There are thousands of online casinos that exist today. Each has its own attractive welcoming bonus, pretty graphics, mobile app and other features. With so much to go through already, choosing which online casino to sign up to is a difficult task. In fact, gambling licenses are likely not in your top selection criteria.
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It is easy to get drawn into online casinos by a huge welcome bonus with free spins, reload bonus and much more. But it’s even easier to ignore that license symbol that you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the website to even notice it.
However, you should take the time to fully understand what these licenses do. After all, you are dealing with your own money and personal information over the World Wide Web. You have to make sure your money and data are in safe hands.
A gambling license is a stamp of approval from a licensing authority that the casino is safe and regulated. It shows that the casino holding the license is legitimate. It successfully passed through various regulations and earned the right to legally open its doors to customers.
In fact, getting a gaming license is one of the first and most important steps a casino needs to take in order to enter the world of online gambling. After all, banks or major providers like Visa and MasterCard do not deal with unlicensed websites. Not much point of an online casino with no money.
Gambling sites and online casinos that wish to operate in the UK are regulated by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. In 2005, the Gambling Act was amended to specifically cover online sites, with 3 main goals in mind:
A casino license is a seal of approval that the company in question has been thoroughly audited and passes the test. The UKGC requires that a company meets certain criteria before a license is given. These include:
Online casinos have been in operation for some time now, and the sheer amount of companies in the industry has led to the tightening of the regulations and criteria needed for a casino license. Basically, they need to prove that they are to be diligent in the handling of sensitive information from their players and can be held accountable if these criteria are not met.
Some regions in the world have legislation that allows them to license and regulate online gambling sites. These regions are called licensing jurisdictions.
The legislation and requirements of getting a gaming license depends on the location of the licensing authority. This is why many online casinos choose to locate all or part of their operations in a certain country. To operate legally following regulatory procedures that best match their needs and possibilities.
This is also the reason gambling licenses hold the name of the country or region that it was issued from. For example:
Gambling laws vary from country to country just like any other type of laws. Some general requirements that are in place on companies that wish to get a gambling license revolve around:
Online casinos can hold different gaming licenses as long as their application is approved by the different licensing authorities. If you look at all the UK casino sites on the market, you will notice that not all of them hold a UK gambling license from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). There are some gambling licenses that are more popular than others, for their own reasons.
The UKGC is one of the world’s most respected and trusted providers and regulators of gambling licenses;
These are some of the reasons why the UKGC is held in high regard by operators and players alike. On top of that, it is also the hardest license for an online casino to get, making it all the more special. A safe casino licensed by the UKGC means:
The UKGC doesn’t hand out licenses to any casino that wants to start operations. As such, a new UK casino operator has to satisfy some conditions which prove the genuineness of the services they offer. This includes the validity of the software used to provide games to UK players.
The Isle of Man is proving to be an excellent environment for online gambling operators. It is becoming a popular place for companies to set up online casinos. Some the main reasons are:
Isle of Man licensing authority is known to be strict in who they select to award gambling licenses to. Also, getting and keeping the license gets quite pricey.
Casinos licensed and regulated by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission are popular and trusted by players in the UK.
The MGA is another regulatory body which is held in very high regard in the online gambling world. Casinos licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority boast the following features:
Malta is one of Europe’s smallest countries, popular as a tourist destination. It is also popular for companies who want to set up an online casino.
When an operator holds an appropriate gaming license, that have had to invest a lot of time and money acquiring it. This includes mountains of paperwork back and forth, auditing and background checks. Because of this, they will always want players to know that they are a licensed gaming site.
Generally speaking, a casino will have the logo of whichever licenses they hold on display at the bottom of their homepage. If you don’t see a respected licensing body’s logo, then you should be wary. The UK Gambling Commission’s website has a search function to locate any company that holds their license, if you need to double check.
A gambling license should be taken into consideration when you are choosing which online casino to sign up with. It shows the restrictions, requirements and protection to both players and casino operators. Gambling licenses can be the deciding factor whether you wish to do business with a certain casino. It reflects how much time and effort the casino invested into starting and running its gambling site.
Almost all casinos will display the license credentials in the footer. You have to scroll to the very bottom to find the license that usually links to the licensing authority. The license information is also often mentioned in the terms and conditions of each online casino.
Licenses issued by the Curacao Gaming Control Board have a bad reputation in the online gambling community. But it is also quite a popular license because it is cheap and quick to get it. But it does provide very limited protection to players.
Players from the UK cannot sign and bet on a casino holding only a Curacao gambling license.
Any gambling website needs to be licensed regardless if it can be accessed via a mobile phone, desktop computer, tablet or other smart devices.
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