United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Great Britain is one of the oldest and largest regulated online gambling markets. The Gambling Commission licenses operators under the Gambling Act 2005, and since 2014 any operator whose facilities are used in Great Britain needs its licence, wherever it is based. Sports betting, casino, poker and bingo are all open. Northern Ireland sits outside the Act under its own 1985 Order. Online casino, betting and bingo produced £8.3 billion of gross gambling yield in the year to March 2026, up 6.9%. Online casino accounted for £5.7 billion of that, £4.8 billion of it from slots, with 25.7 million active accounts. The last two years have brought the sharpest changes since 2005. Online slots have statutory stake limits of £5, or £2 for players under 25. A statutory levy of 1.1% of GGY for online operators has funded harm research and treatment since April 2025. Bonus wagering is capped at ten times the bonus, and Financial Risk Assessments are being phased in for the heaviest spenders. The biggest change is tax. Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% on 1 April 2026, and online betting moves from 15% to 25% in April 2027, with UK horse racing exempt. The government is now moving on the unlicensed market, consulting on a criminal ban on sponsorship by unlicensed brands from August 2027.
Treating the UK as one market: the Gambling Commission licenses Great Britain, not Northern Ireland. Assuming an offshore licence is enough: any operator whose facilities are used in Great Britain needs a Commission licence. Forgetting the April 2027 remote betting rate when modelling, and that horse racing is excluded from it.
The regulator is the Gambling Commission (GC).
We record 4 licence types for the United Kingdom.
Built from the record on this page, last verified 21 Oct 2026. The Licensing and Taxation sections carry the full detail and sources.
Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014
The Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order 1985
National Lottery etc. Act 1993
The Gambling Act 2005 (Operating Licence Conditions) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
The Gambling Levy Regulations 2025
Finance Act 2026, sections 86 to 88
The Gambling (Fees) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026
Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP)
Ban on advertising and sponsorship by unlicensed gambling operators
Gambling impact assessments for betting shops, bingo halls and arcades (England)
Remote casino operating licence
Remote general betting operating licence
Remote bingo operating licence
Gambling software operating licence
New General Betting Duty rate for remote bets (excluding remote bets on UK horse racing, which stay at 15%, and bets via self-service terminals in betting premises)
Regulatory settlement for AML failures after its games appeared on six unlicensed sites used from Great Britain
Fine: £4,750,000 as of 23 Jul 2026
Regulatory settlement for social responsibility failures
Fine: £900,000 as of 30 Jun 2026
Regulatory settlement for AML and social responsibility failures
Fine: £609,104 as of 20 Aug 2026
Combined remote operating licence suspended
Figures on this record are drawn from official regulator data.
6 Apr 2025
Statutory gambling levy starts
9 Apr 2025
£5 online slots stake limit takes effect
21 May 2025
£2 stake limit for players aged 18 to 24 takes effect
1 Apr 2026
Remote Gaming Duty rises to 40% and Bingo Duty is abolished
7 Jul 2026
Commission confirms a staged introduction of Financial Risk Assessments
15 Jul 2026
DCMS consults on banning unlicensed gambling sponsorship and advertising
23 Jul 2026
Evolution agrees a £4.75 million settlement
1 Apr 2027
25% General Betting Duty rate for remote bets begins
The 25% remote betting duty arrives on 1 April 2027 and will test margins further after the 40% gaming rate. Watch the government response to the unlicensed sponsorship consultation (ban proposed from August 2027), the timetable for stage one Financial Risk Assessments, the Commission fee rises from 1 October 2026, and whether a new minister and the Lords committee on advertising push for further advertising restrictions.
Anthony Lee, his wife Laura Lee and Amy Hind avoided immediate custody at Southwark Crown Court after admitting cheating under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005. The Gambling Commission calls it the first case of its kind, and 10 more defendants are still to stand trial.
Malta's gaming regulator and its consumer authority have agreed a formal framework for handling player complaints and sharing information where their remits overlap. The text is unpublished, and the release names no practice, term or advertising rule they will pursue together.
Evolution's chief executive called the third quarter "uneventful", and on the numbers it was: every region grew on the quarter and adjusted EBITDA landed on consensus. The news sat at the edges. The live casino supplier closed its Brazilian studio on 5 October, and spent €823.9 million on its own shares in three months.
The owner of William Hill, 888 and Mr Green reported a 2% like-for-like revenue fall for the third quarter, after 2% growth in the first half, in a brief update with no divisional figures, no profit number and no guidance. Its chief executive used it to lobby the Treasury five days before the Budget.
The former Coral managing director will leave the racecourses' trade body on 31 December, ten days after it replaced him on the British Horseracing Authority board. No reason was given and no successor named, six days before a Budget that could raise machine games duty.
The first opening weekend without gambling brands on the front of Premier League shirts still carried 11,205 gambling messages across seven live matches, according to the University of Bristol's fourth annual count. Shirt-front logos all but vanished, sleeve and training kit branding rose 362.7% on the three-year average, and pitchside boards held steady or grew.
The FTSE 100 trading group says financial prediction markets will launch in the fourth quarter for professional clients only, as the Financial Conduct Authority still treats them as banned retail binary options. Sports and politics wait on a Gambling Commission licence it has applied for.
The former Française des Jeux began the year aiming for slight revenue growth and now expects a mid-single-digit decline, with its margin target trimmed to around 23%. Fewer big EuroMillions jackpots, high winnings for retail bettors and tax rises did most of the damage.
The Times reports that the Chancellor will lift the main rate of machine duty by five points at next week's Budget, a quarter more than today but well short of the doubling campaigners wanted. Nothing is confirmed, the industry says any rise will cost jobs, and Rank's shares rose after the report.
Source tiers. Tier 1: the law, official gazette, licence register or regulator itself. Tier 2: other official sources such as ministries, parliaments, courts and statistics agencies. Only tier 1 and tier 2 sources can support a fact on their own.
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (GOV.UK)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
Gambling Commission
Gambling Commission
Gambling Commission
Gambling Commission
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (GOV.UK)
Department for Culture, Media and Sport (GOV.UK)
Gambling Commission
Advertising Standards Authority / CAP
House of Commons Library
Gambling Commission
Gambling Commission
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)