Great Britain

Great Britain is one of the largest regulated online gambling markets in Europe. Anyone who provides remote gambling facilities and advertises to consumers in Great Britain needs a licence from the Gambling Commission, and the licensing regime also covers B2B software suppliers and game hosts.

The Commission's Industry Statistics for April 2025 to March 2026 put total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY), including all reported lotteries, at £17.5 billion. The Remote Casino, Betting and Bingo (RCBB) sector generated £8.3 billion of that, up 6.9 percent on the previous financial year. Most of the regulatory work of the past two years has targeted online slots, promotions and customer spend controls.

Regulator and licensing

The Gambling Commission licenses and regulates gambling under the Gambling Act 2005. It offers three types of operating licence: non-remote, remote and ancillary. Applicants do not have to be incorporated in any particular jurisdiction. However, section 69 of the Act requires a UK address at which documents can be served, and that address has to be kept for the life of the licence. When it assesses an application, the Commission looks at identity and ownership, finances, integrity, competence and criminality.

The Commission's list of licence activities covers the main online verticals:

• Betting: remote general betting (real and virtual events), betting host, betting intermediary and pool betting licences.
• Casino: remote casino and remote casino game host licences.
• Bingo: remote bingo and remote bingo game host licences.
• B2B: remote gambling software licences and remote gaming machine technical licences.

Key rules for affiliates

Affiliates are not licensed directly. The operators they work for are responsible for them.

• Responsibility for third parties. Under Social Responsibility code provision 1.1.2, licensees must take responsibility for any third party they contract with for any part of their licensed business. The Commission's affiliates guidance says operators using affiliates for direct marketing must comply with the LCCP, the Data Protection Act 2018 and PECR. It adds that the Commission and the ICO consider the operator "primarily responsible for any breaches".
• Self-excluded customers. Operators "will be held responsible" if an affiliate sends marketing to self-excluded customers. The Commission says it is unlikely to accept that all reasonable steps were taken where a single point of failure caused the breach.
• Advertising codes. LCCP condition 5.1.6 applies to all licences except lottery licences. It requires all marketing to be socially responsible and requires licensees to comply with the CAP and BCAP advertising codes. For media the codes do not explicitly cover, licensees should apply the codes' principles as if they did.
• Content marketing and social media. On 4 June 2026 the Commission told operators that CAP had issued an enforcement notice saying no content marketing should strongly appeal to under-18s. It also reminded operators that consumer-facing social media posts fall under the advertising codes. A compliance sweep using an AI-based Active Ad Monitoring System began on 11 June 2026.
• Promotions. From 19 January 2026, bonus wagering requirements are capped at ten times. Offers that require customers to play two or more types of gambling, such as betting and slots, are banned. Social Responsibility Code 5.1.1 (Rewards and Bonuses) was restructured at the same time.

Recent changes

• 9 April and 21 May 2025: online slots stake limits. A new condition on all remote casino operating licences caps the stake per online slots game cycle. The £5 limit for all adults started on 9 April 2025. The £2 limit for customers aged 18 to 24 started on 21 May 2025. The caps cover online slots only, not games such as roulette or blackjack.

• 6 April 2025: statutory levy. The statutory gambling levy started under the Gambling Levy Regulations 2025. It replaced voluntary research, education and treatment contributions. The Commission collects it and DCMS sets the rates.

• 31 October 2025: financial limits. Operators must now:

  • prompt customers to set a financial limit before their first deposit;
  • remind customers every six months to review their account and transaction information;
  • decrease limits immediately when a customer asks.

  These requirements are set out in the Commission's 7 October 2025 update.

• 19 January 2026: promotions. The wagering cap and the ban on mixed-product offers took effect.

• 1 April 2026: Remote Gaming Duty. HMRC raised Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% and abolished Bingo Duty from the same date. A new 25% remote betting rate within General Betting Duty is due from 1 April 2027. Remote bets on UK horse racing are excluded and stay at 15%. HMRC's rates table lists 40% for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.

• 7 July 2026: Financial Risk Assessments. The Commission confirmed a staged rollout of Financial Risk Assessments, which Credit Reference Agencies will carry out:

  • Stage one: applies to the largest operators. The trigger is net deposits of £5,000 in a rolling 24 hours, or £2,500 for high-risk groups such as under-25s.
  • Final stage: the thresholds fall to £1,000 in 24 hours or £3,000 over 90 days, and to £750 or £2,000 for under-25s.
  • Enforcement: during the early stages, the Commission will not take enforcement action for failing to act on an assessment.
  • Timetable: the Commission said it would confirm the stage one timetable after engaging with industry.

• 23 July 2026: B2B supply-chain enforcement. Evolution Malta Holding Limited, which holds gambling software and game host licences, agreed to pay £4.75 million after its games appeared on six unlicensed websites accessible from Great Britain.

• 30 September 2026: deposit limits. After an implementation extension, operators must now offer gross deposit limits. Only this type of limit may be called a "deposit limit", and it must be shown with at least equal prominence to other financial limits. The same date, Ruth Evans began a five-year term as the Commission's Chair.