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Starting an Online Casino in the UK: Legal, Market, and Tech Insights


Disclaimer: This is being updated as it currently features outdated information.

How to Start an Online Casino in the UK | SOFTSWISS

Market

How to Start an Online Casino in the UK | SOFTSWISS

The number of active player accounts across all online gaming platforms within the described period reached a handsome 22.87m, and 24.65m new accounts were registered. Remote operators held funds equal to £607.04m within these accounts.

Legality

Online gaming services provided to customers in Great Britain are regulated by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). From 1 November 2014, online casinos need to obtain a remote licence from the UKGC in order to be able to accept players from the UK and promote themselves on the local market. Getting a UK remote licence is also important if you are planning to cooperate with large game content providers because they are only providing their games to licensed operators to be further spread among UK customers.

How to Start an Online Casino in the UK | SOFTSWISS

It should also be noted that casinos which target other parts of the world except the UK shall take care of a gambling license from another reputable jurisdiction, such as Malta or Curacao, because the UK licence only permits operation on the local market.

Casino Software

As mentioned above, the UK Gambling Commission pays special attention to the technical parameters and security standards of a casino applying for a license. Those cover information on player accounts, financial transactions, game rules and the probability of winning; auto-play functionality and time-critical events; certified RNG and clear definition of game results; possibility of interrupted gambling; setting money limits; responsible gambling information; time limits and reality checks, etc.

Thus, when choosing a software provider for the operation, it is necessary to make sure that the online casino platform you are going to use meets all of the UKGC requirements. For example, we at SOFTSWISS have paid attention to learning the specific UK standards and adapted our platform accordingly to make sure our software is 100% ready for UK remote license application.

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Games

UK players are no exception among other gamblers, preferring slots to other types of casino games. Gross gaming revenue generated by slots in April 2013 - March 2016 made £1,751.55m, which is 68.1% of total online casino GGR. The second place was taken by table games with £400.79m and 15.6% of the GGR, and the third one went to the card games with £188.83m and 7.3% of the GGR. As far as game content developers are concerned, there are no specific preferences here with various vendors competing for players' attention. UK players simply enjoy high-quality games with top-notch designs from famous casino games providers. The bigger the choice of games, the more potential the casino has to succeed.

Currency and Payment Systems

How to Start an Online Casino in the UK | SOFTSWISS as a payment alternative, so running an online casino which accepts Bitcoin is a nice competitive advantage.

Marketing and Promotion

While many countries prohibit or limit advertising of online gaming, the UK is open to all types of promotion including ads on the Internet (e.g. Google Ads), television, radio and print media. The only requirement, again, is that the casino holds a UK remote gaming license.

How to Start an Online Casino in the UK | SOFTSWISS

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