How to check a casino licence
How to check a casino licence in the UK: find the operator's company name or account number in the site footer, search the Gambling Commission's public register, confirm the licence status is Active and that the exact website address is listed. It takes about two minutes and is free.
By the Latest Casinos team. Last checked .
Key takeaways
- Find the operator in the footer.
- Search the public register.
- Match the domain.
- No match: leave.
LatestFind the operator name and account number in the casino's footer, search the Gambling Commission public register, and confirm the website address is listed under that licence.
Step by step
- Scroll to the foot of the casino's site.
- Note the operator's company name and account number.
- Open the Gambling Commission public register.
- Search for the name or number.
- Check the licence is active and lists the casino's domain.
Five worked examples
| Casino | Operator | Account |
|---|---|---|
| Coral | LC International Limited | 54743 |
| Ladbrokes | LC International Limited | 54743 |
| PlayOJO | Skill On Net Limited | 39326 |
| Casumo | Recro Limited | 61549 |
| 10bet | Blue Star Planet Limited | 43173 |
A trap: old licence names
Brands sometimes move between companies. Casumo was once operated by Casumo Services Limited, and since 21 December 2023 it has been operated by Recro Limited, 61549. Always use the name in the current footer.
Elsewhere on the site: Compare casinos, Latest free spins offers UK, New slot sites UK and 10bet Casino: the latest.
What the register entry shows
The licence holder's name, its account number, the activities it is licensed for, the status of the licence, its trading names and domain names, and any regulatory action.
Three things to match
The company name in the casino's footer, the account number, and the website address you are actually on.
How to check a casino licence on the Gambling Commission register: full walkthrough
The Gambling Commission's public register (opens in a new tab) is the only authoritative source for whether a casino is licensed in Great Britain. Reviews, logos and footers are claims; the register entry is the record. Here's what to do on each screen.
- Open the register of gambling businesses (opens in a new tab). You can search by business name, trading name, domain name or account number.
- Search by account number if the footer gives one. Numbers are unique; company names can be similar, and brand names are often not the licence holder's name.
- If you only have the website address, search the bare domain, leaving out the http prefix and the www part. A match returns the business that has declared that domain.
- Open the business entry. Check the head office, the account name and the licence status, which should read Active.
- Open the activities list and look for remote casino. A company licensed only for betting or bingo can't lawfully offer you online casino games.
- Open the domain names list and find the exact address you're on, marked Active. Check the trading names list for the brand name too.
- Scroll to regulatory actions and read any listed penalties, warnings or conditions, with their dates.
If every step matches, you know which company you're contracting with and that it's subject to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. If any step fails, stop before you register or deposit. For a quick definition of the number you're searching, see what a casino licence number is.
UKGC licence status explained: Active, Suspended, Revoked and more
The register shows one of several statuses against each licence. Only one of them means a business can offer gambling to you today.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Active | The licence is in force for the listed activities | Continue your checks: activities, domain, regulatory actions |
| Suspended | The Commission has temporarily stopped the licence | Don't deposit; if you hold a balance, contact the operator about withdrawal |
| Revoked | The Commission has taken the licence away | Don't use the site; it can't lawfully serve British customers |
| Surrendered | The business gave up the licence itself | Check whether the brand moved to another licence holder |
| Expired | The licence is no longer in force | Treat the site as unlicensed for Great Britain unless a new entry exists |
A Surrendered or Expired status isn't always bad news for a brand: casinos change operating companies, and the brand may now sit under a new, active licence. That's exactly the trap described above for Casumo. Search the brand name again and follow it to the current licence holder. Brand moves happen for ordinary business reasons, such as a group reorganising its companies or a brand being sold, and players are normally told in advance by email and asked to accept new terms. If you receive a notice like that, check the new company's register entry before you accept, exactly as you would for a new casino, and note whether your balance and any active bonus are being transferred. If a casino closes with your money in it, our guide to what happens when a casino closes and the page on your balance if a casino closes explain your position.
Check the casino domain and trading name, not just the company
A real licence number can be copied onto a fake site, so matching the company isn't enough. The domain list on the register entry is the strongest single check, because it ties a licence to a specific web address.
- Active domains are in use under that licence.
