Legal casino gambling age in Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean, prohibits almost all forms of gambling. The governing statute, the Gambling Act (2016 Revision), dates in substance from 1964 and treats commercial gaming, public lotteries and the keeping of gaming premises as criminal offences. There are no casinos, no national lottery and no licensing system for online gambling, and no regulator issues gambling licences. The main exceptions are casinos on Cayman-registered cruise ships sailing in international waters and charitable raffles. In a non-binding referendum on 30 April 2025, 51.24% of ballots counted supported a government-run national lottery, and the question has since been referred to the Cayman Islands Law Reform Commission. This guide sets out the law, its enforcement, the position of players and the reform debate.
Key points
- Gambling is governed by the Gambling Act (2016 Revision), originally enacted as Cap. 60 in 1964. It defines gambling as playing “any game, whether of skill or chance, for money or money’s worth”.
- Players can commit offences: playing in a “common gaming house” and taking part in a public lottery are each punishable by a fine of $10 or up to two months’ imprisonment under the current text.
- The Act does not mention internet or telephone gambling. No online gambling licence exists, and we found no blocking of offshore websites or prosecution of online players.
- A Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which would have raised maximum fines to as much as $20,000, was referred to committee in December 2022; the official portal still lists the 2016 Revision as current.
- The Law Reform Commission is preparing a discussion paper on a possible national lottery, with a final report expected around January 2027.
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026.
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Historical development
Cayman’s gambling law has changed little since the 1960s. The endnotes to the consolidated Gambling Act (2016 Revision) record that it was originally enacted as Cap. 60, in force from 1 January 1964, and was amended in 1967 (Law 18 of 1967) and in 2015 (Law 20 of 2015). The 2016 text is a consolidated revision, not a new policy: it was revised on 28 July 2016 and its publication authorised by Cabinet on 30 August 2016.
The only substantive reform in recent decades was the Gambling (Amendment) Law, 2015. According to a Cayman Islands Government release published in January 2016, it was passed by the Legislative Assembly in October 2015 and took effect on 1 January 2016; the endnotes to the 2016 Revision, however, record Law 20 of 2015 as in force from 22 October 2015. It had two aims. First, it allowed gambling on passenger ships (those carrying more than twelve passengers) registered in the Cayman Islands while on international voyages. Second, it legalised raffles staged by non-profit bodies such as churches, sports teams and service clubs, which until then had technically been unlawful.
Attempts to modernise penalties have repeatedly stalled. A Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2018 proposed raising the general fine from $400 to $10,000 and other fines from $10 to $2,500. The Cayman Compass reported on 3 December 2018 that the bill had been withdrawn at the last minute. The Attorney General, Samuel Bulgin, said the government wished to review the gambling law as a whole. Opponents argued that tougher penalties would criminalise a widely tolerated pastime, the illegal “numbers” game. A second bill followed in 2022 (see Recent and upcoming developments).
Legal framework
Constitutional position
As a British Overseas Territory, the Cayman Islands legislates for itself on domestic matters through its own Parliament (formerly the Legislative Assembly). United Kingdom gambling legislation does not apply. Section 361 of the UK Gambling Act 2005 provides that, apart from a few provisions that also extend to Northern Ireland, the Act extends only to England and Wales and Scotland. A licence from the UK Gambling Commission therefore has no legal effect in Cayman.
The Gambling Act (2016 Revision)
The Act is listed on the official Cayman Islands legislation portal as “1964-0060 Gambling Act [2016 Revision]”. Its key definitions in section 2(1) are:
- Gambling: “to play at any game, whether of skill or chance, for money or money’s worth”. The definition covers skill games as well as games of chance.
- Common gaming house: any place kept or used for gambling to which the public, or any class of the public, has or may have access; any place kept or used for habitual gambling, whether or not the public has access; and any place used for a public lottery.
- Lottery: any game, method or device by which money or money’s worth is distributed by chance, including lotteries held “in any country or place outside the Islands”.
- Place: includes buildings, open spaces, ships, boats and vehicles.
