Gambling Commission (UKGC)

The regulator for gambling in Great Britain. A Gambling Commission licence is the permission under which operators provide gambling to people in Great Britain, and the Commission publishes a public register of every licensee.

Official register: Gambling Commission public register

What this licence promises

What the licence is

The Gambling Commission is the body set up by section 20 of the Gambling Act 2005. It sets the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), which every licensee must meet. Remote operators must display a statement that they are licensed and regulated by the Commission, their account number, and a link to their licensed status on the Commission's website.

The wording behind this

“There shall be a body corporate to be known as the Gambling Commission.” (legislation.gov.uk)

“The Licence conditions and codes of practice set out the requirements all licensees must” (Gambling Commission)

“a statement that they are licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission” (Gambling Commission)

How to check a licence

The Gambling Commission publishes a public register where gambling businesses can be searched and downloaded. An operator's site must display its account number and a link to its current licensed status on the Commission's website.

The wording behind this

“Search and download information about gambling businesses.” (Gambling Commission)

“a link (which will be supplied by the Commission) to their current licensed status as recorded on the Commission” (Gambling Commission)

Where it applies

A Gambling Commission licence is the permission under which operators provide gambling to people in Great Britain. The Commission lets operators also show licences from other regulators, provided the screen makes plain that service to persons in Great Britain relies on the Commission licence.

The wording behind this

“it is made plain on those screens that the licensee provides facilities for gambling to persons in Great Britain in reliance on their Gambling Commission licence(s)” (Gambling Commission)

Identity checks

Operators must obtain and verify the customer's name, address and date of birth before the customer may gamble, and verify age before any deposit. A withdrawal request must not trigger extra information requests that could reasonably have been made earlier. Operators must assess money-laundering risk (reviewed at least annually) and keep controls to match. The pages we opened set no amount thresholds.

The wording behind this

“Licensees must obtain and verify information in order to establish the identity of a customer before that customer is permitted to gamble.” (Gambling Commission)

“must not result in a requirement for additional information to be supplied as a condition of withdrawal if the licensee could have reasonably requested that information earlier” (Gambling Commission)

“Verifying the age of a customer before the customer is able to:” (Gambling Commission)

“in any event reviewed at least annually” (Gambling Commission)

Player protection

Remote operators must offer a time-out of 24 hours, one week or one month (or another period up to six weeks), must have self-exclusion procedures that close the account and return funds, and must take part in the national multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.

The wording behind this

“Licensees must offer a 'time out' facility for customers for the following durations:” (Gambling Commission)

“Licensees must close any customer accounts of an individual who has entered a self- exclusion agreement and return any funds held in the customer account.” (Gambling Commission)

“Licensees must participate in the national multi-operator self-exclusion scheme.” (Gambling Commission)

If you have a complaint

Complain to the operator first. If it is not resolved within eight weeks, the operator must let you refer the dispute to an accredited ADR provider, free of charge. The Commission says it does not resolve or decide complaints about gambling transactions.

The wording behind this

“We do not resolve or make decisions on complaints regarding gambling-related transactions.” (Gambling Commission)

“if not resolved to the customer's satisfaction by use of their complaints procedure within eight weeks of receiving the complaint” (Gambling Commission)

“The services of any such ADR entity must be free of charge to the customer.” (Gambling Commission)

Your money

Remote operators holding customer funds must keep them in a separate client bank account. They must also tell customers in their terms whether and how funds are protected if the operator becomes insolvent, and give a "not protected" warning every six months where that applies. The Commission's rules do not guarantee that funds are protected in an insolvency.

The wording behind this

“must ensure that these are held in a separate client bank account or accounts” (Gambling Commission)

“whether customer funds are protected in the event of insolvency, the level of such protection and the method by which this is achieved” (Gambling Commission)

“Where the licensee has selected a 'not protected' rating” (Gambling Commission)

What it does not tell you

• The Gambling Act 2005 makes it an offence to advertise unlawful gambling in Great Britain: gambling is unlawful where a licence under the Act would be needed and is not held. This is why this site links to an operator only where the Commission's register shows a licence, and why it names but does not link to operators that are not licensed in Great Britain.
• The Commission's rules text we opened does not state a minimum age or a GamStop-specific rule on the pages cited here, so we state neither as a rule. Read the live LCCP for the current wording.

History of the regulator

1. 1 October 2005Commission established

   Section 20 of the Gambling Act 2005 creates the Gambling Commission as a body corporate. The section came into force on 1 October 2005.

   Source: legislation.gov.uk
2. 1 September 2007Offence of advertising unlawful gambling in force

   Section 330 of the Act, which makes it an offence to advertise unlawful gambling, came into force on 1 September 2007. On summary conviction the maximum is 51 weeks in prison (six months in Scotland), a fine, or both.

   Source: legislation.gov.uk
3. 1 November 2014Licence needed to serve Great Britain from abroad

   The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 requires remote gambling operators serving customers in Great Britain to hold a Commission licence. A commencement order made on 10 September 2014 brought its licensing and advertising provisions into force on 1 November 2014.

   Sources: legislation.gov.uk; legislation.gov.uk
4. 20 February 2018William Hill: £6.2m package

   The Commission announced a penalty package of at least £6.2m against William Hill for systemic social responsibility and money laundering failures that ran from November 2014 to August 2016.

   Source: Gambling Commission
5. January 2020Credit-card ban and mandatory GAMSTOP

   The Commission's own timeline lists two measures in January 2020: a ban on gambling with credit cards, and making participation in the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme mandatory for online operators. It records the credit-card ban taking effect in April 2020.

   Source: Gambling Commission
6. March 2020Betway: £11.6m

   The Commission's timeline records an £11.6m package against Betway for failings linked to VIP customers in March 2020.

   Sources: Gambling Commission; Gambling Commission
7. 17 August 2022Entain: £17m

   Entain agreed to pay £17m for regulatory failures at LC International (£14m) and Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming (£3m), then the largest enforcement outcome the Commission had recorded.

   Source: Gambling Commission
8. 28 March 2023William Hill group: £19.2m

   Three William Hill group businesses agreed to pay £19.2m in total (WHG (International) £12.5m, Mr Green £3.7m, William Hill Organization £3m). The Commission said the failings were so widespread that serious consideration was given to licence suspension.

   Source: Gambling Commission
9. 27 April 2023Government white paper

   The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age, its plan for reforming gambling regulation after the review of the 2005 Act.

   Source: GOV.UK (DCMS)
10. 4 April 2024bet365: £239,085

    The register records a settlement of £239,085 with Hillside (UK Sports) ENC, the bet365 licensee, over anti-money-laundering and social responsibility failings between May 2021 and September 2022.

    Sources: Gambling Commission; Gambling Commission
11. 12 February 2025Stake leaves the Great Britain market

    The Commission told consumers that Stake.uk.com would no longer be a licensed website from the following month.

    Source: Gambling Commission
12. 16 May 2025TGP Europe: £3.3m penalty, licence surrendered

    The Commission said TGP Europe surrendered its licence after being told it would need to pay a £3.3m penalty and make significant improvements to keep trading in Great Britain. The Commission named failures to carry out effective due diligence on a business partner and anti-money-laundering breaches.

    Source: Gambling Commission
13. 17 December 2025Paddy Power Betfair: £2m

    Four licensees in the Paddy Power Betfair group agreed to pay £2m in total after a Commission review in April and May 2024. They include Betfair Casino Limited.

    Sources: Gambling Commission; Gambling Commission

Sportsbooks here that hold it

• bet365
• Betfair
• Betway
• Ladbrokes
• Paddy Power
• Unibet
• William Hill