Kuwait: gambling regulation and licensing

Kuwait prohibits gambling in every form and has no gambling regulator, no gambling licence and no lottery. Article 2 of the Constitution makes the Islamic Sharia a main source of legislation, and the operative rule is Article 205 of the Penal Code of 1960. It defines a gambling game as any game in which winning or losing depends on luck rather than on factors that can be identified and controlled in advance. Gambling in a public place carries up to three months' imprisonment and a fine of up to KD 37.500, rising to a year and KD 75 for a repeat within a year. Managing a gambling venue, or taking any part in organising, supervising or preparing the play, carries up to two years and up to KD 150. Decree-laws amending the Penal Code in 2024 and 2025 left Article 205 unchanged, and the 2024 FATF-MENAFATF evaluation records that casinos are prohibited under it. No statute mentions online gambling and the player offence is limited to public places, but Article 11 reaches anyone abroad who takes part in an offence committed wholly or partly in Kuwait. In practice online gambling is pursued as organised crime and money laundering. The Ministry of Interior broke up online gambling networks in 2025, and in January and June 2026 the courts gave seven-year sentences and fines running to millions of dinars to members of online gambling networks, including a global platform's local agent, and to the companies that moved their money. The only lawful draws are free prize promotions licensed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, whose own draw supervision produced a rigging prosecution and ten-year sentences in 2026. No bill to legalise or regulate gambling was found.

Regulator

Not yet verified

Regulator type

No dedicated regulator

Headline tax

Not yet verified

Licence required

No

Minimum age

Not yet verified

Tax base

Not yet verified

Licence required

No

Application window

Closed

Local establishment required

Not yet verified

Local server required

Not yet verified

Barriers to entry

There is nothing to apply for. No Kuwaiti law provides a licence for betting, casino, poker or lottery, Article 205 of the Penal Code makes organising gambling an offence, and casinos are prohibited. The only lawful draws are free prize promotions licensed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; they are marketing permits, not a gambling licence.

Minimum age

Not yet verified

National self-exclusion

Not yet verified

AML regime

There is no gambling AML regime because there is no lawful gambling sector. The 2024 FATF-MENAFATF evaluation treats casinos as a category that cannot legally operate (criteria 22.1 and 28.1) and spent little time on them for that reason. Gambling is a predicate offence for money laundering; the evaluation's table of investigations by predicate offence in cases not connected to money laundering (Table 3.11) lists two gambling investigations between 2018-19 and 2022-23, and money laundering carries three to ten years' imprisonment and a fine of half to the full value of the funds, rising to 20 years and double the value with aggravating factors.

KYC requirements

Not yet verified

Stake limits

Not yet verified

Advertising permitted

Not yet verified

Social media rules

No statute on gambling advertising was found. The Ministry of Interior monitors social media for gambling promotion and has arrested a promoter of foreign gambling sites.

Credit card ban

Not yet verified

Crypto stance

Prohibited

Payment blocking regime

No gambling-specific payment blocking rule was found. Moving the proceeds of online gambling through Kuwaiti bank accounts is prosecuted as money laundering: in the cases reported in 2025 and 2026 funds were routed through front companies, a medical clinic and alternative remittance channels before being sent abroad.

Currency restrictions

In July 2023 the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and every financial and DNFBP supervisor issued an identical circular prohibiting the use of virtual assets as a payment or investment instrument, business licences for virtual asset service providers and virtual asset mining (FATF-MENAFATF 2024, para. 436).

ISP blocking

Not yet verified

DNS blocking

Not yet verified

Payment blocking

Not yet verified

App store takedowns

Not yet verified

Criminal penalties

Gambling in a public place: up to three months and up to KD 37.500, or either; a repeat within one year: up to one year and up to KD 75, or either. Managing a gambling venue or taking part in organising, supervising or preparing the play: up to two years and up to KD 150, or either (Penal Code Article 205). Laundering the proceeds: three to ten years and a fine of half to the full value of the funds, up to 20 years and double with aggravating factors; online laundering under Law No. 63 of 2015, Article 9: up to ten years and KD 20,000 to KD 50,000.

