How to read the comparison
A licence tells you which regulator supervises the casino and which rules the casino must follow. It does not give the casino the right to offer gambling in Denmark. That requires a Danish licence from the Danish Gambling Authority, and none of the licences in this comparison is Danish.
The comparison doesn’t rank the licences. It shows the differences that matter to you as a player: whether you can check the licence yourself, how long it lasts and where you can turn if the casino won’t pay out. For a step-by-step licence check, see our homepage.
Can you check the licence yourself?
All six regulators publish a register or a list of licence holders, but they work differently. The MGA’s register can be searched by company or web address. A Curaçao licence is checked in the CGA’s register and through the seal, which should open a page on cert.cga.cw. Anjouan’s register shows every licence as valid, even expired ones, so you have to read the date yourself. Read more about Anjouan casinos.
In Estonia and Gibraltar, you search for the company name on the regulator’s list. EMTA’s list is linked to Estonia’s Register of Economic Activities, where each permit is shown with its start date, end date and status. We go through it under EMTA’s list and the register. Kahnawake’s list shows the company and web address, but no licence number or licence date.
How long does the licence last?
An MGA licence runs for ten years at a time, while a full Curaçao licence has no expiry date. Provisional Curaçao licences, on the other hand, run for up to six months and can be extended by up to six months more. Anjouan licences usually run for one to three years, and in Estonia the operating permit for online casino games is granted for up to five years. A new licence from Kahnawake first runs for six months and can then be renewed for up to five years at a time. Gibraltar’s new gambling law sets no fixed term, but the Minister can set one in regulations. Licences under the old 2005 Act carry on until a new one is issued, without the holder having to apply again.
Where can you complain?
Your first complaint always goes to the casino. After that, the routes differ. In Malta, an unresolved case can go to an independent dispute resolution body in the EU or EEA. With Curaçao and Anjouan, it goes to a dispute resolution body the casino pays for, and with Anjouan you must complain to the casino within 14 days if the complaint is about a game. In Gibraltar you can complain to the Gambling Commissioner, and in Estonia you can write to EMTA if the operator is on EMTA’s list. In Kahnawake you can go to KGC if you disagree with the casino’s decision or don’t get it within 45 days.
