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    Updated: Jan 10, 2024

    UK Licensed Casinos Online

    The Great Britain takes online gambling activities on its territory quite seriously. The online gambling laws are clear and well-written and there are still some actions made to make the industry even more regulated. So it’s no wonder that one of the world’s most reputable licensing institutions is located in the GB and it’s the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Its task is to both regulate online gambling in the country itself and issue licenses to the international casino to prove they are safe for the players to play in. If we had to say one thing about the UKGC casinos it would be that all the casinos licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling commission are the safe casino sites. Luckily, we have a chance to say more than just one thing so here is a complete guide to the UKGS aimed at players who want to know more about how casino licensing works at all and why the casinos licensed by the UKGC are considered to be the best in the world. On this page, you’ll learn:

    • How the United Kingdom Gambling Commission licenses the casinos,
    • What are the major types of licenses and how the casinos can get them,
    • What are the main principles of the UKGC organisation, etc.

    So if you are a gambling fan who wants to go deeper than just playing the games — keep reading to learn more.

    Best UK Licensed Online Casino Sites:

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    Playojo Update 8
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    Bally
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    Casushi 3
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    • Guaranteeing the safety of customers
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    Kingdom Ace 2
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    Amatic
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    BetSoft
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    Blueprint Gaming
    ELK Studios
    Evolution Gaming
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    UK Gambling Commission Framework

    So let’s start with taking a closer look at how the UK Gambling Commission works, how the UK online gambling license is issued and why are the online casinos licensed and regulated in UK are a holy grail for all the gamblers not only in the UK but all over the world. We are not going to dig dip into the complicated commission documents — just a quick basic overview of everything you might be interested in.

    How the Commission Works?

    Generally, the UK online gambling jurisdiction works just like any other licensing institution in the world, with the only exception that it does takes its job very seriously and will live not a single stone unturned before any website can get a UK casino license. The United Kingdom Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating both offline and online gambling activities in the United Kingdom. It means it issues the UK casino licence to both local and international online casinos that want to operate under the UK Jurisdiction on the country’s territory. So if there is a website that wants to start offering its services to the British players, the first thing to do is to apply for a license and wait to become one of the best casinos with UK Gambling Commission License if everything goes smoothly. And it’s not an easy task as before a website can get into the list of the casino sites that are licensed in UK, the UKGC will make a thorough check of the casino’s safety and security. The casino’s owners will need to provide a set of documents proving their ownership and showing that they do have enough money to pay out the future winnings to the British players (including you, hopefully). When the casino gets the online gambling licenses in UK, the UKGC job is still not over as it continues to look after the casino and if something goes wrong, the license can be cancelled and the casino will be crossed out of the list of casinos regulated by UK Gambling Commission. The commission’s task is to protect the players so if they see that the casino allows itself to accept bets from minors or doesn’t protect vulnerable customers efficiently enough which may lead to addictions and overspending, nothing will stop them from revoking a license.

    Top-10 UK license casinos Main Bonus License Number Responsible Gambling Options Other Licenses
    EnergyCasino 15 Free Spins (No Deposit) + €200 39325 Limits on deposits, Set limits on session time Curacao, MGA, UKGC
    Gate 777 €1,000 + 100 Extra Spins 52894 Self-Imposed Player Limits, Account closure UKGC, MGA
    Mr Play 100 Free Spins + 100% up to C$200 39483 Player limits, Account limited closing UKGC, MGA
    Hippodrome Casino £/$/€1000 29471 Program Staying in Control, Taking of Break UKGC, MGA
    888 Casino 120% up to €300 + 50 Free Spins 39028 Self-limit Program, Game time control Denmark,
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    Vegas Hero $1000 + 50 Free Spines 45235 Bet Limits, Session Limit UKGC, MGA
    Casumo 200 Free Spins + €1200 39265 Session Time, Betting Limit UKGC, MGA
    Genesis Casino $1000+300 Free Spins 45235 Deposit Limits, Lock Withdrawal Curacao, MGA, UKGC
    Barbados £200 + 100 Free Spins 39483 Consumer protection programs UKGC, MGA

    Overview of the UK Licensed Online Casino Sites

    1. Gate 777

    UKGC-approved Gate 777 online casino has been actively operating since 2018, providing a wide range of gambling entertainment. Gamblers will be able to play slots, jackpot games, slots involved in tournaments, table games, and live software. During our research, we enjoyed good software performance and convenient navigation.

