The UKGC is the Great Britain Gambling Commission. It was established following the Gambling Act of 2005, and this new institution came to replace the Gaming Board of Great Britain. It’s a non-departmental public body and regulates arcades, betting, slot machines, bingo, casinos and lotteries.
Since it assumed full power in 2007, its new mission was also to control online gambling activities offered to the people of Great Britain. This Commission creates regulation laws to prevent crime-related activities in gambling, guarantee fairness and transparency, prevent underage gambling and assist people subject to addiction.
The Great Britain Gambling Commission puts regulations in place and will control online gambling either by itself or by mandating third-party agencies to ensure:
The protection of underage people
Proper licensing of online betting activities
Monitoring of UKGC licensed casinos
Fairness and reliability of all games available on the UK market
Players’ safety, which includes privacy and assets protection
We all crave a seamless casino experience—a platform where registration takes mere seconds or minutes, allowing us to swiftly deposit and dive into gameplay. Luckster Casino exemplifies this convenience with its streamlined 2-step sign-up process. As such, you can join and, within minutes, place your wagers.
The gambling site holds UKGC and MGA gaming licenses. This tells you how the platform is heavily monitored and regulated, ensuring that no shady business happens in the background. Only decent gambling practices are allowed.
On the portfolio, you will find over 3000 casino games. Regardless of your taste, you will most likely find your perfect suit in this collection. Talk of slots, table games, game shows and more.
Acceptable payment methods here are numerous, including Visa, Mastercard, Trustly, Skrill and Astropay. The minimum amount you can deposit to kick off things here is €10. The maximum, on the other hand, will depend on the payment method you use. As for withdrawals, the lowest you can go is €10. However, you can’t exceed the €7,000 monthly limit.
Security is enhanced in this online casino, especially with the UKGC overseeing its operations. Also, advanced features like SSL encryption and stringent privacy policies are in place. The dual licensing also adds to the security appeal, assuring players of safety when placing their wagers.
Since 2017, Mr.Play Casino has steadily climbed the ranks to become one of the premier UKGC casinos in the EU region. There’s little room for doubt in this achievement, given the enticing bonus offers, swift payouts, and innovative selection of game titles the casino provides.
Talking of the latter, Mr.play Casino boasts an extensive portfolio with over 1000 titles. These are games of different varieties and categories, including slots, table games and game shows. Most are available for instant play and often feature a demo version.
Acceptable payment methods here are numerous, including the most obvious: Visa, Mastercard, Skrill and Paysafecard. The list is extensive. You should, therefore, be able to find your convenient banking solution.
The least amount you can transact here is €10 (applying for both deposits and withdrawals). The threshold for withdrawals, on the other hand, is €2,000 per transaction. Payouts are quite fast, resonating with most players’ convenience demands.
The UKGC and MGA license Mr. Play Casino, making it a legitimate gambling establishment. Considering these authorities’ reputations, the bar is set high, ensuring a reliable and safe gaming environment.
As soon as you land on the Heyspin homepage, the visually stunning black-and-white theme will capture your attention. The interface is intuitive, with stunning graphics, appealing to most EU players.
Reviewing Heyspin Casino’s banking section, we found numerous popular payment options. They include Visa, Mastercard, Skrill and Neteller. The set minimum deposit limit here is £20. It also applies to minimum withdrawals. That said, you cannot cash out beyond the £7000 monthly limit.
A glimpse of Heyspin’s gaming section shows that there are over 1600 casino games. Most are slots, with other categories like table games and jackpots following closely. These games are playable on mobile and have demo versions, enabling play for fun for all players.
Security is enhanced at Heyspin Casino. The platform holds dual licenses from the UKGC and the MGA. The two reputable gaming authorities across the EU. You can then imagine the rules or standards set for this online gambling site by these regulators.
This is another UKGC-licensed online casino approved by iTech Labs. In the games department, you will find over 1000 casino titles. Games of different varieties, including slots, table games, game shows and many others. What’s even better, more games are still being added on a regular basis.
Exploring VegasLand payout options, you will find popular payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, Trustly, Paysafecard, and Skrill. The least amount you can deposit here is £10. The maximum, on the other hand, depends on the payment method you use. For withdrawals, you cannot go below £10 or exceed €7000 monthly limit.
VegasLand’s security detail is commendable. It holds two licenses from the MGA and UKGC. These two authorities hold the casino accountable, ensuring it only offers a safe, reliable gambling environment.
The SSL encryption technology in place also protects sensitive players’s data during transactions. This, in turn, enhances the overall player protection.
