Gambling Law in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, all forms of gambling are legal and are overseen by the regulatory body United Kingdom Gambling Commission that issues licences to operators.
The market is liberal in a sense where anyone who can meet the licence criteria and who pays the fee can get a licence from UKGC, and the number of licences is not limited, either. However, UKGC is a very tough regulator that is policing its rules and enforcing them onto operators, under risk of fine or even loss of a licence.
Gambling operators aren’t the only entity that is required to have a licence, as game developers also have to have one, in this strictly controlled system. The UKGC licence allows an operator to accept UK customers, but not customers from other countries. To mitigate this issue, UKGC-licensed operators often choose a Malta licence for every other country.
UKGC is the only regulator that puts the onus on gambling operators to detect problem gamblers and not accept their deposits and wagers, under risk of a fine. Marketing to known problem gamblers is also prohibited, and large deposits without appropriate source of funds checks are also a common issue among licence holders who are fined.
Total gross gaming yield in the UK in 2023 was £15.1 billion.
Written by Matti Slotte