How to Check a Casino Licence
A casino’s licence is the single most important line in its terms, and it is the one almost nobody checks. It is easy to see why: the page that carries it is buried in the footer, written in the flattest possible language, and reading it tells you nothing about whether the games are any good. But it is the line that decides what happens if the operator stops paying you — which is the only moment the rest of the site stops mattering.
The good news is that checking a licence takes about five minutes and needs no tools beyond a browser. This page sets out exactly what to look at, in order, and what the answers do and do not tell you. We use a real example from the casinos we list so you can see the method on something concrete rather than on a hypothetical.
Why the licence decides everything else
Every other protection you get at a casino — the dispute process, the responsible gambling tools, the obligation to publish the return to player — comes from the licence, not from the casino’s goodwill. A UK Gambling Commission licence requires all of it. A Curaçao permit requires far less. The casino can be honest, well-run and quick to pay, and still give you almost none of the machinery you would have on a UK-licensed site, because none of it is mandatory for them.
That is why “is this casino licensed?” is the wrong question — every casino we list is licensed, and most of the scams are too. The question is licensed by whom, and issued to which company, because those two facts decide what you can do when something goes wrong.
What a licence does not tell you. A valid licence is not a recommendation and not a guarantee. It means the operator met a set of entry requirements in one jurisdiction on one date. It says nothing about how it treats players, how fast it pays, or how it behaves when a withdrawal is large. Treat it as the floor, not the ceiling.
The five-minute check, step by step
Do these in order. Each one takes under a minute, and the first three will catch most of what matters.
- Find the licence line in the footer Every operator has one. It names the regulator and, usually, a licence or permit number. If you cannot find it at all, that is itself an answer — a casino that does not publish its licence is telling you something.
- Find the operating company Look in the terms and conditions, section 1, for the sentence that begins “this website is owned and operated by…”. Write down the exact company name. It is frequently not the brand name on the homepage — it is a holding company, often an N.V. or B.V. registered in Curaçao.
- Check that the two match The company named in the terms should be the company the licence was issued to. If the footer names one entity and the terms name another, that gap is worth understanding before you deposit — not because it is automatically wrong, but because you need to know who you actually have a contract with.
- Look the company up Search the company name in the relevant commercial register. For Curaçao operators that is the Curaçao chamber of commerce; for a company registered in England, it is Companies House, which is free and public. You are checking that the company exists, is active, and was not recently struck off.
- Check whether the operator runs other brands Search the company name on its own. A company running one casino and a company running fifteen are different propositions, and the difference is not always visible from the site you are on.
Reading a licence number
A licence number is not a secret and it is not decoration — it is a reference you can quote, and its format usually tells you something about the jurisdiction. As an example, here is the permit number that nine of the ten casinos we list share:
| Permit number | OGL/2024/1129/0928 |
|---|---|
| Issued in | Curaçao |
| Year segment | 2024 |
| Issued to | Nine separate N.V. companies, one per brand |
You do not need to decode the format to use the number. What matters is that you have it: quote it if you ever need to complain to the regulator, and use it to check whether two casinos that look unrelated are in fact the same operation. Paste a permit number into a search engine and you will often find it on several sites at once — which is the subject of the next section.
When one licence covers many casinos
This is the single most useful thing on this page, and it is the thing most reviews never mention. In the offshore market, one licence frequently covers a whole family of brands. A single permit is issued to one company, that company runs a platform, and other companies launch their own casinos on top of it under the same permit.
You can see it in the number above. Nine of the ten casinos we list — Cheeky Wins, 1000 Spins, Doctor Spins, Superb, WinnerCasino, Electric Wins, Galaxy Spins, MaximalBet and Extreme Spins — all operate under the permit OGL/2024/1129/0928. They have different names, different domains and different front pages, and each is run by a separately named N.V. company. But the licence behind them is one licence.
A shared licence is not a red flag on its own. White-labelling is normal in this market and many well-run casinos sit on a shared platform. What it changes is what you are actually choosing between. Nine brands on one permit are not nine independent operators competing for your trust — they are one platform with nine shopfronts, so the “compare the options” instinct does less work here than it looks like it should.