    Gate 777 Casino is known to everyone for its generous bonus program; the welcome bonus brings up to $1,500 + 150 Extra Spins, while other offers are a 25% bonus every Sunday, Captain’s Spins up to 90 FS, Weekend Getaway, extra free spins, and a VIP club. Moreover, active Gate 777 Casino players can get other bonuses that can be spent on top slots. 

    The site is perfectly optimized for mobile gadgets, so you can play on iOS and Android smartphones. It is worth noting that Gate 777 Casino is multilingual. You can visit the site’s ‘Captain’s Journal Blog’ news section to keep up with all casino news.

    2. CasinoChan

    CasinoChan is a reliable online casino approved by the UK Gambling Commission. It has been operating legally since 2019. The site is owned by the well-known company Dama N.V., which has proven itself in the gaming market due to the great casinos we regularly review here at SlotsUp. 

    On the CasinoChan official website, gamblers can play roulette, craps, baccarat, slots, blackjack, poker, bingo, and live games for real money 24/7. At this casino, gamblers can get 11% cashback every week on Wednesdays, which is very generous. We also like CasinoChan’s extensive VIP program, but remember that all its rewards have a 3x wager.

    In the casino lobby, you can use convenient search filters to quickly find a game by category, provider, or name. Many gamblers choose CasinoChan Casino because it has withdrawal times of up to 1 hour so that you can cash out your winnings instantly. The casino also has friendly customer support that will help with any question 24/7. The CasinoChan platform is also ideally optimized for mobile gadgets like iOS and Android.

    3. Playzee

    Playzee online casino is a popular UK-focused platform that has an excellent design dedicated to chemistry. The casino has been operating officially since 2018, with a license from Great Britain Gambling Commission (UKGC) under account number 52894, registered to White Hat Gaming Limited. 

    The name of the Playzee casino is a play on words; Zeegmund is a chemist, and Playzee is his lab. Therefore, you will always see a funny chemist in the casino lobby. Every new customer can activate a Zee Welcome Bonus up to $1,500 + 150 Zee Spins + 500 Zee Points.

    Also, previously authorized Playzee Casino gamblers can receive bonuses within 6 days, which is very generous. Active gamblers can join the VIP club and receive privileges, additional bonuses, and more. The site is mobile-friendly, so you can play all of Playzee’s popular games on all modern smartphones and tablets.

    4. Red Dog

    Red Dog Casino has been actively operating since 2019, with all the necessary licenses, including the UKGC approval. The site offers a variety of slots, table entertainment, jackpot games, and live games. The company that owns the Red Dog casino is Wonder Play Company N.V. 

    The Red Dog platform is perfect for crypto players as the site presents all popular cryptocurrencies. During our tests, we noticed that these transactions are all instant, and the site doesn’t create barriers for players who want to cash out big winnings.

    The casino has two options for welcome bonuses – up to $2,450 or up to $2,000 + 50 free spins. Existing Red Dog gamblers can activate the following bonuses: up to $1,700 Slots & Cards Bonus + 60 Spins, 120 free spins, and more. Cryptocurrency owners can receive up to $2,750 Slots Crypto Bonus and up to $2,300 Slots & Cards Crypto Bonus.

    5. 22Bet

    22Bet Casino is a viral online platform operating legally since 2017, with licenses from the UK Gambling Commission and Curacao. The site allows punters to bet on sports and play slots, card games, roulette, bingo, and live games. 

