulations in line with EU laws with the introduction of the Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Bill. This fully liberalized but also strictly regulated the UK online gambling sector and made it EU compliant (among the first countries of Western Europe to become EU compliant).

This is widely believed to be the turning point, when the gambling regulations became very strict, pro-player.

/Comment: Many businesses closed down or were driven out of the British gambling sector as a result of the ever-increasing requirements and very high standards, only the really big gambling companies can meet the requirements set by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain. This led to considerable consolidation in the UK online gambling segment./

2020: Brexit. This is an ongoing phenomena, the effects of Brexit on the UK gambling sector are still not yet fully clear. It seems like it will impact the online gambling sector the most, but players will not notice much, it will be mostly behind the scenes.

You can read more about the effects of Brexit on the UK online gambling sector here: EuropeanGaming – How will Brexit affect online gambling in the UK?

You can also watch this short documentary about the history of games of chance and betting in the UK to learn more about the topic:

Gambling is legal in the UK, since 1928 (England + Scotland + North Ireland), according to the 2005 Gambling Act3 and its amendments, which is the main piece of the British gambling legislation currently.

Gambling is legal in Northern Ireland since 1921, according to the 1985 Betting, Gaming, Lotteries & Amusements Order4, which is the main piece of the gambling legislation in Northern Ireland.

Sadly, gambling regulation in not unified within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, we have to discuss the legal status of games of chance and internet betting separately in Great Britain (England + Wales + Scotland, same laws apply) and Northern Ireland, and in the three British Crown Dependencies.

Here is short summary of the legal status of the various forms of land-based gambling in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the crown dependencies:

Territory:	Casino gambling:	Bingo:	Poker:	Sports betting:	Lottery:	Cryptocurrency wagering:
England	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the UK National Lottery, except “society lotteries”	legal
Wales	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the UK National Lottery, except “society lotteries”	legal
Scotland	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the UK National Lottery, except “society lotteries”	legal
Northern Ireland	casinos are illegal, but slot halls are legal, they are just called bingo clubs	legal	illegal	legal	monopoly of the The National Lottery Community (a subsidiary of the UK National Lottery) Fund, except “society lotteries”	not regulated
Isle of Man	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the Manx Lottery Trust (a subsidiary of the UK National Lottery), except “society lotteries”	legal
Bailiwick of Guernsey	legal, non-profit only	legal, non-profit only	legal, non-profit only	legal	monopoly of the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery, except charity	legal
Bailiwick of Jersey	legal, non-profit only	legal, non-profit only	legal, non-profit only	legal	monopoly of the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery, except charity	legal

Online gambling is also legal in the UK since 2005.

Online gambling is not yet regulated in Northern Ireland (with the exception of online lottery, which is legal).

Here is short summary of the legal status of various forms of online gambling in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the crown dependencies:

Territory:	Online casino gambling:	Online bingo:	Online poker:	Online sports betting:	Online lottery:	Cryptocurrency wagering:
England	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the UK National Lottery, except “society lotteries”	legal
Wales	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the UK National Lottery, except “society lotteries”	legal
Scotland	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the UK National Lottery, except “society lotteries”	legal
Northern Ireland	not regulated	not regulated	not regulated	not regulated	monopoly of the The National Lottery Community Fund (a subsidiary of the UK National Lottery), except “society lotteries”	not regulated
Isle of Man	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the Manx Lottery Trust (a subsidiary of the UK National Lottery)	legal
Bailiwick of Guernsey	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery	legal
Bailiwick of Jersey	legal	legal	legal	legal	monopoly of the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery	legal

UK and EU gambling laws: The UK has left the EU, therefore the EU gambling laws (Article 56 TFEU and Article 8 of Directive 98/34/EC) does not apply to the UK anymore. However, the United Kingdom remains very much integrated into the European Economic Area, which strongly effect the developments in the gambling sector, regardless of the Brexit.

UK online gambling

Great Britain (England + Wales + Scotland, does not include Northern Ireland): Gambling and online gambling are legal and well regulated in Great Britain.

Operators require a licence and the gambling laws are very strict.

Online gambling laws in Great Britain went through a comprehensive overhaul in 2014 with the enactment of the Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Bill4, which was signed into law in 2014 July.

The 2014 bill introduced new stricter standards for online gambling operators within the UK. This resulted in very strict laws, but they opened up the online gambling sector for private operators, in compliance with the EU directives. This allowed the authorities to block and prosecute unlicensed offshore online gambling companies.

Prior to the 2014 changes foreign online gambling operators (due to various EU laws restricting them) could accept players from the country without a licence or paying taxes.

This was a golden age for the unlicensed offshore operators, and it made many online gambling companies very rich (and the government missed out on a significant amount of taxes, these companies were all registered and based in offshore tax havens and they didn’t pay any taxes in the UK, many of them reportedly had ties to organized crime groups).

/Comment: It might appear very strange that they allowed these rouge internet gambling companies to operate for so long, but the truth is, their hands were tied. Because of the EU they couldn’t properly block or prosecute these unscrupulous companies./

The same gambling laws apply to England, Wales and Scotland, there are no differences. And because of this I will not analyze them separately in the breakdown below, I will only refer to them as Great Britain from now on.