Introduced in 2023, Red Casino shines with its vast game collection, boasting over 4000 titles. Slots, table games and live dealer options are all available. A good percentage of these games are playable on mobile and often feature a demo mode version, allowing for play for play-for-fun capabilities. This enhances players’ overall gaming experience.
Turning our attention to the banking section, we found multiple payment options, including Trustly, PayPal, Visa and Mastercard. Of course, the list is extensive. So you should be able to find a convenient payment option. The least amount you can transact here is £10. That said, there is no set maximum deposit or withdrawal limit for players.
Security is assured when gambling at Red Casino. In fact, the casino holds licenses from the MGA and UKGC. These bodies have set standards high for this casino, ensuring that it only offers fair gambling services and player protection.
What Criteria Does The Casino Have To Pass to Get a UKGC licence?
If a casino wants to operate in the UK, they need to follow these rules:
Transparency: The casino must offer all the information needed to the customer to play, including payment modalities, fees, games’ RTP, licensing information, documents required for KYC.
Fairness: To ensure fairness, the casino needs to provide games approved by the Commission with a controlled RNG (Random Number Generator), display the information about the game clearly, and they can’t tamper with the RNG.
KYC: The Know Your Customer is in place to ensure players are of legal age and to confirm the identity of the person to prevent money laundering. This verification process is mandatory before a casino can take your money or pay your winnings.
Help: Casinos in the UK need to offer assistance to the players. This includes a help section with direct contact for any queries, advertising of gambling therapy, useful links to help people potentially struggling with addiction, and a self-exclusion policy.
How Much Does a UKGC Licence Cost?
The Great Britain Gambling Authority delivers three types of licences: operating licences, personal functional licences and premise licences. An online casino needs an operating licence. This licence can be non-remote, remote or ancillary.
Betting licence activities
Depending on the services the online casino wants to offer, he’ll need the following betting licences:
UKGC Remote general betting standard real events licence pricing
This licence allows the casino to provide a remote facility to consumers in Britain, i.e. a website. It applies, as an annual fee, if the gross gambling yield from telephone betting is £550,000 or more.
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Application Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£4,693
F2
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£4,693
F3
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£4,693
G1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £15 million
£10,323
G2
£15 million or greater, up to but excluding £55 million
£10,323
H1
£55 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million
£13,643
I1
£110 million or greater, up to but excluding £220 million
£23,435
J1
£220 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£28,154
K1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£41,243
L1
£1 billion or greater
£41,243
When the application is accepted, the Commission will take an annual fee.
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Annual Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£5,282
F2
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£13,432
F3
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£15,536
G1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £15 million
£51,334
G2
£15 million or greater, up to but excluding £55 million
£72,365
H1
£55 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million
£116,602
I1
£110 million or greater, up to but excluding £220 million
£213,052
J1
£220 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£435,640
K1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£767,027
L1
£1 billion or greater
£1,077,027 plus £200,000 for each complete additional £500 million of annual gross gambling yield above £1 billion
Remote general betting standard virtual events licence cost
This licence allows the providing of facilities for remote (online) gambling to consumers in Britain. It only allows the provision of facilities for betting on virtual races, competitions or other events or processes, other than a game of chance, by means of remote communication. It’s divided into categories for application:
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Application Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£4,224
G1
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£10,323
G2
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£10,323
H1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £25 million
£16,235
I1
£25 million or greater, up to but excluding £100 million
£23,834
J1
£100 million or greater, up to but excluding £250 million
£38,363
K1
£250 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£54,131
L1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£91,686
M1
£1 billion or greater
£91,686
Once the application is accepted, the Commission will collect annual fees as follow:
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Annual Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£4,199
G1
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£10,056
G2
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£14,694
H1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £25 million
£20,626
I1
£25 million or greater, up to but excluding £100 million
£55,089
J1
£100 million or greater, up to but excluding £250 million
£105,626
K1
£250 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£211,505
L1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£599,979
M1
£1 billion or greater
£793,729 plus £125,000 for each complete additional £500 million of annual gross gambling yield above £1 billion
Remote betting host real events licence
This licence allows online casinos to offer sports betting and any other activity regarding real events. Application fees apply as follows:
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Application Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£3,520
F2
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£3,520
F3
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£3,520
G1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £15 million
£7,742
G2
£15 million or greater, up to but excluding £55 million
£7,742
H1
£55 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million
£10,232
I1
£110 million or greater, up to but excluding £220 million
£17,576
J1
£220 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£21,115
K1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£30,933
L1
£1 billion or greater
£30,933
Remote betting host real events licence
This licence allows online casinos to offer sports betting and any other activity regarding real events. Application fees apply as follows:
If the UKGC grants licence, fees need to be paid annually.
