If you have landed here from one of our casino pages, it is because that operator has a button where an affiliate link would normally be. This page explains why.
The short version
No online casino holds an Irish licence. Not one. Any site telling you a casino is licensed in Ireland, regulated in Ireland, or approved for Irish players is either confused or lying.
Betting is different. Remote bookmakers have been licensed in Ireland for years, the register is public, and we check it.
Why casino and betting are treated differently
Two separate legal regimes are at work.
Betting. Under the Betting Acts 1931 to 2015, the Revenue Commissioners issue remote bookmaker licences and remote betting intermediary licences. Revenue publishes the list of current licensed remote bookmaking operations under Section 8B. That register is the thing we check for every bookmaker on this site, and we print the result and the date on the page.
Casino gaming. The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 created the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland to license gambling properly, including online gaming. The Authority has been established and has begun issuing licences, but it has opened remote betting licences first. Remote gaming licences, the category online casino falls under, have not opened. Until they do, no online casino can hold an Irish licence, because there is no Irish licence for it to hold.
So who actually regulates the casino you are using
Somebody else. In practice it is one of these, and the difference between them is real.
| Regulator | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| UK Gambling Commission | The strictest of the common options. Enforces hard, fines heavily, and operators protect that licence. Strong complaints process. |
| Malta Gaming Authority | Established European regulator with a published complaints procedure. Will hear a dispute. |
| Gibraltar | Long standing and credible, with a smaller number of licensees. |
| Alderney | Well regarded, with a real complaints route. |
| Kahnawake | Canadian jurisdiction. Weaker practical recourse than the European regulators. |
| Curacao | The lightest touch of the common licences. A licence exists, but expect limited help in a dispute. |
None of these is an Irish regulator, and none of them is obliged to care about Irish consumer law. If a casino holds your withdrawal, your escalation route is whichever of the above licensed it, not anyone in Dublin.
What we do about it
We do not send you to an operator we have not checked. A casino page on this site carries no outbound link until we have found that operator on its stated regulator register ourselves and recorded the date we looked.
Until that is done, the page says so plainly, carries no score, and the button you clicked to get here says what it says. We would rather have an empty slot than earn a commission for sending you somewhere we cannot vouch for.
What you can do
- Find the licence number in the site footer and look it up on the regulator own register, not on a page the operator controls.
- For betting, check the Revenue list of current licensed remote bookmaking operations.
- Complete identity verification when you open an account, not when you try to withdraw. Most withdrawal delays are verification delays.
- Treat an Irish sounding brand name as marketing. It carries no regulatory meaning at all.
Sources
- Gambling Regulation Act 2024 (No. 35 of 2024)
- Betting Acts 1931 to 2015, Section 8B
- Revenue Commissioners, List of Current Licensed Remote Bookmaking Operations, as at 30 June 2026
Last reviewed 31 October 2026.