- Inactive domains were declared but aren't currently in use. A live casino on an inactive domain is worth questioning with the operator.
- White label domains are run under the licence holder's licence for another brand. That's a normal, lawful arrangement.
The register itself warns that trading names and domains are supplied by businesses and the Commission can't vouch for their accuracy, so treat a missing domain as a reason to ask questions rather than proof of fraud. Large groups list many addresses: the trading names declared by LC International Limited (opens in a new tab), the company behind both Coral and Ladbrokes, show how one licence can cover several brands. Our pages on casino sister sites and the licence holder term explain the relationship.
How to check a white label casino's licence
Many UK brands don't hold their own licence. They run on a platform owned by a licensed company, which takes legal responsibility for the site. To check one, find the licence holder named in the footer (not the brand), search that company on the register, and confirm the brand's domain appears in its domain list, often marked White label.
Complaints, safer gambling duties and regulatory action all attach to the licence holder. A fine against a platform company can therefore cover dozens of brands at once: in August 2025 ProgressPlay was fined £1m over failures that the Commission linked to 134 websites. Our white label casino explainer and the operator glossary entry go further, and how to judge a new casino shows how this check fits with the others.
Reading regulatory action on a casino licence
An active licence with a regulatory history isn't necessarily a reason to avoid a casino, but it tells you what went wrong and when. Penalties usually relate to social responsibility (spotting and acting on signs of harm) or anti-money-laundering failures, and the operator has normally been required to fix them.
Read entries with one caution: the action count on a register page may not show every past settlement. Skill On Net Limited, PlayOJO's operator, agreed a £305,150 settlement in May 2023, yet a register entry can show no actions. For the full picture, cross-check the Commission's enforcement action list (opens in a new tab) and our Gambling Commission fines page.
| Date | Operator | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 10 January 2024 | Gamesys Operations Ltd | £6m penalty: social responsibility and anti-money-laundering failures |
| 22 October 2025 | Platinum Gaming Ltd (Unibet) | £10m penalty: social responsibility and anti-money-laundering failures |
| 20 November 2025 | Videoslots Ltd | £650,000 penalty, including deposit limits that ignored initial deposits |
| 25 June 2026 | Stakelogic BV | £122,835: slots ran below the 2.5-second minimum |
| 23 July 2026 | Evolution Malta Holding | £4.75m: games reached GB players via unlicensed sites |
When you read an entry like these, look at three things: how recent the action is, whether it concerned how customers were treated or a back-office failure, and whether the same company appears more than once. A single settlement several years ago, followed by a clean record, says something different from repeated penalties for the same kind of failure. Much Commission action ends in a penalty or settlement and a requirement to fix the problem rather than a revocation, though suspensions and revocations do happen, and they show on the register as a change of status. If an operator's record worries you, choosing a different licensed casino is simple.
Fake or misleading casino licence claims: warning signs
Unlicensed sites aimed at UK players often borrow the look of a licensed one. These are the patterns that should make you stop.
- A Gambling Commission logo with no account number, or a number that returns a different company or a betting-only licence.
- A licence link that opens a copy of the register hosted on the casino's own domain rather than gamblingcommission.gov.uk.
- Only an overseas licence in the footer, with wording such as “accepts players worldwide”.
- Offers that UK rules don't allow: wagering above 10x, credit card deposits, or a promise that you aren't covered by GAMSTOP.
- No route to an independent dispute service, or no mention of GAMSTOP and support services.
The Commission's page of checks you can do to stay safe (opens in a new tab) covers the same ground from the regulator's side. Our guides to spotting a fake casino and new casino red flags add more, and unlicensed casino risks explains what you give up by playing on one.
UKGC licence vs Malta, Gibraltar and other licences
Seeing a Malta Gaming Authority or Gibraltar licence on a casino site doesn't by itself tell you whether it may serve you in Great Britain. Anyone providing remote gambling to consumers in Britain needs a Gambling Commission licence, regardless of where the company is based; there's no requirement to be incorporated in the UK, only to have a UK address for service. That's why licensed operators are often based in Gibraltar, Malta or elsewhere and hold several licences at once. PlayOJO's operator, for example, holds both a Commission licence (account 39326) and a Malta Gaming Authority licence.