    Gamblers can download a mobile application for iOS and Android, allowing them to manage their account, place bets on sports, spin the reels, top up their account, and withdraw winnings from any place and at any time. 

    It is worth noting that the casino offers newcomers a welcome bonus of up to $300 for the casino section or 100% up to $122 for sports. The site also has reload bonuses, free bets, lotteries, birthday bonuses, tournaments, and a luxurious VIP club. In the 22Bet casino news section, you can learn about all the upcoming events and bonuses and read sports news.

    Application Requirements & Compliance Highlights

    The application process is quite easy and can be done online but the list of the requirements for getting a Gambling License from UKGC is quite long. The company striving to become one of the UKGC online casinos will have to provide a set of documents that includes their ownership and management structure, individual identity documents of every person involved, policy documents, financial documents like annual reports and details of bonus schemes, and it’s just the beginning. Besides, there will be a criminal record check for the key persons in charge. If the casinos were proved to be good enough to become one of the casinos with UK Gambling Commission License, it will have to pay the annual fee in addition to application fee that was paid before. By the way, the application fee isn’t returned if the license was not approved for some reason.

    Recently, the UKGC has tightened the license standards so the casinos licensed by UK Gambling Commission will have to adhere to stricter rules when it comes to players protection and money laundering prevention. If you are interested in more details about the UKGC licensing procedure, you can always check it up on the official website.

    Types of Licences Issued by the UK Gambling Commission

    It may sound like there is only one kind of license fo the casino sites UK that they can get and operate freely whatever they offer to the customers. In reality, there are several separate licenses — the online casinos licensed in UK may need just one or even all of them, depending on what kind of games and services they provide to the players. In this part, we’ll briefly describe the main types of licenses the UK Gambling Commission casinos may need to apply for if they want to operate in the United Kingdom.

    Best UK Licensed Casino EnergyCasino
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    Effective regulator for UK Casinos Time-out(take a break)
    Alternative licenses for UK Casinos Denmark, Gibraltar, Romania

    Operating License

    This is the main document all the online casinos regulated by UKGC should get and it’s the license that allows the casino operate and provide gambling services to the players in the United Kingdom. This license has a long list of subtypes, depending on what kinds of games the casino is offering. There is an arcade operating license for family entertainment centres, bingo license for online and offline casinos, limited and unlimited remote gambling licenses, separate gambling software license, and so on. It’s hard (and absolutely unnecessary) for a player to understand which license exactly the casino has as the main thing to know here is that the licensed UK Online Casinos, regardless of their license type, are absolutely safe and provide the highest level of gambling services.

    Personal Management License

    Not only the casino itself has to get a license but also every person in key position meaning everyone who is responsible for finances, general strategy, regulatory compliance, IT provision and security, and so on. They will have to provide their personal IDs, declarations, and applications form to be separately reviewed and approved by the UKGC. It’s made to make sure that the online casinos with UKGC License are literally in good hands and none of the company managers are involved in any criminal activities or other not-so-good-looking things.

    Personal Functional License

    This license is issued to every casino employee who is going to be involved in gambling or handling money so it’s more applicable for the offline than online casinos. The list of employees needing a personal functional license from the UKGC includes croupiers, cashiers, gaming supervisors, and security staff including the ones who perform a monitoring surveillance. The list of documents required is once again quite long and includes ID verification documents, police and credit reports, all the residential addresses within the last 5 years, and so on. This procedures ensures that every person involved in the casino’s gaming activities is reliable and doesn’t threaten the players’ security.

    Premises License

    As you can guess from the name, it’s the license issued to the land-based casino or any other offline gambling businesses like bingo or arcade halls only. If the casino is located outside of the UK, it should get a premises license from the local regulators and then provide the licensing documents to the UKGC.