Operator liability

Anyone who manages a public place for gambling or takes part in any capacity in organising or supervising the play or preparing its means commits an offence (Article 205). Article 11 extends the Code to anyone abroad whose act makes him a principal or accomplice in an offence committed wholly or partly in Kuwait. No prosecution of an offshore operator itself was found; the reported cases target people in Kuwait who ran gambling websites or acted as a platform's agent, and the companies used to move the funds, who have received seven-year sentences and multi-million dinar fines for money laundering.

Player liability

Gambling in a public place is an offence under Article 205. The article does not penalise private play in terms, so the position of a player gambling online from home is not settled by the text, although the Ministry of Interior states that dealing with illegal websites or taking part in their activities is a crime punishable by law.

1. 2 Jun 1960

   Penal Code (Law No. 16 of 1960) issued, with Article 205 prohibiting gambling

2. 11 Nov 1962

   Constitution issued; Article 2 makes the Islamic Sharia a main source of legislation

3. 12 Jul 2015

   Law No. 63 of 2015 on information technology crimes published, criminalising money laundering through information technology (Article 9)

4. Jul 2023

   Ministry of Commerce and Industry and all financial supervisors prohibit the use of virtual assets as a payment instrument

5. Jun 2024

   FATF adopts the Kuwait mutual evaluation, recording that casinos are prohibited under Penal Code Article 205

6. 20 Sept 2025

   Ministry of Interior arrests seven members of an international online gambling network

7. 4 Nov 2025

   Ministry of Interior dismantles a gang operating an online gambling website and laundering its proceeds

8. 27 Jan 2026

   Criminal Court jails nine for seven years each in an online gambling and money laundering case

9. 2 Feb 2026

   Criminal Court jails 19 defendants, including a Ministry of Commerce and Industry official, for ten years and 28 for four years in a commercial prize draw rigging case

10. 3 Jun 2026

    Court of Appeal jails an online gambling platform agent and two others for seven years each with fines of KD 16.839 million

Nothing points to legalisation: no bill or consultation on gambling was found, and the Penal Code decree-laws of 2024 and 2025 did not touch Article 205. What to watch is enforcement: further appeals in the online gambling money laundering cases, more Ministry of Interior operations against gambling websites and their promoters, and any use of Article 11 against operators abroad whose games reach Kuwaiti players.

Is gambling legal in Kuwait?

No. Article 205 of the Penal Code of 1960 punishes gambling in a public place and organising gambling, and defines gambling as any game in which winning or losing depends on luck. No law provides a licence for any form of gambling.

Is online gambling legal in Kuwait?

No law permits or licenses it. Article 205 does not mention remote play and its player offence is limited to public places, but organising or preparing the means of play is an offence, Article 11 reaches anyone abroad who takes part in an offence committed wholly or partly in Kuwait, and the Ministry of Interior treats dealing with illegal gambling websites as a crime.

What are the penalties for gambling in Kuwait?

Gambling in a public place carries up to three months in prison and a fine of up to KD 37.500, rising to up to one year and KD 75 for a repeat within a year. Managing a gambling venue or organising play carries up to two years and up to KD 150. Laundering the proceeds carries three to ten years and a fine of half to the full value of the funds.

How does Kuwait enforce against online gambling?

Mainly through money laundering prosecutions. The Ministry of Interior broke up online gambling networks in September and November 2025, and in January and June 2026 the courts sentenced members of online gambling networks, including a global platform's local agent, to seven years each, with combined fines of KD 16.839 million on three defendants in the June case, and fined the companies used to move the money.

Are there casinos, a lottery or legal prize draws in Kuwait?

There are no casinos and no lottery. Businesses may run free prize draws for consumers only under a Ministry of Commerce and Industry licence backed by a bank guarantee.

• Bahrain
• Saudi Arabia
• Qatar
• Oman
• United Arab Emirates

1. قانون الجزاء والقوانين المكملة، المجلد الأول (الجزء السابع، الطبعة الأولى، فبراير 2011): القانون رقم 16 لسنة 1960 بإصدار قانون الجزاء، المواد 11 و12 و205

   Ministry of Justice, State of Kuwait (published on the Kuwait Government Online portal)

   The official PDF on e.gov.kw returned HTTP 403 to requests from outside Kuwait on 2026-09-23, so it was read from the Internet Archive capture of the same file (15 December 2022, 8,888,596 bytes, the same size the 2025 and 2026 captures report). Some unofficial websites quote the Article 205 fine as KD 500, and some online guides cite "Articles 208 and 209" with fines of KD 1,000 and KD 300; neither matches the Ministry of Justice text, which gives KD 37.500, KD 75 and KD 150; the 2024 FATF-MENAFATF evaluation also reports KD 37.500 and KD 150 (Table 3.16).

