Kuwait Gambling Law — Online Casino Restrictions

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Gambling is illegal in Kuwait. The Penal Law of 1960 makes gambling and the running of gambling places criminal offences, and Kuwait has no lottery, casino, betting licence or gaming regulator. In recent years enforcement has concentrated on online gambling networks operating inside the country, which prosecutors have pursued through gambling and money-laundering charges. In June 2026 the Court of Appeal imposed seven-year prison sentences in one such case. This guide sets out the legal basis of the prohibition, the penalties as far as they can be verified, the enforcement record and the position of individual players.

Key points

The prohibition rests on the Penal Law, promulgated by Law No. 16 of 1960. A regional survey by SOL International identifies Article 205 as the principal gambling provision.
A published reproduction of the Arabic text provides up to three months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to KWD 500 for gambling in a public place. Higher maxima apply to repeat offenders and to those who run gambling places. The fine amounts could not be checked against an official consolidated text.
The US State Department lists gambling among acts that “may also lead to prosecution, imprisonment, and immediate deportation” in Kuwait.
In November 2025 the Ministry of Interior warned that “engaging with illegal websites or participating in their activities constitutes a criminal offense”.
Kuwait has no licensing system, so no online casino can be lawfully licensed to serve Kuwaiti residents.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

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Constitutional background

Article 2 of Kuwait’s Constitution provides that “the religion of the State is Islam and Islamic Law shall be a main source of legislation”. The prohibition of gambling in the criminal law is consistent with that principle. Kuwait has not created any regulated outlet for gambling, such as a state lottery, a betting monopoly or a licensed casino. The 2024 mutual evaluation of Kuwait by the FATF and MENAFATF records that “casinos cannot legally operate in Kuwait” and that “there are no casinos in Kuwait”. In this respect it differs from the United Arab Emirates, which in 2023 established a federal gaming regulator (see our UAE guide). Kuwait’s position is closer to that of Qatar, which also prohibits all gambling (see our Qatar guide). The three countries’ laws are separate, and the penalties in one cannot be applied to another.

Legal framework

Comparing offshore websites and local law with Kuwait Towers

The Penal Law

Kuwait’s Penal Law was promulgated by Law No. 16 of 1960 and has been amended many times since. SOL International’s 2023 survey of Gulf gambling law identifies Article 205 of that law as the main gambling provision. No official English translation of the consolidated Penal Law was available for this review. The account below is based on an Arabic reproduction of the law published by a Kuwaiti law office (Hamdy Khalifa Law Office). Because the fines may have been revised by later amending laws, the figures should be treated as indicative.

As reproduced, the provisions are as follows:

Gambling in a public place. “Whoever gambles in a public place” is liable to imprisonment of up to three months and a fine of up to 500 dinars, or to one of these penalties.
Repeat offending. If the person commits the offence again within one year of the previous judgment, the maximum rises to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of up to 1,000 dinars.
Running gambling. Whoever opens or manages a place for gambling open to the public, or takes part in organising or supervising gambling or preparing its means, is liable to imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to 2,000 dinars.
Definition. Gambling is defined as any game in which profit or loss depends on chance rather than on factors the players can control.

A Kuwaiti practitioner quoted by the Kuwait Times in February 2018 summarised the effect of Article 205 as “imprisonment (up to one year or a fine) for convicted gamblers”. That summary appears to reflect the higher maximum for repeat offences. The difference shows why an authoritative current text should be consulted before relying on any single figure.

The “public place” element

The basic participation offence, as reproduced, refers to gambling “in a public place” (fi mahall ‘amm). Read literally, this means that the location of the gambling is an element of that offence. We have not found a published court decision or official commentary explaining how the element applies to a person gambling online from a private home. However, the conduct of the authorities shows that online gambling is treated as criminal in practice. The Ministry of Interior describes participation in illegal gambling websites as a criminal offence, and online gambling operations have been prosecuted together with money-laundering offences. The safest reading of the sources is that online gambling from Kuwait is unlawful. How the courts would deal with an individual who only played online at home is not documented in the sources we reviewed.

Money-laundering law

In the largest recent cases, the criminal charges were not limited to gambling. Prosecutors also charged money laundering under Law No. 106 of 2013 on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism. Article 28 of that law, in English translation, provides for imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine of between half and the full value of the funds involved, and requires the confiscation of seized funds and instrumentalities. These penalties are far heavier than those for the Penal Law’s gambling offences. As a result, the practical exposure of people who organise, finance or move money for gambling operations is much greater than the gambling provisions alone would suggest. The cases below illustrate this.

Online gambling and enforcement

Kuwait does not license any form of gambling, so every online casino or sportsbook that accepts Kuwaiti customers operates without Kuwaiti authorisation. A licence from another jurisdiction does not change that. Recent enforcement has focused on networks inside Kuwait that act as agents for foreign platforms and move the proceeds abroad.

