About casinos
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The number of casinos in Great Britain
There were over 140 land-based casinos in
operation, when the Gambling Act 2005 came into force on 1
September 2007. This number has remained fairly stable with
openings and closures more or less in balance . All,
but one, 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 allowed for one regional casino and
an additional 16 casinos (eight large and eight small). Government
decided not to go ahead with the regional casino, and the
individual licensing authorities permitted to issue 2005 Act
casino premises licences are at various stages of
development with their application processes (for the remaining 16
proposed casinos). The first large casino opened in the
London Borough of Newham in December 2011 and others are now in
development.
Enquiries concerning these licences should be made directly to
the
local licensing authority concerned.
What gambling facilities do casinos offer?
Most casinos offer a variety of live casino
games, such as American roulette,punto banco (or baccarat) and
blackjack. Games of equal chance (such as poker) are usually made
available, in addition to gaming machines. A small number of
casinos may only offer electronic games and/or games of equal
chance.
Under the 2005 Act, large casinos will also
be allowed to betting and bingo facilities. Small casinos will
be allowed to offer betting.
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
Further information about remote
gambling.
More information about the casino industry is available in:
Gambling industry statistics April 2009 to March 2012 - PDF
version
Gambling industry statistics April 2009 to March 2012 - Excel
version
Page last reviewed: May 2012