Section 3 declares every common gaming house “a common and public nuisance contrary to law”. The main offences and their current penalties are summarised below.
| Section | Offence | Penalty in the 2016 Revision |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Keeping, using, managing or financing a common gaming house; running a public lottery; unlawful gaming | Fine of $400 or up to 12 months’ imprisonment, or both |
| 5(1) | Playing in a common gaming house | Fine of $10 or up to two months’ imprisonment |
| 6(1) | Staking money on, or buying a ticket in, a public lottery | Fine of $10 or up to two months’ imprisonment |
| 9 | Gambling or betting in a public place or licensed premises | Fine of $10 or up to two months’ imprisonment |
| 20 | Keeping a common gaming house | Fine of $100 (six months’ imprisonment in default) |
| 21 | Conducting or taking part in a lottery | Fine of $100 (three months in default) |
| 22 | Selling lottery tickets, assembling to await results, paying on draws | Fine of $40 (two months in default) |
The Act also gives the police investigative powers. Under section 11 a Justice may issue a warrant to enter and search a suspected common gaming house, including at night, and to seize gambling equipment and money, which may be declared forfeited. Section 13 creates a presumption that a place where gambling instruments are found is a common gaming house until the contrary is proved. Under section 8, contracts for the sale of lottery tickets are void, and sections 7 and 8 allow the purchaser to recover money paid.
Exceptions
Section 2A sets out the only two statutory exceptions. The Act does not apply to a Cayman Islands-registered passenger ship carrying more than twelve passengers under a contract of carriage while it is in international waters on an international voyage. Section 2A(3) provides that gambling is not permitted on such a vessel while it is in a port in the Islands or in the territorial sea, so shipboard casinos must close in Cayman waters. The Act also does not apply to raffles staged by churches, service organisations and other voluntary associations, and section 23A allows Cabinet to make regulations for licensing raffles. The text contains no general exemption for private social gaming. Because a place used for “habitual” gambling can be a common gaming house even without public access, the boundary for private games depends on the facts.
Proceeds of crime
Money from illegal gambling is also treated as criminal property. The Cayman law firm McGrath Tonner notes in a September 2024 commentary that, under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2019 Revision), possessing, concealing or transferring criminal property, including gambling profits, carries a maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment.
Regulator and licensing model
Cayman follows a prohibition model: rather than licensing operators, the law forbids commercial gambling outright. There is therefore no gambling regulator, no licence category for casinos, betting, lotteries or online gaming, and no official register of licensed operators. Enforcement rests with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) and the courts. McGrath Tonner summarises the position as “all forms of commercial gambling are illegal in the Cayman Islands”, adding that there are no casinos on the islands.
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), the territory’s financial regulator, has no gambling licensing function. In the anti-money laundering context, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force mutual evaluation of the Cayman Islands (published in 2019) lists the territory’s designated non-financial businesses and professions as trust companies, corporate service providers, real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, lawyers and accountants. Casinos, which are a standard category in FATF standards, do not appear, consistent with their absence from the territory. Illegal gambling is instead addressed as a source of criminal proceeds.
Online gambling and enforcement
The Gambling Act predates the internet and does not refer to online, internet or telephone gambling. The closest provision is section 23, which allows the Postmaster-General, with Cabinet approval, to regulate lottery letters, circulars, advertisements and tickets sent by post. Whether the concept of a “place” used for gambling can extend to a website has not, as far as we could find, been tested in a reported Cayman court decision.
No Cayman licence for online casinos, sports betting or poker exists, so no online operator can lawfully be based in or authorised by the territory. Commentators treat online gambling by residents as illegal. McGrath Tonner states that “online gambling is illegal but overseas registered casinos are accessible and as yet unregulated”. It also notes that the authorities have not blocked such websites or pursued their users, although they could, and that “the preferred course is to investigate and prosecute local activity”.
We found no evidence of the measures used in licensing jurisdictions, such as an official blocklist of gambling websites, internet service provider (ISP) blocking orders or payment blocking. The legislation contains no rules on gambling advertising beyond the general prohibition on promoting lotteries and the postal powers in section 23.
The illegal “numbers” market
Enforcement in practice targets the local illegal lottery known as “numbers” or “cash pot”. Sellers take bets, often recorded in receipt books, on the results of lotteries drawn abroad. In a debate in Parliament reported by the Cayman Compass on 13 December 2022, the then Premier, Wayne Panton, said the numbers trade benefited international syndicates. The same report attributed an estimate of $30 million to $50 million a year to the Deputy Governor, Franz Manderson, and named Jamaica, Honduras, the British Virgin Islands and Belize as locations of the overseas draws involved. McGrath Tonner observes that overseas lotteries, including those in Honduras, Jamaica and the United States, are accessed by residents via the internet.