September 2025. The Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Criminal Investigation dismantled “an international network engaged in online gambling and illegal profit transfers”. Seven suspects were arrested, and KWD 153,837 was seized and traced. According to the Kuwait Times, the network used front businesses, including trading companies, delivery services, salons and shops, to launder funds. Transfers from abroad were kept to KWD 25,000 or less and sent through unofficial channels.
November 2025. The Ministry’s General Directorate for Combating Terrorism and Money Laundering arrested a gang running an illegal gambling website. It had laundered proceeds through bank accounts registered to a medical clinic and commercial companies. The ministry warned that “engaging with illegal websites or participating in their activities constitutes a criminal offense punishable under the law” and urged the public to report suspicious financial activity (Arab Times).
June 2026. The State Security Circuit of the Court of Appeal sentenced three men, one Syrian and two Egyptian nationals, to seven years’ imprisonment each for operating an international online gambling network and money laundering. The court imposed combined fines of KWD 16.839 million on the three defendants and KWD 8.419 million on five shell companies. According to Gulf News, the court found that the principal defendant had “acted as an agent for a global online gambling platform” and that the funds had been routed through fictitious companies and fraudulent invoices.

Earlier reporting describes the kinds of illegal gambling found in Kuwait. In 2018 the Kuwait Times described betting on dogfights, informal number lotteries, betting on cricket and football, and the use of offshore websites and mobile apps. It also reported the arrest of an expatriate in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh for organising an illegal lottery, with money and tickets confiscated. The newspaper described gamblers as coming from many professions, including doctors, students and civil servants.

Kuwait’s telecommunications regulator, the Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), does block websites. Its general guidelines for website owners advise compliance with Kuwaiti law “in order to avoid blocking their websites”, and Gulf News reported in March 2022 that 139 websites had been blocked in the previous year for violating public morals or for fraudulent practices. Neither source refers specifically to gambling, and the sources reviewed do not describe a published blocklist of gambling sites. The authorities’ approach to online gambling, as reported, relies on criminal investigation, monitoring of social media and financial intelligence.

Position of players

Several sources indicate that participation in gambling is itself unlawful in Kuwait:

the Penal Law, as reproduced, punishes the person who gambles as well as the person who organises the game;
the US State Department’s Kuwait page (updated September 2026) lists “gambling” among acts that are illegal and “may also lead to prosecution, imprisonment, and immediate deportation”;
the Ministry of Interior’s November 2025 statement treats participation in illegal gambling websites as a criminal offence.

The reported prosecutions, however, mainly concern organisers, agents and the people who move money. We did not find a published case in which an individual was prosecuted solely for playing on a foreign website from home. This should not be read as permission. It means only that the public record is thin. A player who uses an offshore site also has no legal remedy in Kuwait if the operator withholds a deposit or winnings, and may be drawn into an investigation if the payment channel used turns out to be part of a laundering network of the kind described above.

Visitors and residents should also be aware that deportation is a possible consequence of conviction for foreign nationals, according to the State Department. Participants in physical gambling have been arrested: in January 2024 police arrested 30 foreign nationals for gambling in raids in the Al Ahmadi and Al Farwaniya governorates, and those arrested were to be referred to the administrative deportation department (Gulf News). This guide does not identify any lawful way to gamble online from Kuwait.

Taxation

Kuwait has no lawful gambling market and therefore no gambling tax. For individuals, PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries (reviewed July 2026) state that “there is no personal income tax (PIT) imposed on individuals in Kuwait”. This has no practical bearing on gambling, because winnings from unlawful gambling are not legally recoverable and proceeds of illegal gambling operations are subject to confiscation and to money-laundering law.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Kuwait has no national self-exclusion scheme or dedicated gambling helpline, because there is no licensed gambling market to which such measures could attach. Anyone concerned about their own or another person’s gambling can find general guidance and international support organisations in our responsible gambling guide. Device-level blocking software and asking a bank to block gambling transactions are practical steps that do not depend on national schemes.

Recent developments and outlook

Kuwait’s legal position on gambling has not changed. Enforcement, however, has become more sophisticated. The 2025 and 2026 cases show that the authorities are treating online gambling as a financial crime as much as a moral offence. Specialist money-laundering units have been involved, and courts have imposed multi-million-dinar fines. An earlier version of this guide referred to a politician’s call to legalise gambling. We could not verify that claim from an authoritative source, and it has been removed. As of October 2026 we found no proposal before the National Assembly or the government to create a lottery or a gambling regulator.

This guide summarises published sources and is not legal advice. Anyone with a specific question, or facing an investigation, should consult the current official text of the law and a qualified Kuwaiti lawyer.

Casino listings for players in Kuwait

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. Gambling is prohibited in Kuwait, and no operator can hold a Kuwaiti licence. Offering online casino games to residents of Kuwait is not permitted, and the Ministry of Interior treats participation in illegal gambling websites as a criminal offence. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing from Kuwait is lawful.

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Key points

Top Rated Online Casinos for Kuwait

Constitutional background

Legal framework

The Penal Law

The “public place” element

Money-laundering law

Online gambling and enforcement

Position of players

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent developments and outlook

Casino listings for players in Kuwait

Sources and further reading

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