Gibraltar casinos: how the Gibraltar gambling licence works

What is a Gibraltar gaming licence?

A Gibraltar gaming licence is the same as a Gibraltar gambling licence: a licence under Gibraltar’s Gambling Act 2025, which, despite its name, was only passed in 2026. Casinos licensed for online gambling appear on the Gambling Division’s list of licence holders. Our guide to casino licences shows how the Gibraltar licence differs from the others.

The licensing authority and the Gambling Commissioner

The licensing authority, which considers applications and grants licences, is the Minister responsible for gambling, or any person or body the Minister appoints. The Commissioner, who is also appointed by the Minister, supervises licence holders. The Act itself only says “the Commissioner”, but the title used in practice is Gambling Commissioner. The Commissioner’s office and staff are known as the Gambling Division, which publishes the list of licence holders.

The Gambling Act 2025, old licences and transitional licences

The Act came into force on 1 April 2026 and replaced the Gambling Act 2005. Only Part 5 is not yet in force. It deals with the Commissioner approving the people who hold key roles at a licence holder.

A company licensed under the old Act keeps its licence, which is treated as if it had been granted under the new one. This applies until the licensing authority issues a new licence, and the company does not have to apply again.

Transitional licences are different. They cover activities a company was already carrying on when the Act came into force, but which did not need a licence until the new Act. A transitional licence lasts six months. If the company submits a full and complete application in that time, the transitional licence continues until a licence is granted or refused.

What the law requires of a casino

A licence covers either online or land-based gambling, never both. To get one, the company needs a genuine presence in Gibraltar. The licensing authority looks at things such as the gambling equipment the company keeps in Gibraltar and the number of jobs it creates there.

The Act also sets conditions that a licence holder must meet at all times. The casino must do what is reasonably practicable to make sure its customers gamble responsibly, and it must take all reasonable steps to keep anyone under 18 from gambling. Before you can play, the casino has to register you and check your identity.

When you open an account, the casino must tell you whether and to what extent your money is protected if the company goes bankrupt. Winnings and balances must be paid promptly under the agreed terms, unless the law allows or requires the casino to withhold them. The casino must also have enough money to cover its payouts, keep its terms easy to find on its website and run an effective complaints procedure.

GRA, “Gambling Commission” and other names

Casino sites and guides use several names for the regulator. Some name the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA), but that is a different authority. The GRA oversees areas such as communications, post, broadcasting, data protection and competition, but not gambling. The Gambling Act lists the GRA among the Gibraltar authorities that the Commissioner can exchange information with.

The name “Gambling Commission” also turns up and even appears once in the Act, but Gibraltar’s regulator is not the UK Gambling Commission. What matters is not the name a casino uses, but whether the company, the brand and the licence type all match the Gambling Division’s list.

Is Gibraltar in the EU?

No. As a British Overseas Territory, Gibraltar left the EU with the United Kingdom on 31 January 2020. It sits at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, about 2,560 km from Copenhagen in a straight line.

So a Gibraltar licence does not count as an EU licence, even though Gibraltar is in Europe and borders Spain. To see which countries do issue EU licences, read our page about EU-licensed casinos.

Gibraltar-licensed gaming operators: the official list

The Gambling Division’s list of licence holders is the register the Act requires the Commissioner to keep up to date. It has four sections: companies offering online gambling to individual players, a single land-based casino, companies supplying games and services to other gambling businesses, and five companies providing marketing for gambling operators.

When we checked on 3 November 2026, there were 29 entries under online gambling for individual players. The first entry covers two companies from the Entain group.

Licence holders and approved brands

On the list itself, each entry shows a short label for what the company does, such as “Gaming Operator” for casino games and “Bookmaker” for betting. Most entries also link to “Approved Brands”. That link opens a short document listing the company’s licences and their RGL numbers, the brands that come under them and the date the details apply from. For a few companies, the document is still marked as under construction.

A worked example

Take tombola. Find Tombola (International) PLC on the list, with the label “Gaming Operator”, and open its approved-brands document. It shows one licence for casino games (RGL No. 052), one brand (tombola) and the date 10 August 2026. If the brand you play on is missing from a company’s document, you cannot assume the company’s licence covers it.

To see Gibraltar side by side with the other licences, use our comparison of casino licences.

Are Gibraltar casinos legal in Denmark?

Only if they hold a Danish licence, because offering online casino games in Denmark requires one. A Gibraltar licence does not give that right, and nor does any other foreign licence.

Danish gambling law sets a fine or up to six months in prison for offering gambling here without a licence, and up to a year in aggravated cases. A fine can also be imposed on those who seek to make a living from unlicensed gambling. We found no rule that penalises ordinary players.

Gibraltar companies with a Danish licence

A Gibraltar licence and a Danish licence are two different things, but one company can hold both. We checked the list of the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden) on 3 November 2026. Two of the companies with a Danish online casino licence have an address in Gibraltar: ElectraWorks Limited and Tombola (International) Plc. Both are also on the Gambling Division’s list.

Gibraltar-licensed casinos we checked

On 3 November 2026, we looked up three well-known casino operators outside our selection on the Gambling Division’s list and in its approved-brands documents. Then we checked them against the Danish list.