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Annual Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£3,962
F2
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£10,074
F3
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£11,652
G1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £15 million
£38,501
G2
£15 million or greater, up to but excluding £55 million
£54,274
H1
£55 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million
£87,451
I1
£110 million or greater, up to but excluding £220 million
£159,789
J1
£220 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£326,730
K1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£575,270
L1
£1 billion or greater
£730,270 plus £100,000 for each complete additional £500 million of annual gross gambling yield above £1 billion
Remote betting host virtual events licence
This licence concerns betting on virtual events. These are the application fees:
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Application Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£3,168
G1
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£7,742
G2
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£7,742
H1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £25 million
£12,176
I1
£25 million or greater, up to but excluding £100 million
£17,875
J1
£100 million or greater, up to but excluding £250 million
£28,772
K1
£250 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£40,598
L1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£68,765
M1
£1 billion or greater
£68,765
Annual fees will also be applied once the licence is granted.
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Annual Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£3,142
G1
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£7,525
G2
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£10,996
H1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £25 million
£15,435
I1
£25 million or greater, up to but excluding £100 million
£41,222
J1
£100 million or greater, up to but excluding £250 million
£79,039
K1
£250 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£158,267
L1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£448,961
M1
£1 billion or greater
£603,961 plus £100,000 for each complete additional £500 million of annual gross gambling yield above £1 billion
Remote pool betting licence
This licence allows bringing several betting parties together, and it’s essential if the casino offers horse racing bets, for example.
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Application Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£9,138
F2
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£9,138
F3
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£9,138
G1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £15 million
£18,746
G2
£15 million or greater, up to but excluding £55 million
£18,746
H1
£55 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million
£21,290
I1
£110 million or greater, up to but excluding £220 million
£23,435
J1
£220 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£28,154
K1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£41,243
L1
£1 billion or greater
£41,243
On the same model as the previous licences, there is an annual fee applied.
Category
Annual Gross Gambling Yield
Annual Fee
F1
Less than £550,000
£5,282
F2
£550,000 or greater, up to but excluding £2 million
£13,432
F3
£2 million or greater, up to but excluding £5.5 million
£15,536
G1
£5.5 million or greater, up to but excluding £15 million
£51,334
G2
£15 million or greater, up to but excluding £55 million
£72,365
H1
£55 million or greater, up to but excluding £110 million
£116,602
I1
£110 million or greater, up to but excluding £220 million
£213,052
J1
£220 million or greater, up to but excluding £550 million
£435,640
K1
£550 million or greater, up to but excluding £1 billion
£767,027
L1
£1 billion or greater
£1,077,027 plus £200,000 for each complete additional £500 million of annual gross gambling yield above £1 billion
An online casino doesn’t necessarily need all of these licences, but if they want to diversify their catalogue, they have to apply for the concerned licences, or they risk sanctions from the Gambling Commission.
Recently issued UGKC casino licenses
List of online casinos that recently got licensed by the UKGC.
UKGC licensed casinos can be based on the UK territory or offshore. What matters is that they provide a gambling service to the residents of the country. Any online casino that offers a gambling platform for UK residents must be properly licensed and follow the rules imposed by the UKGC.
This is why you may encounter casinos with several licences. These casinos operate in several countries, and if some countries accept foreign gaming commission licences, this is not the case in Great Britain.
However, some foreign countries that don’t have their own Gambling institution can sometimes accept online casinos to operate on their territory with a Great Britain Gambling Commission licence but may ask them to also comply with their local legislation.
Software Providers With UKGC Licensing
When a UKGC casino is licensed, it needs to provide games that comply with the UKGC regulations. So, there are software providers with UK Gambling Commission licenses. These providers must guarantee the fairness of their games with an RTP and a conform RNG (Random Number Generator) system.
These developers are regularly audited, and the games are controlled by independent third-party agencies. eCOGRA, for example, is allowed to control all sectors of gambling; Lindsays, on the other hand, can only control lotteries.
This licence is not the easiest to claim and hold, so most providers are already big names in the industry. You’ll find companies such as Evolution and its subsidiaries NetEnt, Red Tiger, Ezugi and Big Time Gaming. Another big company is Playtech. They offer services and products in all online gaming categories through their brand or subsidiaries: Origins, Ash Gaming, Vikings, Psiclone Games, Quick Spin, Eyecon, and Rare Stone. You’ll find other brands with UKGC licensing, and if a UKGC casino offers its games, you can deduce that this provider is licensed. If you have any doubt, you can visit the provider’s site, which will display all of its licenses.
