Have you ever thought about what needs to be done to run an online casino and comply with all required laws? When you visit sites like GG.Bet online casino, you only see thousands of games and start playing in a matter of seconds, but hundreds of hours of labor are spent and countless people are working to provide you with this service. If you are wondering how legitimate online casinos work and what rules are expected to follow, keep reading – we’ll explain this process in full detail below.
It All Starts with a License
First of all, you need a license to be able to provide a legal gambling service. These licenses act as a kind of “permit” and mean that the casino is monitored and controlled by a specific institution. So, how do you get a license?
First of all, you need to decide which country you want to get this license from. There are multiple countries that issue an electronic gaming license, and each has different legal requirements. For example:
- The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC): This license allows you to legally accept UK players into your casino. For the UKGC license, both your company and your servers must be located in the United Kingdom. You also need to pay an annual fee (between 2,709 and 512,083 GBP) that varies according to the income you make.
- Malta Gaming Authority (MGA): This license allows you to accept players from all European countries except those where gambling is illegal and/or have its own licensing system. Your company headquarters should be in Malta, but you can host your servers in any other country. The license fee can go up to 600,000 EUR per year.
- Curacao eGaming: This license allows you to accept players from all countries except France, The Netherlands, Singapore, and the USA. However, the license terms also say that you cannot accept players from countries that have their own licensing system and/or which consider gambling illegal. This puts many European and Middle Eastern countries, including the United Kingdom, on the ban list (though, let’s point out that this is not a strictly enforced rule). License fees are very cheap and range from $ 15,000 to $ 35,000 per year. Your company should be in Curacao, but you can host servers in any country.
License selection is one of the most important aspects for a new online casino because:
- It determines which countries you can accept players from (hence how big a customer base you will have).
- From which countries you can accept payments (and send payments) is also determined according to your license. For example, if you do not have a UKGC license, you cannot transfer money to UK banks or accept deposits from this country.
- Each license has its own terms – the rules you must follow when operating your website (e.g. customer complaints) differ depending on the license you have.
- Even which payment processor you will work with is determined according to your license. PayPal, for example, can often only be used in prestigious casinos with an MGA license.
You Also Need to “Rent” Games
You have become the owner of a legit online casino by licensing, but you’re not done yet. You should be able to offer casino games to your customers too. Studios that develop casino games also have their own licenses, and if you want to offer your customers both a safe and fair experience, it is important to choose licensed top-tier studios. For example, you should work with companies such as Microgaming, Playtech, IGT, Netent and rent their games because you do not own any of the games you offer at your casino. However, all legal responsibility rests with you.
Let’s explain this: game developers have their own delivery platform, and you pay an annual fee to use them. As long as you pay this fee, all games added to that platform by the developer will be playable in your casino. So, you are not the owner of these games, you just rent them annually. However, if there is a problem in the games (for example, if the jackpot payment is not made when it is required), you are the legal addressee of the players: they can hold you directly responsible for the mistakes.
This means that you will be accountable before mediators and courts: many operators are often sued for gameplay mistakes. In other words, another responsibility that comes with owning a legitimate casino site is to admit that you can be sued. You also need to allocate a separate budget for legal expenses.