About casinos
There were over 140 land-based casinos in operation, when the
Gambling Act 2005 came into force on 1 September 2007. All current
casinos in Great Britain were established under previous
legislation. In addition there are a number of premises which,
although licensed, are not currently operating as casinos
(premises licences are issued by
local licensing authorities).
The Gambling Act 2005 allows for one regional casino and an
additional 16 casinos (eight large and eight small). Government has
decided not to go ahead with the regional casino and individual
licensing authorities are at various stages of development with
their application processes for the remaining 16 proposed casinos.
Enquiries concerning these licences should be made directly to the
local licensing authority concerned.
More information about the casino industry is
available in
Gambling Industry Statistics 2009/10.
What gambling facilities do casinos offer?
Most casinos offer a variety of casino games, such as American
roulette and blackjack. Games of equal chance (such as poker) are
usually made available, in addition to gaming machines. A
small number of specialist casinos may only offer electronic games
and/or games of equal chance.
When introduced, depending upon their classification, the 16 new
casinos will be allowed to provide betting and bingo
facilities.
If a premises would like to offer equipment which allows
customers to play casino games by remote means, all equipment must
comply with the
Bingo and casino equipment technical requirements - July 2008.
Remote casinos (including online casinos and online poker)
The Gambling Act 2005 permits
remote casinos to operate from
Great Britain. All relevant equipment used to facilitate remote
casino activities (including online casinos) must meet the Gambling
Commission's remote and gambling software technical
standards.
Further information about remote gambling.
Page last reviewed: May 2011