Most Popular Payment Methods Within the Licence
UKGC licensed casinos can provide payment methods based on certain criteria.
The payment method must comply with the Money Laundering Regulation of 2007.
Have a clear organisational structure, and be transparent.
Offer procedures to identify, manage, monitor and report any risks it might experience
Internal control mechanisms such as a sound administrative system, risk management and accounting procedures.
Offers measures to guarantee a safeguarding payment service.
These are some of the basic elements a payment must provide. In Great Britain Gambling Commission casinos, the most popular methods that follow these guidelines are credit cards like Visa or Mastercard and bank transfers for the most traditional methods. However, new methods have appeared like Paysafecard and e-wallets like ecoPayz, Skrill or Neteller.
These e-wallets are popular because of the rise of Cryptocurrencies. Due to their decentralised nature and reinforced control thanks to the blockchain, new UKGC licensed casinos now accept payments directly in Bitcoin or Litecoin, for instance, without having to resort to an e-wallet. Some services like Trustly are also accepted in the UK for casinos resorting to the Pay N Play business model. This new model allows players to play, deposit and withdraw without having to go through sending documents to fulfil the KYC policy. The documents needed are now communicated to the casino by the bank itself to spare days of waiting on the player’s part.
GAMSTOP in UKGC Licensed casinos
This self-exclusion program is specifically for UKGC-licensed casinos, designed to support those who may be facing or grappling with problem gambling.
The process is straightforward: players only need to provide their details to www.gamstop.co.uk to request exclusion. You’ll then set the exclusion period – 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. Once done, you will be logged out and barred from accessing all UKGC-licensed gambling sites.
You can also decide to exclude from gambling directly from the casino site. Individual brands have this self-exclusion feature embedded in their platform. You just activate it, and then you are good to go.
If you prefer not to self-exclude, set limits to help put your gambling in check. There are deposit limits, stake limits, time limits and loss limits. These, together with Gamstop, help you play responsibly.
FAQ
Yes, the UK Gambling Commission licensed casinos have to go through the most rigorous regulation laws on the European market. Also, if an online casino doesn’t respect these rules, you can make a claim with the Gambling Commission directly.
A casino operating without a UKGC licence risks a level 2 fine. The same goes for providers. Advertising going against regulations is also sanctionable with 51 weeks of imprisonment and a level 5 fine. If the violations are repeated or never acknowledged by the operator, it can lose its licence. Losing a licence is one of the worst things that can happen to an online casino since it’s public information and will put a dent in the establishment’s reputation.
No. There are a few mandatory licenses, for example, the one allowing to have a facility that can accept players. However, if an online casino decides not to offer Sports Betting, for instance, then the licence that regulates betting on real events won’t be necessary for the UKGC licensed casino to run its business.
Two reasons can explain the absence of a payment method at an online casino. The first one is that the payment method doesn’t fulfil the Commission’s requirements and thus can’t operate in the country. The second one is that the casino you chose simply doesn’t offer the method because they don’t want to or because they can’t guarantee its application on their platform according to the UKGC regulations. However, if your method is well-established and is available on other sites in the UK, then it’s probably the latter.
The RNG, or Random Number Generator, is part of the game software. It’s the piece of code that guarantees the randomness of the results on virtual casino games.
RTP is a rate indicating the theoretical return to the player. It gives information on how frequently the game is likely to give winning results. However, if a game’s RTP is 99%, it doesn’t mean that for every 10th spin, the player is guaranteed to win since the results are random, and this is a percentage that is obtained on thousands of turns in the machine to give a probability.
The UKGC mandates independent third-party agencies to regularly control casinos and providers on the games they offer to the public. They control that what they promise the player is really there and that the games are fair. For a game to be fair, it needs to have random results and respect the probability rate guaranteed by the casino and the provider.
Conclusion
It seems that the UKGC is a doer, not just a talker, and it puts heavy emphasis on players’ safety. That’s why customers can visit the UKGC site and to check if a casino actually has a UK license and whether it has been previously suspended. We recommend you to take advantage of that option and make sure you play at casinos that have a good reputation across the online gambling community.
UKGC is probably one of the most-prestigious license-issuer, however because of GAMSTOP and other restrictions UK Players might want to play at foreign casinos, licensed by other authorities.
Stan is the one that founded CorrectCasinos.com back in 2018. He is really passionate about fair-play in online casinos, transparency and responsible gaming.
