UK gambling licensing regime

Produced in partnership with Carl Rohsler of Memery Crystal
Practice notes

UK gambling licensing regime

Produced in partnership with Carl Rohsler of Memery Crystal

Practice notes
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The three main types of licence available to potential gambling licensees within great britain are:

  1. operating licences

  2. personal licences, and

  3. premises licences

Operating licences

An operating licence is required by any person who wishes to provide commercial gambling facilities in the UK. The power to grant operating licences lies exclusively with the Gambling Commission (the Commission), and the provision of gambling facilities without an appropriate operating licence (or other exemption) constitutes unlicensed gambling under the Gambling Act 2005 (GA 2005), which is a criminal offence.

An operating licence may be held by an individual (over the age of 18), a company, partnership or other legal person. The applicant does not need to be a UK citizen or company, provided they have an address for service within the UK.

Types of licence

Section 65 of GA 2005 sets out the different types of operating licence:

  1. casino operating licence (remote or non-remote)

  2. bingo operating licence (remote or non-remote)

  3. general betting operating licence鈥攖wo sub-categories of licence ('limited' and 'standard') (remote and non-remote)

  4. pool

Carl Rohsler
Carl Rohsler

Carl Rohsler is a solicitor advocate and partner at Keystone Law. He specialises in gambling regulation and intellectual property law. Carl was educated in England and obtained an MA at Merton College, Oxford, before professional qualification at the University of Law, Chester. He qualified as a solicitor in 1995 and solicitor advocate in 2001. Prior to joining He previously worked at Norton Rose (1993-2003), Squire Patton Boggs (2003-2018) and Memery Crystal (2018-2025). Keystone Law is a full-service, Top 100 law firm. Headquartered in central London, it has over 450 partners throughout the UK who advise clients across 25 service areas and 22 industry sectors.
 
Carl is the author of a number of works on gambling law and practice, including Gambling Act 2005: A Current Law Statute, Current Law Statutes Guide to The National Lotteries Act 2007 and Licensing Law and Practice (2008). He is a founding editor and contributor to In-Depth Gambling, now in its 10th Edition, and has recently joined the editorial board for Smith & Monkcom鈥檚 The Law of Gambling, preparing its 5th Edition. Carl has been recognised as a leading practitioner by both Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession and The Legal 500, the latter of which has ranked him in its 鈥淗all of Fame鈥 for the last four years.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Key definition:
Great Britain definition
What does Great Britain mean?

A geographical term generally referring to the mainland nations of the UK and certain smaller islands.

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