Police operations are regularly reported. In May 2022 the RCIPS reported that three women had been arrested on suspicion of illegal gambling after officers saw them selling lottery tickets in George Town, and a senior detective described illegal gambling as “a catalyst for other more serious and violent offenses”. Sentences under the current law remain modest. The Cayman Compass reported in June 2019 that three people were fined $300 each for selling lottery tickets, and that cash seized at their arrest was forfeited to the Crown.
Position of players
Unlike many jurisdictions that penalise only operators, Cayman law makes participation itself an offence in defined circumstances. Under the Gambling Act (2016 Revision):
- a person who plays in a common gaming house commits an offence (section 5(1));
- a person who stakes money on, or buys a ticket in, a public lottery commits an offence, and possession of a ticket raises a presumption that it was bought (section 6);
- a person found gambling or betting in a public place or licensed premises commits an offence (section 9).
Each carries a fine of $10 or up to two months’ imprisonment. Because the definition of lottery covers draws held outside the Islands, buying into foreign lotteries through local sellers is within the Act. Premier Panton told Parliament in December 2022 that buyers already commit an offence, so that a conviction would give them a criminal record (Cayman Compass, 13 December 2022). McGrath Tonner warns that even a small fine can result in a criminal conviction that may affect a work permit renewal, which is significant in a territory with a large expatriate workforce.
Enforcement against buyers is documented but limited. In a May 2019 release, the RCIPS reported that, after arresting a 70-year-old man on Cayman Brac in connection with illegal gambling and seizing more than $3,000, officers warned a second man for intended prosecution for buying lottery tickets.
The position of a resident who gambles on an overseas online casino is less clear. The Act does not expressly address it, and it is uncertain whether a website is a “common gaming house”. Legal commentary describes such play as illegal but notes that the authorities have not pursued online players. We found no recorded prosecution or fine of a person for playing at an online casino. Players should also note that, because no operator is licensed locally, there is no Cayman authority to which complaints about unpaid winnings can be made, and gambling contracts may be unenforceable.
Taxation
There is no gambling tax in the Cayman Islands, because there is no lawful commercial gambling sector to tax. More generally, the Cayman Islands Government describes a “tax-neutral environment” with “no income, corporate, capital gains, inheritance, or property taxes”. Government revenue comes mainly from import duties, stamp duties and fees. Residents therefore pay no Cayman income tax on gambling winnings, although winnings from illegal gambling may be liable to forfeiture or confiscation as criminal property.
How a future national lottery would be funded and how its proceeds would be used has not been decided. The government’s referendum fact sheet gave education, healthcare and infrastructure only as examples.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Because the law prohibits rather than regulates gambling, Cayman has none of the consumer protection tools found in licensing systems. There is no national self-exclusion register, no regulator handling complaints, no rules on deposit limits or age verification for operators, and no statutory levy funding gambling treatment. Protection consists essentially of the criminal prohibition itself. The Law Reform Commission’s terms of reference on the lottery include “safeguards against gambling-related harms”, which suggests these questions will be considered if a lottery is introduced.
We found no gambling-specific treatment service in the territory. The government’s Department of Counselling Services provides free counselling through The Counselling Centre and other programmes (telephone +1 345 949 8789, weekdays 8.30am to 5pm), and runs the Caribbean Haven Residential Centre for substance use. The international directory Find A Helpline lists the volunteer-run CayMind mental health helpline (1800 534 6463) as the Cayman contact for gambling concerns. In an emergency, call 911. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2022
On 7 November 2022 the government published the Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2022, whose stated object was to “update the penalties for the commission of offences” in the 2016 Revision. It would have raised the general offence under section 4 to a fine of $10,000 or four years’ imprisonment, keeping a common gaming house and conducting a lottery to $20,000 or four years, and the player offences in sections 5, 6 and 9 to $2,500 or six months. A public consultation ran from 7 November to 4 December 2022. It described the sanctions as “a very strong deterrent” and was accompanied by a proposal to add gambling offences to Schedule 1 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, making them “lifestyle” offences for confiscation purposes.