For a British player, the GB licence is the one that matters, because it brings the protections in the table below. Northern Ireland is different: the Gambling Act 2005 framework covers Great Britain, and PlayOJO's current offer excludes Northern Ireland, so see our page on UK casinos in Northern Ireland. Our explainers on the remote casino licence and offshore casinos go deeper.
How to check the licence of a casino app
Casino apps hide the footer, so the licence check takes one extra step. Open the app's menu and look for an About, Legal, Terms or Responsible Gambling section: the operator's name and account number are usually shown there, or in the terms the app links to. Then run the same register search as for a website.
Two more checks are specific to apps. First, compare the developer or seller name on the App Store or Google Play listing with the licence holder; a big group's app may be published by a related company, but a name with no connection to the register entry is a warning sign. Second, only install casino apps from the official stores or from the casino's own licensed domain. An app file sent through a link in a message, or downloaded from a site that isn't on the register's domain list, bypasses every check on this page.
The same protections apply in an app as on the website, from stake limits to GAMSTOP. Our guides to casino apps vs mobile sites and new casino apps cover the rest.
What a UK casino licence means for you in practice
Checking the licence is worthwhile because of what comes with it. Each of these protections applies at a GB-licensed casino and is backed by a dated rule.
| Protection | In force since | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Age and ID checks before play | 7 May 2019 | No deposits or free play until you're verified |
| GAMSTOP participation | 31 March 2020 | Self-exclusion covers every licensed online site |
| No credit card gambling | 14 April 2020 | Debit cards and other methods only |
| No reverse withdrawals | 31 October 2021 | A withdrawal can't be cancelled to keep playing |
| Online slot stake limits | 9 April 2025 (£5); 21 May 2025 (£2 for 18–24s) | Caps on how much each spin can cost |
| 10x wagering cap | 19 January 2026 | Bonus terms limited to ten times the bonus |
| Complaints and ADR | Licence condition | 8 weeks for the casino, then a free independent service |
Our summary of UK online casino rules and the question what UKGC licensed means explain each protection, and the casinos hub lists the five licensed brands we track with their account numbers.
Go further: Before and after the 10x cap, Latest Coral offer and New live casinos.
Keep reading: Latest PlayOJO offer, Coral vs PlayOJO, Latest no wagering offers UK and UK casino changes: 2020 to 2024.
Everything here is dated. Offers and facts were last checked on 5 October 2026; this is not a live feed. Casino details come from each casino's published terms and help pages and the Gambling Commission's public register. How we check. 18+. Free help: 0808 8020 133 or safer gambling.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check a casino licence?
Search the operator on the Gambling Commission's public register. Find the company name or account number in the casino's footer, enter it in the register search, and open the business entry. Confirm the status is Active, that remote casino is among the licensed activities, and that the exact website address you're on appears in the domain list. You can also search by domain name if the footer is unclear. The whole check takes a couple of minutes, and our guide to reading a casino footer shows where to find the details.
Where is the operator named?
In the casino's footer, at the bottom of every page, usually alongside its Gambling Commission account number. The operator is the company that holds the licence and is legally responsible for the site, which is often different from the brand name. Coral and Ladbrokes, for example, are both operated by LC International Limited under account 54743. If the footer doesn't name an operator, look in the terms and conditions, which must identify who you're contracting with. A site that names no operator anywhere shouldn't get your money.
What if it is not listed?
Don't register or deposit. A casino that serves players in Great Britain must hold a Gambling Commission licence, and if neither the company, the brand nor the domain appears on the register, you have no evidence it does. Without a GB licence you lose access to GAMSTOP, free independent dispute resolution and the Commission's player protection rules. First double-check the spelling and try the domain or account number, because brand names are sometimes declared differently. If it's still missing, treat the site as unlicensed and look elsewhere; a licensed alternative costs you nothing to find.
Is the register free?
Yes. The Gambling Commission's public register is free to search, needs no account, and can be used by anyone. It covers gambling businesses and personal licence holders, along with premises and regulatory actions. You can even download the full register as a spreadsheet file if you want to search it offline. Be wary of any third-party site that charges for a “licence check”, or of a casino that links to a copy of the register on its own domain: the genuine register lives only on gamblingcommission.gov.uk.