   Archived copy

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published Feb 2011
2. قانون الجزاء الكويتي رقم 16 لسنة 1960 (نص موحد حتى آخر تعديل 2025، 33 تعديلا تشريعيا)

   Bawabat al-Qawanin (lawskw.com), private Kuwaiti legislation database

   Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026
3. مرسوم بقانون رقم 65 لسنة 2025 بتعديل قانون الجزاء (5 مايو 2025): المواد 44 و154 و164 والمواد الجديدة 154 مكررا و164 مكررا و283 إلى 286

   Bawabat al-Qawanin (lawskw.com), private Kuwaiti legislation database

   Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 5 May 2025
4. مرسوم بقانون رقم 93 لسنة 2024 بتعديل بعض أحكام قانون الجزاء (15 سبتمبر 2024): المادتان 134 و135

   Bawabat al-Qawanin (lawskw.com), private Kuwaiti legislation database

   Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 15 Sept 2024
5. مرسوم بقانون رقم 77 لسنة 2025 بتعديل قانون الجزاء: إضافة المادتين 259 مكررا و259 مكررا (أ)

   Bawabat al-Qawanin (lawskw.com), private Kuwaiti legislation database

   Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 2025
6. دستور دولة الكويت (الصادر في 11 نوفمبر 1962)، المادة 2، مع المذكرة التفسيرية

   National Assembly (Majlis Al-Umma), State of Kuwait

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 11 Nov 1962
7. Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures: Kuwait, Mutual Evaluation Report (adopted at the FATF June 2024 Plenary, published October 2024), paras 68, 89, 209 and 436, Tables 3.11 and 3.16, criteria 15.4, 22.1 and 28.1

   FATF and MENAFATF

   Tier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published Oct 2024
8. قانون رقم 63 لسنة 2015 في شأن مكافحة جرائم تقنية المعلومات، المادة 9

   Ministry of Interior, State of Kuwait

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 12 Jul 2015
9. القانون رقم 63 لسنة 2015 في شأن مكافحة جرائم تقنية المعلومات، الكويت اليوم العدد 1244، 12 يوليو 2015

   Public Prosecution, Ministry of Justice, State of Kuwait

   Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 12 Jul 2015
10. بيان من وزارة الداخلية: الإدارة العامة لمكافحة الإرهاب وغسل الأموال تضبط تشكيلا عصابيا يدير موقعا إلكترونيا للقمار (4 نوفمبر)

    Ministry of Interior, State of Kuwait

    The page shows the day and month only. The year 2025 follows from the Criminal Court verdict in the same case (gambling proceeds routed through a medical clinic and commercial companies) reported on 27 January 2026.

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 4 Nov 2025
11. قطاع الأمن الجنائي يضبط مروج أنشطة قمار إلكترونية عبر سناب شات (7 نوفمبر)

    Ministry of Interior, State of Kuwait

    The page shows the day and month only; the year is taken from the adjacent Ministry statement of 4 November 2025 (news item 112030).

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 7 Nov 2025
12. سحب على جوائز مجانية: خدمة ترخيص السحب على جوائز مجانية محلية ودولية (الشروط والمستندات والرسوم)

    Ministry of Commerce and Industry, State of Kuwait

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
13. طلب حجب / رفع حجب محتوى إلكتروني

    Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), State of Kuwait

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
14. Interior cracks down on online gambling, launches campaigns

    Kuwait Times

    Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 20 Sept 2025
15. Nine jailed for seven years in gambling and money laundering website case in Kuwait

    Gulf News (citing Al Qabas)

    Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 27 Jan 2026
16. Kuwait jails three for seven years each over online gambling and money laundering scheme

    Gulf News (citing Al Qabas)

    Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 3 Jun 2026
17. Kuwaiti court jails 19 in commercial draw rigging case, hands lengthy sentences

    Gulf News (citing Al Qabas)

    Tier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 2 Feb 2026