    UK Gambling Commission Reputation & Players Protection

    You are probably already impressed by the UKGC approach to the matter but there are still some things to know. Every reputable licensing institution has its key principles of operation which prove that the casinos’ licensed by them are good for the players and there is nothing to worry about. The main points of interest of the UK Gambling Commission are player protection, fair gaming, funds protection, and operator responsibilities. What does this mean? Keep reading to learn.

    Players Protection

    The first thing to be happy about when playing in the casinos licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission is that your personal and financial information is properly protected, not shared with third parties (unless confirmed in the Terms & Conditions) and is not going to be stolen. The UKGS makes sure that the casino has enough power to keep your information safe from any cyber attacks and will never issue a license to the one that does not. Besides, the players should be protected from the gambling addiction. That’s why, the UKGC takes actions to keep minors away from gambling and generally decrease the online gambling popularity, like introducing the additional taxes for players.

    GamStop is a special service that self-excludes players from gambling and available only for UK casinos.

    Fair Gaming

    We all come to the online casinos for games and it’s vital that the games are fair, otherwise, what’s the point in playing? So one of the most important things to be checked by the UKGC before issuing the license to the casino is that it uses the Random Number Generators, gives a player a real chance of winning, and clearly states the Return to Player rate for every game so you can now what your chances are from the very beginning.

    Funds Protection

    Well, not only the personal information but also the customer’s money should be absolutely safe in the casino. the UK Gambling commission checks whether the players’ funds are keeping separately from the casino’s operation funds, and, talking wider, regulates the payment options that can be used for online gambling in the country. Recently, the talks on banning the credit cards payments for online gambling purposes has started. It will more likely make a significant damage to the whole industry but the players will be much more protected from the overspending and disclosure of financial information.

    Operator Responsibilities

    The key principle of the UKGC is that the casino operator is responsible and accountable for any action taken to the player. It means that if there is an issue or the player suspects any shady activities, they can fill in the form on the UKC website and get the quick response that will be followed by the real actions taken.

    UK Gambling Commission FAQ

    📌  Can UK Regulated Online Casinos Be Trusted?
    There one thing we can tell with the iron-clad guarantee and this thing is that if the casino was licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission — it’s 100% safe and reliable. The UKGS takes a whole set of measures to prevent any frauds and only issues licenses to the best online casinos on the market. But licensing is not the only thing the Commission does. Besides, it takes market researches to know more about what is happening in the industry. For example, the recent research showed that over-55s are the fastest growing group of online gamblers so if you are interested in the reliable online gambling news — SlotsUp and the UKGC website are what you need.
    📌  How to Know if a Casino is Regulated by UK Gambling Commission?
    Every online casino is obliged to clearly state its licensing information on the website. In most cases, you’ll find it on the very bottom of the online casino’s website or in the Terms & Conditions section. Besides, you can double-check it on the UKGC website.
    📌  How do I Submit a Complaint?
    If there is any issue you want the UKGC to solve, there is a special complaint form on the official website. You can fill it in and be sure that it won’t be left unnoticed — the UKGC pays attention to every complai and tries to give feedback in the shortest time possible.
    📌  Are My Funds Safe at a Casino Regulated by UK Gambling Commission?
    Funds protection is one of the UK Gambling Commission key principles — it never licenses the casinos that can’t fully protect the players’ money from cyber attacks or any other threats. So if you are playing in one of the UKGC casinos found on SlotsUp, you can be sure your funds are as safe as possible.
    📌  Are UK Licensed Casinos Safe?
    Absolutely. The United Kingdom Gambling Commission is one of the most reputable licensing institutions in the world which is proved by dozens of the licensed casinos that have been successfully operating on the market for long years with no complaints.
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    Maryna Mykhailiuta

    My name is Maryna, I am content manager and author of articles at SlotsUP. Our team is constantly in search of decent brands and updates in iGaming industry to reveal our experience to you. We try to create the best content for our visitors and make sure that we speak the same language.