The bill proved contentious. The Caymanian Times reported that in the December 2022 debate Sir Alden McLaughlin questioned jailing people while a referendum on a national lottery was pending, and the former Speaker McKeeva Bush said he had given notice of an amendment to legalise the numbers game. According to the Cayman Compass, the bill was not put to a final vote but was referred to a committee of the whole House to be taken up later. We found no evidence that it was enacted. As of October 2026 the official legislation portal still lists the Gambling Act [2016 Revision]
as the current text, and the penalties above should be read on that basis.
National lottery referendum and law reform
A referendum was held on 30 April 2025 under the Referendum (Cruise Berthing Infrastructure, Gambling and Cannabis) Act, 2025. Voters were asked: “Do you support the introduction of a National Lottery in the Islands?” The government’s fact sheet stated that the referendum would show public opinion but that the government would decide how to act on the results, and that other forms of gambling, including numbers, betting and casinos, would remain illegal. According to the official results, 9,563 voted yes (51.24% of 18,663 ballots counted), 7,770 voted no (41.63%) and 1,330 ballots were rejected.
In a parliamentary answer of 27 June 2025, Premier André Ebanks described this as a slim majority and referred the question to the Cayman Islands Law Reform Commission. It was asked to recommend a legal framework and licensing regime, oversight and transparency mechanisms, safeguards against gambling-related harms, and business models. The Commission’s Annual Report No. 21, covering April 2025 to March 2026, states that it is preparing a discussion paper “to be published for consultation in mid-2026”. A government update of 12 February 2026 gave January 2027 as the expected date for the final report. By early July 2026 the Commission had published its cannabis discussion paper, but we could not find a published lottery discussion paper as of 8 October 2026. No lottery bill has been introduced, and any national lottery would require new legislation.
Casino listings for players in the Cayman Islands
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in the Cayman Islands: no online casino can be licensed there, and there is no Cayman register of authorised operators. Commercial gambling, including online gambling, is unlawful under Cayman law, and some forms of participation are offences for players, so the listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful. The current statute is available on the Cayman Islands legislation portal.
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Sources and further reading
- Cayman Islands Government, Legislation portal, Gambling Act (2016 Revision) (2016; accessed 8 October 2026).
- Cayman Islands Government, Legislation portal, Alphabetical index of legislation (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Cayman Islands Government, Cabinet Office, Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (7 November 2022).
- Cayman Islands Government, Cabinet Office, Gambling Bill: public consultation (2022).
- Parliament of the Cayman Islands, Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (2018).
- Cayman Islands Government (via Mondaq), Gambling Law Empowers Cruise Ships and Non-Profits (6 January 2016).
- McGrath Tonner (via Mondaq), Flutter Ye Not: Gambling in the Cayman Islands (20 September 2024).
- Cayman Islands Government, 2025 Referendum fact sheet (2025).
- Elections Office, Cayman Islands, Referendum 2025: results (2025).
- Parliament of the Cayman Islands, Parliamentary Question No. 19: Referendum results (27 June 2025).
- Cayman Islands Law Reform Commission, Annual Report No. 21, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 (2026).
- Cayman Islands Government, Premier Updates the Public on Cannabis Decriminalisation, Lottery Referendum (12 February 2026).
- Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Cayman Brac man arrested in connection with illegal gambling, over $3,000 seized (31 May 2019).
- Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Three George Town women arrested in relation to illegal gambling (3 May 2022).
- Cayman Compass, Plan to clamp down on numbers game shelved (3 December 2018).
- Cayman Compass, 3 fined for selling lottery tickets (4 June 2019).
- Connolly, N. (Cayman Compass), Premier: Cayman’s illegal lotteries run by international crime syndicates (13 December 2022).
- Caymanian Times, Tougher gambling penalties dominate lottery debate (13 December 2022).
- UK Parliament, legislation.gov.uk, Gambling Act 2005, section 361 (Extent) (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Cayman Islands Government, Our Finance and Economy (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Financial Action Task Force, CFATF Mutual Evaluation of the Cayman Islands (2019).
- Hainey, R. (Cayman Compass), Lawyer appeals to public to contribute to ganja law discussion (9 July 2026).
- Department of Counselling Services, About us (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Find A Helpline, Gambling helplines in the Cayman Islands (accessed 8 October 2026).