Northern Ireland gambling

Northern Ireland: Gambling is legal but the whole system is outdated, online gambling is not mentioned at all.

Northern Ireland’s Betting, Gaming, Lotteries & Amusements Order is from 1985 (and it itself is based on a much older piece of legislation from the UK, the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act from 1963) and it hasn’t been updated recently. It’s based on the UK system, just worse, in every way.

The 1985 Order regulates betting on tracks and in bookmaking offices, gaming, including the use, supply and maintenance of gaming machines, small scale amusements with prizes and gaming in bingo clubs, and local lotteries (no mention of casinos or online gambling).

These are the only types of gambling activities that are legal and licensable currently in Northern Ireland.

It’s almost certain that they eventually will just adopt the UK system with small changes (the UK system is pretty good, very strict but pro player). However, the political will to see it through is not there, and there is no set date yet (only rumors, every year, for 10+ years now).

Gambling in the British Crown Dependencies

British Crown Dependencies. Gambling and digital gambling are mostly legal in all of the crown dependencies, although in some of them certain forms of games of chance can only be conducted by non-profits, charities.

UPDATE 2022: The 3 British crown dependencies have received their own pages, you can find them here: Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Bailiwick of Jersey. This should make the guide a little bit less complicated and shorter.

They are on the UK gambling whitelist, and therefore online gambling licenses from these locations are vey much in demand (and they are selective because of this, to not to rouse the ire of the UK government, they are basically offshore tax havens made somewhat more respectable through their association with the UK,, explanation of the UK whitelist can be found below).+EXTRA – Gambling in the British overseas territories: Online and offline gambling are mostly legal in the British overseas territories.

The British territories can legislate for themselves when it comes to gambling. The UK gambling laws do not automatically apply to them.

The overseas territories have their own pages, click on their name to open it:

• Bermuda
• Cayman Islands
• Falkland Islands
• Gibraltar (an offshore online gambling hub)
• Turks and Caicos Islands

/Comment: Certain territories, which have very little or no permanent population do not have their own gambling legislation, the UK gambling laws apply to them in that case. These territories are: British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia./

Safe Banking Options

Payment terms and the player’s funds security depend on the chosen method of conducting banking transactions. Therefore, pay attention to what payment systems the online casino works with.

Mississippi

What are the differences between online and live casinos?

While the core rules of each game have stayed the same, there are still a few differences between your standard brick-and-mortar experience and that found online. When lined up side by side you’ll find that online casinos compare very favorably to their in-person partners.

Top 5 Popular Payment Methods in UK Online Casinos

Debit Cards (Visa, Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro)

Credit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX)

e-Wallets (PayPal, Neteller, Skrill)

Bank Wire

Pay-by-phone

Let us discuss each method in more detail. A common method used to connect your current account to your online casino betting account is debit and credit cards. Debit cards are dynamically linked to your registered bank current account. This allows instant transactions with no additional fees to make deposits. VISA, VISA Electron, MasterCard, and Maestro are the key top debit card providers.

Credit cards, however, can have additional charges for many online casinos. The reason being, funds transferred from your credit card are effectively borrowed from the online casino. The money is not yours, and can, therefore, incur small charge fees for their use. Common credit card providers include VISA, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express and Discover.

E-wallets, such as PayPal, is a common method of deposit due to the extra layer of security they provide. E-wallets combine elements of both prepaid cards and instant payment services. The exact method varies between providers, but e-Wallets mean the provider will simply debit your account and pay on your behalf. Such providers include their own protection policies and fees.

There are offline methods of getting your funds to an online casino too, for those who are still sceptical of submitting their bank information online. Bank Wire allows you to use an online casino’s account details to transfer funds within a branch or via online banking. These funds are not instant and can take up to three working days to clear.

Instant Bank Transfer is another simple method used to transfer cash to an online casino. Simply visit a branch or utilise online banking features for a simple and quick transfer.

Believe it or not, it is also possible to write a cheque to the stated address of an online casino in order to pay any required fees or deposits. This can take several days for UK postcodes, as well as three days for the cheque to clear.

An alternative for those who prefer to speak to a person rather than conduct a faceless transaction is paying by phone bill. Many online casinos have a pay-by-phone bill deposit feature. This payment system is efficient as well as being highly secure.

As for the future, online casinos are always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to make their customer payment processes easier. With Bitcoin becoming a continually relevant topic, new online casinos in UK are currently considering Bitcoin customer payment options. You can find out if your online casino of choice accepts Bitcoin as a method of payment by visiting their website.

Avoid scams

Scams come in many shapes and forms, but one of them deserves particular attention: spoofing. This tactic involves the perpetrators tricking you into believing they are representatives of an online casino or sportsbook. They do this either by e-mail or by setting up a website that looks surprisingly similar to a casino’s official website. The scammers will then offer you a particularly enticing bonus in exchange for making a prompt deposit. If you follow their instructions, you’ll end up sending your money to the crooks instead of the real site.

“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is” – the old maxim is particularly true in the gambling world. Always make sure you are browsing a casino’s official website by double-checking their URL in your browser, and never initiate deposits from outside the casino’s official applications.