Which offers have no wagering?
Coral's, Ladbrokes' and PlayOJO's welcome offers have no wagering on spin winnings, based on terms checked on 5 October 2026. Coral gives 100 free spins at 10p when you deposit and bet £10 on slots; Ladbrokes gives up to 500 free spins at 10p, 50 a day for 10 days, when you deposit and play £10 on slots; PlayOJO gives 80 free spins at 10p on Big Bass Bonanza with a first deposit of £10 or more. All are 18+, new customers only, and terms apply. See our no wagering offers page.
What payment method should I use for a first deposit?
A debit card qualifies for most welcome offers, but always check the excluded methods first. Coral's terms exclude certain debit cards along with Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill and prepaid cards; Ladbrokes' exclude prepaid cards, PayPal, Paysafe, Neteller, Skrill and Moneybookers. Credit cards can't be used at any GB-licensed casino. Think about withdrawals too: casinos usually pay back to the method you deposited with, so the deposit method also decides how quickly winnings arrive. Our debit card casinos guide covers the details.
Are there no deposit offers?
None of the five casinos we track offers a no-deposit bonus. Coral, Ladbrokes, PlayOJO, Casumo and 10bet all need a qualifying deposit, and in Coral's and Ladbrokes' case a qualifying £10 stake on slots, before any reward is given. No-deposit offers have become rare at UK-licensed sites partly because casinos must verify your age and identity before you can play, even with a bonus. Treat any “no deposit” claim with care and check the licence. Our no deposit offers page explains the background.
Do you list newly launched casinos?
No. We cover five established UK-licensed casinos whose licences we've checked on the register: Coral, Ladbrokes, PlayOJO, Casumo and 10bet. We don't list newly launched sites because we can't verify their record, and some “new casino” lists include unlicensed operators. Instead we explain how to judge a new site yourself, starting with the licence check on this page and moving on to terms, payments and support. Our new casinos hub has the full method.
What is GAMSTOP?
GAMSTOP is a free national self-exclusion scheme that blocks you from all gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain for a period you choose, from 6 months to 5 years. Every licensed online operator has had to take part since 31 March 2020, so a casino that says it's “not on GAMSTOP” isn't licensed here. You can't cancel an exclusion early, and it stays in place after the period ends until you ask for it to be removed. See our how to use GAMSTOP guide.
Can I check a casino licence by its website address?
Yes. The Gambling Commission's register lets you search by domain name as well as by business name, trading name and account number. Enter the bare address, leaving out the http prefix and the www part, and the register returns the business that has declared that domain. Then check that the domain is marked Active and the licence covers remote casino. Because businesses supply domain lists themselves, a missing address is a reason to ask questions rather than final proof, but a match with an active licence is the strongest single sign that you're on a genuine licensed site.
What happens to my account if a casino's licence is suspended?
A suspended operator can't offer gambling while the suspension lasts, so you shouldn't deposit or play. Your balance remains your money, and you should contact the operator in writing to ask for withdrawal. How well your funds are protected depends on the rating the casino declared in its terms: not protected, medium or high protection. Keep records of your balance and correspondence. Our pages on player funds protection and what happens when a casino closes explain the protection levels and next steps.
Is a Malta Gaming Authority licence enough for UK players?
No. Any business offering remote gambling to consumers in Great Britain needs a Gambling Commission licence, whatever other licences it holds. Plenty of UK-licensed operators also hold a Malta licence, PlayOJO's operator among them, but it's the Commission licence that gives British players GAMSTOP coverage, stake limits, the 10x wagering cap and access to approved dispute resolution. If a site shows only a Malta, Curaçao or other overseas licence, it isn't licensed for Great Britain. Our is online gambling legal page explains the legal position.
What is a UKGC account number?
It's the unique number the Gambling Commission gives each licensed business, and it's the most reliable thing to search on the register. The five casinos we track use these accounts: LC International Limited 54743 (Coral and Ladbrokes), Skill On Net Limited 39326 (PlayOJO), Recro Limited 61549 (Casumo) and Blue Star Planet Limited 43173 (10bet). The number belongs to the company, not the brand, so several brands can share one. Licensed casinos should show it in the footer, ideally with a link to the register entry.