This is an editorial guide provided for information only and is not financial or legal advice. Details were correct at the time of writing — always check official sources for current rules. fortunegames.com is not affiliated with the National Lottery or Allwyn.
How to Check a Casino Is Licensed in the UK
Every website legally offering casino games to players in Great Britain must hold a licence from the UK Gambling Commission — and unlike almost everything else in gambling, you can verify it yourself, for free, in under a minute. Here’s exactly how.
The sixty-second check
Step one: scroll to the site’s footer. Licensed operators state who runs the site and display their Gambling Commission account number, usually with a link. Step two: search the Gambling Commission’s public register (on the Commission’s official website) for that operator name or number. The register shows the licence status, the activities it covers and the trading names — the site you’re on should appear among them. Step three: if the footer names no licensee, shows no number, or the register doesn’t match — close the tab. That’s the entire test.
What a UK licence actually guarantees
Licensed sites must verify age and identity before play, segregate or disclose how player funds are protected, offer deposit limits and time-outs, participate in GAMSTOP (the national self-exclusion scheme), test their games for fairness through approved labs, and answer to a regulator with real teeth. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll win — nothing does — but it guarantees rules, oversight and a complaints route that actually exists.
The red flags worth knowing
Sites that accept UK players while advertising “no verification”, casinos not on GAMSTOP marketed at people who’ve self-excluded, licences from jurisdictions you’ve never heard of presented as equivalent, and payment methods that avoid the banking system entirely — each is the absence of the protections above, dressed as convenience.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the licence number on a casino site? In the page footer, with the operator’s name — ours sits at the bottom of every fortunegames.com page.
Is the Gambling Commission register free to use? Yes — it’s public, searchable and maintained by the regulator.
Does a licence mean my money is safe? It means the operator must explain how player funds are held and follow strict rules — always read the funds-protection statement.
What is GAMSTOP? The free national self-exclusion scheme every UK-licensed site must join — one registration blocks them all.
Related guides: about Fortune Games, frequently asked questions and how RTP works.