ADM · Italy
Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli
The customs and monopolies agency, which awards Italian online gaming concessions by public tender rather than open licensing.
The reference
Regulators
National authorities, state and provincial boards, hub jurisdictions and tribal commissions, each recorded with the legislation it works under, the licences it issues and the markets on file under it.
Regulators differ far more than the word suggests. Some issue licences on application against published criteria; some award a fixed number of concessions by tender; some can only grant an online licence to a company that already holds a land-based one; and some, in monopoly markets, issue no commercial licences at all and spend their time enforcing against operators licensed elsewhere.
What they supervise differs too. One authority concentrates on technical certification, another on customer-interaction records, another on advertising, another on the suitability of the individuals behind an applicant. Reading a regulator properly means reading what it acts on, not what its legislation says it may do.
Europe
AGCC · Alderney
Alderney Gambling Control Commission
A Channel Island regulator whose two-category licence separates the customer relationship from the platform.
ANJ · France
Autorité nationale des jeux
The French regulator, which licenses online betting and poker but not online casino games.
DGOJ · Spain
Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego
The Spanish regulator, which operates a two-tier licence and some of Europe's strictest advertising limits.
UKGC · Great Britain
Gambling Commission
The licensing body for all gambling offered to customers in Great Britain, whether the operator is based there or not.
GRAI · Ireland
Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland
The authority created in 2024 to license Irish gambling for the first time under a single framework.
GSC · Isle of Man
Gambling Supervision Commission
A long-established Crown Dependency licensing jurisdiction, used heavily by platform and network businesses.
BGC · Belgium
Gaming Commission
The Belgian commission, where an online licence must be attached to an existing land-based licence.
GGL · Germany
Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder
The joint authority of the German states, which licenses online slots, poker and sports betting under the 2021 interstate treaty.
GLA · Gibraltar
Gibraltar Licensing Authority
A small jurisdiction that licensed much of the early British online betting industry and still hosts a large part of it.
HGC · Greece
Hellenic Gaming Commission
The Greek commission, which replaced a long transitional regime with seven-year licences in 2020.
Gespa · Switzerland
Intercantonal Gambling Supervisory Authority
The Swiss authority for lotteries and betting, in a market where online casino is limited to land-based concession holders.
KSA · Netherlands
Kansspelautoriteit
The Dutch regulator, which opened a licensed online market in October 2021 after a long enforcement-only period.
Lotteritilsynet · Norway
Lotteritilsynet
The Norwegian authority defending a two-operator monopoly with payment and website blocking.
MGA · Malta
Malta Gaming Authority
The licensing authority used by a large share of the industry's operators and suppliers as their primary European base.
MF · Poland
Ministry of Finance
The Polish ministry that permits online betting while reserving online casino to a state operator.
MF ČR · Czechia
Ministry of Finance, State Supervision of Gambling
The Czech ministry that licenses online gambling and operates a central exclusion register.
Poliisihallitus · Finland
National Police Board, Gambling Administration
The Finnish supervisor of a gambling monopoly that is being replaced by a licensing system.
ONJN · Romania
Oficiul Național pentru Jocuri de Noroc
The Romanian office, one of the few regulators that licenses affiliates as well as operators and suppliers.
SRIJ · Portugal
Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos
The Portuguese regulator, part of the national tourism authority, licensing online gambling since 2015.
SGA · Sweden
Spelinspektionen
The Swedish Gambling Authority, which opened a licensed market in 2019 after decades of state monopoly.
DGA · Denmark
Spillemyndigheden
The Danish Gambling Authority, which ran one of the earliest and most imitated European licensing regimes.
North America
AGCO · Ontario, Canada
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
The Ontario regulator, which opened the first competitive regulated online market in Canada in April 2022.
KGC · Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake
Kahnawake Gaming Commission
One of the oldest online gambling regulators, operating under the authority of a Mohawk territory in Quebec.
MGCB · Michigan, United States
Michigan Gaming Control Board
The Michigan board, which licenses commercial and tribal online operators under one framework.
NGCB · Nevada, United States
Nevada Gaming Control Board
The oldest major gaming regulator in the industry, and still the reference point for suitability investigations.
DGE · New Jersey, United States
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
The division that licensed the first substantial online casino market in the United States, live since November 2013.
PGCB · Pennsylvania, United States
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
The Pennsylvania board, which runs one of the largest American online casino markets and its heaviest slot tax.
Latin America
LOTBA and provincial boards · Argentina
Argentine provincial gaming authorities
Argentina licenses online gambling province by province, with the City of Buenos Aires regulator the best known.
Coljuegos · Colombia
Coljuegos
The Colombian regulator, which issued Latin America's first national online gambling licences in 2016.
CGA · Curaçao
Curaçao Gaming Authority
The authority created to replace Curaçao's master-licence system with direct licensing of operators.
MINCETUR · Peru
Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism
The Peruvian ministry whose gaming directorate licensed online gambling from 2024.
SPA · Brazil
Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas
The betting secretariat within Brazil's Ministry of Finance, which licensed the largest new market of the decade.
SEGOB · Mexico
Secretaría de Gobernación, Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos
The Mexican interior ministry, which authorises online gambling as an extension of permits granted under 1947 legislation.
Africa
BCLB · Kenya
Betting Control and Licensing Board
The Kenyan board licensing one of Africa's most active mobile betting markets.
NGB · South Africa
National Gambling Board
The national body overseeing nine provincial licensing boards, in a market where online casino remains unlawful.
NLRC and state boards · Nigeria
Nigerian federal and state gaming authorities
Nigerian licensing is being settled at state rather than federal level following litigation over competence.
Asia
PAGCOR · Philippines
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation
The Philippine state body that both regulates gambling and operates casinos of its own.
Oceania
ACMA · Australia
Australian Communications and Media Authority
The federal body that enforces Australia's prohibition on online casino, while betting licences are issued by the states.
DIA · New Zealand
Department of Internal Affairs
The New Zealand department that regulates domestic gambling and is implementing the country's first online casino licences.