The practical consequence is twofold. First, if one brand on a shared permit has a problem, the others share the underlying platform, so “switching casino” within the family may not change much. Second, if you want a genuinely independent second option, you have to look for a permit number that is different from the first one — which is a concrete, checkable test rather than a vague sense that the sites look similar.
What the register will and will not show you
Checking a company in a commercial register is worth doing, but it is important to know what the exercise can and cannot establish.
| The register can tell you | The register cannot tell you |
|---|---|
| Whether the company exists and is currently active | Whether the casino pays its players on time |
| When it was incorporated and where it is registered | How it handles a dispute or a large withdrawal |
| Whether it was recently struck off or renamed | Whether the games are fair or the odds are as advertised |
| Which other companies share its registered address | Anything about the people who actually run it |
One finding the register can surface, and which is worth checking for any operator you are considering, is whether the company is still in good standing. A company that has been removed from the register while the casino keeps trading is a fact you are entitled to know before you send money. We flag exactly that situation where it applies to a casino we list, rather than leaving it out because it is awkward.
Green flags and red flags
None of these is conclusive on its own. Taken together they give you a picture that the marketing never will.
Worth taking as a good sign
- The licence and the operator company are stated clearly and match each other, in the footer and in the terms.
- A UK Gambling Commission licence, if the operator has one — it brings the dispute process, the ADR scheme and mandatory player tools with it. (A UK-licensed casino is not on this site, because it would be covered by GamStop.)
- Published terms that admit limits — a stated payout window, a stated wagering requirement, a stated maximum bet. Silence is not neutral; it usually means the number is not flattering.
- A registered address shared with few other companies, or a company with a long, continuous registration history.
Worth slowing down for
- No licence line anywhere on the site, or a licence that cannot be matched to any company.
- The footer and the terms name different companies, with no explanation of the relationship.
- A permit number shared with a dozen unrelated brands — not fatal, but it means the brand is a shopfront rather than an operator, and it is worth knowing.
- A company that was recently struck off, renamed or re-registered while the casino carried on trading.
- Terms that reserve the right to change wagering or payout limits at any time at the operator’s discretion — which makes any figure you read today provisional.
The through-line in all of this is the same as everywhere else on this site: what is published can be checked, and what is not published is a finding in itself. A casino that states its licence, its operator and its terms is not automatically better than one that does not — but it is the only kind you can actually assess before you deposit.
Related pages
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find out who operates a casino?
Look in the terms and conditions, near the top, for the sentence that begins “this website is owned and operated by…”. That names the company you actually have a contract with, which is often not the brand name on the homepage. The same sentence usually names the licence and its number.
Is a Curaçao licence legitimate?
Yes — it is a real licence issued by a real regulator, which keeps a register and can revoke. What it is not is equivalent to a UK Gambling Commission licence: it does not give you access to a UK dispute-resolution scheme or the Financial Ombudsman, and it does not require the same player-protection tools. The licence is valid; the protections that come with it are simply thinner.
Why do several casinos share one licence number?
Because of white-labelling. One company holds a permit, runs a platform, and other companies launch their own branded casinos on top of it. Nine of the ten casinos we list share the permit OGL/2024/1129/0928, each under a separately named company. They look independent and are not — which is worth knowing before you treat them as competing options.
Does a licence guarantee the casino is safe?
No. A licence is an entry requirement met on one date, not an ongoing guarantee of good behaviour. It tells you there is a regulator with some jurisdiction over the operator, and nothing more. How the operator treats players is a separate question that no licence answers on its own.
What if I cannot find the licence at all?
Treat it as a serious warning. A licensed operator is generally required to display its licence, and every established casino does. If there is no licence line anywhere on the site, there is nothing to check, and a casino that gives you nothing to check has told you what you need to know.
Where do I complain if something goes wrong at an offshore casino?
First to the operator, in writing, keeping the correspondence — most processes expect that step. If it is unresolved, the next route is the licensing authority named in the terms, and in principle a civil claim. There is no equivalent of the Financial Ombudsman, and no UK regulator with jurisdiction over a casino that holds no UK licence.