UKGC Casinos

Features of the UKGC Gambling Licence

The UKGC casino licence affects your gameplay in many positive ways and some of these features you may already have come across in a UK casino:

Verification Checks

If you play at a casino with a UKGC licence then you can expect to have verification checks carried out using your basic details when you first open your account, the UKGC implemented these checks to help prevent underage gambling. As well as requesting information to verify if players can ‘afford’ to gamble and checking that deposited funds are from legitimate sources.

Responsible Gaming Tools

One of the UKGC’s main objectives is to protect and help vulnerable casino players and the organisation sets out very strict guidelines for casinos in the UK to adhere to, which include gaming limits, time out periods and self exclusions for players.

The Key Responsibilities of the UKGC

The Gambling Commission has 3 main objectives that are encompassed within its gaming licences:

• To ensure gambling is always conducted in an ethical and open way.
• To protect vulnerable people and minors from being affected, exploited or harmed from gambling.
• To prevent gambling from being linked to criminal activities.

How Do You Know if an Online Casino Holds a UKGC Licence?

It’s simple to check if a casino holds an online gambling licence UK, just scroll down to the bottom of any page and look for the distinctive logo of the UKGC, which should be displayed clearly and with a hyperlink to direct you to the casino’s licence lodged on the UKGC’s website.

You may also search the UK Gambling Commission’s website for more information about a casino’s licence status.

What Are the Benefits of a UKGC Licence Compared to Others?

The UKGC gambling licence is seen as one of the most credible and strictest licences within the industry, with the proactive organisation responsible for providing licences to online casinos that only operate responsibly. Fines for breaches are extremely costly to a casino in many ways.

As well as high licensing fees, by holding a casino licence in the UK, the gambling commission will charge a higher rate of tax on the casino gross revenue, and whilst this is higher than other regulators, it helps to instil confidence in players that they can enjoy incredibly safe gameplay at their chosen new casino.

Obtaining a licence from the UKGC forms a legally binding contract and is not easy to obtain, with the organisation deeply examining an online casino where many factors are taken into consideration:

• Integrity
• Competency
• Ability to pay out winnings
• Sufficient financial status
• Security of player information
• Sufficient measures in place to protect vulnerable players

What Are the Risks Involved in Playing at a Non-UK Licensed Casino?

It’s extremely important that players who reside in the UK choose to play at one of the many UKGC-licensed casinos out there; it isn’t worth the risk of exposing yourself:

• Personal and financial details could be exposed, it may even be possible that your hard-earned cash is used to fund crime.
• It’s possible that the casino may not pay out your winnings, being designed to scam players out of money and not offer a return.
• A casino’s RNG (random number generator) is tested rigorously by the UKGC to ensure fairness and reliability, meaning that unlicensed casinos could ‘fix’ game outcomes to their advantage.
• Should a player have a dispute with a non-licensed casino, they would not receive any backup from the UKGC and would have difficulty gaining legal assistance to find a resolution.

Recent Legislative Changes

• GAMSTOP registration by online gambling operators became mandatory on March 31st, 2020, meaning that all UKGC casinos must sign up for the self-exclusion scheme to help gambling addicts easily exclude themselves across all UK casinos.
• As of April 2020, there has been a ban on gambling with credit cards across all forms of remote gambling. This meant that a fifth of all UK players had to find alternative payment methods to fund their casino accounts.
• From September 2024, a stake limit on slots will be applicable: £2 for 18-24-year-olds and £5 for over 25-year-olds.

How Can the UKGC Help Me if I Have a Complaint?

In the unlikely event that you have a negative experience with any UKGC-licensed casinos, your first point of contact should be the casino’s own complaints procedure, which, according to the terms of the licence, should have an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) body that would then examine any complaint made.

The UK Gambling Commission will not directly get involved with complaints, but they can review cases made against a casino to check if the operator fulfilled its licensing obligations.