• bet365: Hillside (Gibraltar) Ltd holds two licences for casino games and two for betting in Gibraltar, and bet365 Casino is one of its approved brands. The Danish licence for bet365.dk, however, is held by another company in the same group, Hillside (New Media Malta) Plc.
• Bwin and Party Casino: ElectraWorks Limited, part of Entain, holds a licence for casino games (RGL No. 050) and one for betting (RGL No. 051) in Gibraltar. Bwin, Party Casino and Party Poker are among its approved brands. The same company holds the Danish licence for bwin.dk and partycasino.dk, among others.
• tombola: the company from the worked example above, which also holds the Danish licence for tombola.dk.

One brand, several licences

These examples show that one well-known brand can operate under licences from several places, held by different companies. The Gambling Commissioner also points out that a casino licence may come from a different jurisdiction from the licences for the company’s other products. So find out which regulator is responsible before you complain. Bwin is also on the list of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, with the address bwin.com.

bet365 is a good illustration. Hillside (New Media Malta) Plc, which holds the Danish licence, is also on the Estonian regulator’s list with bet365.ee. You can read more about that on our page about the licence from Estonia.

If you play on a Danish web address such as bwin.dk or tombola.dk, you are playing under the Danish licence, and Danish rules apply.

Gibraltar casino bonuses and terms

None of the nine casinos in our selection holds a Gibraltar licence, so the offers on our cards are not Gibraltar bonuses. The Gambling Division itself calls bonuses a marketing tool, often with complex terms: you typically have to play a large number of games, perhaps only in certain areas such as slots. According to the regulator, accepting one also affects your ability to withdraw.

The brands bet365, Bwin and tombola are also on the Danish Gambling Authority’s list, and on their Danish sites the Danish bonus rules apply, with a limit of 1,000 kr. We have put these rules into a checklist under bonuses at new casinos.

Disagree about a bonus? How to complain

The Gambling Division has a separate section on bonus complaints. A casino can close an account if it believes a player is abusing bonuses, and according to the regulator that player is entitled to neither the bonus nor the winnings. The casino usually will not explain how it reached that view either. The terms must state that play is monitored, what the rules are and when an account can be closed. Read them before you accept, and use the complaints route in the next section if you disagree.

Gibraltar casino payments

The rules we have read do not name specific payment methods, so check the casino’s cashier. We show which methods the casinos in our selection offer under payment methods at foreign casinos. The Gambling Division says document checks can cause delays, so register with accurate details. When you register, you must also be told whether, and how far, your money is protected if the casino goes bankrupt.

Gibraltar casino complaints and the Gambling Commissioner

The Act requires a Gibraltar-licensed casino to run an effective complaints procedure and to record, look into and answer its customers’ complaints. According to the Gambling Commissioner, a complaint should normally go to the casino first. Write to the casino even if you have already spoken to customer service, and keep your emails, screenshots and game history.

The Gambling Commissioner expects the casino to acknowledge your email within 2–3 working days and, within a week, to start answering or tell you how long it will take. If after two weeks you have not been told how your complaint is being handled, or been given a reasonable timescale, you may want to take it further.

If the casino doesn’t resolve your complaint

Once you have been through the casino’s whole complaints procedure, you can complain to the Gambling Commissioner using the Complaint Resolution Request Form. You send the form by email, and complaints are not handled by phone. Your complaint must concern gambling with a Gibraltar licence holder, and you need grounds, such as a breach of the rules or the terms. The process is set out on the Gambling Division’s complaints page.

The regulator aims to send a first reply within a week. If your case needs more work, a case officer takes it on and eventually sends you a decision by email. If you have further comments, the Commissioner reviews the case again. Complaints about events more than two years ago are only looked at in exceptional circumstances.

The Commissioner cannot order the casino to pay you compensation. A justified complaint can still lead the casino to review its decision, and in serious cases the Commissioner can ask the court to order the company to pay. If the casino uses an independent adjudication service, you are expected to use it, and its decision usually binds the casino but not you.

It is worth comparing this with the complaints route at Curaçao casinos.

Are Gibraltar-licensed casinos safe?

They are in the sense that Gibraltar has a new gambling law with clear requirements for casinos, a regulator that handles complaints and a public list of licences and approved brands. A Gibraltar licence is neither an EU licence nor a Danish licence, though, and no licence guarantees that a casino is safe.

For an EU example, read about Malta’s licence.

What a Gibraltar licence gives you

• Supervision by the Gambling Commissioner under Gibraltar’s Gambling Act 2025.
• A public list of licence holders, licence numbers and approved brands.
• A required complaints procedure, and the option of complaining to the Gambling Commissioner.
• Information, when you open an account, on whether and how far your money is protected if the company goes bankrupt.

What a Gibraltar licence doesn’t cover

• Permission to offer online casino games in Denmark: that takes a Danish licence.
• An EU licence: Gibraltar has been outside the EU since 2020.
• A guarantee for the money in your account: the protection may be limited.
• An order to compensate you: the Gambling Commissioner cannot order the casino to pay you.

Whatever the licence, you decide where your limits lie. Free, confidential advice is available from StopSpillet, which is also listed in the box below, and there is more on our page about responsible gambling.