Online casino licenses: what they mean and how to check one

A licence tells you who can hold a casino to account. It does not tell you the casino pays. This page explains the difference, how to verify a licence yourself in two minutes, and what the 29 operators we audit actually hold.

What the operators we audit hold

11 of 29 name a licensing authority on record. 18 do not. Counted from the index as this page loads.

How to verify a casino licence yourself

1. Find the claim. The authority and licence number are usually in the site footer or the terms and conditions. No number at all is the first warning sign.

2. Go to the regulator, not the badge. Seals hosted by the casino can be copied. Open the regulator's own website and search its public register.

3. Match the company. The licence holder on the register should be the company named in the casino's terms. A different company, or a licence for a different domain, means the claim does not cover this site.

4. Check it is current. Licences are suspended and revoked. A register entry that is expired or withdrawn is not a licence.

Niekie does this for every operator it audits, and several displayed licences did not check out. The result, with the date it was checked, is on each casino's page.

The licences you will see most offshore

Curaçao. The most common for crypto casinos. Reformed in 2023 so the Curaçao Gaming Authority licenses operators directly.

Anjouan. Issued by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority in the Comoros, and increasingly common among newer crypto operators. A light regime with limited dispute resolution.

Panama. Issued by the Panama Gaming Control Board. Less common, and like the others, not a regulator most players can easily complain to.

None of these is a guarantee either way. That is why the licence is 15 points of a 100 point score and the payout record is 30.

Questions

What is an online casino license?

A licence is permission from a gambling regulator to offer casino games, and it names the body you can complain to if the operator breaks its conditions. What it is worth depends entirely on the regulator: some audit operators and resolve disputes, others issue licences with little supervision behind them.

How do I check if an online casino is licensed?

Find the licence number and the authority named in the casino's footer, then look the number up on that regulator's own public register, not on a seal or badge the casino hosts itself. The company name on the register should match the operator's terms and conditions. Niekie runs this check for every operator it audits and shows the result on the casino's page.

What is a Curaçao casino license?

Curaçao is the most common licence among crypto and offshore casinos. Since its 2023 reform, licences are issued directly by the Curaçao Gaming Authority rather than through master licence holders, which has made the register more useful to check. It remains a lighter regime than regulators such as the UK Gambling Commission or the Malta Gaming Authority.

Is it safe to play at a casino without a license?

An unlicensed casino has no regulator that can sanction it, so a refused withdrawal has no route to resolution beyond the operator's goodwill. 18 of the 29 operators we audit have no licensing authority on record, and that lowers their score; it does not remove them from the index, because people play at them anyway and deserve the data.

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