Gambling in Saint Lucia: Laws, Licensing and Online Casinos

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Saint Lucia permits gambling, but only through a small number of statutory channels. Casino gaming, gaming machines and betting are governed by the Gaming, Racing and Betting Act (Cap. 13.13), first enacted in 2000 as the Gaming Control Act and administered by the Gaming, Racing and Betting Authority. Lotteries sit under a separate statute and a separate public body, the National Lotteries Authority. The Act’s definition of a “game” expressly includes online gaming, and its licensing scheme covers remote betting, yet the published law contains no dedicated online casino licence, and we found no record of one being issued. Saint Lucia also has an unusual rule restricting its own citizens from casino gaming. This guide explains the history of legal gambling on the island, the statutes, the licensing model, the position on online gambling and players, taxation, consumer protection and recent developments.

Key points

The Gaming, Racing and Betting Act (Act 29 of 2000, in force 14 May 2001, last amended in 2018, 2019 and 2020) requires a licence to conduct gaming or to offer live or remote betting. Unlicensed operation is punishable by a fine of up to EC$150,000, up to three years’ imprisonment, or both.
A gaming operator licence is granted by Cabinet on the recommendation of the Authority’s Board and requires premises in a hotel of at least 250 rooms or premises that continuously employ at least 100 people.
Schedule 1 to the Act lists citizens of Saint Lucia as persons who may not play casino games, except dual citizens and members of a membership scheme or club associated with an approved casino. The offence for breach falls on the operator, not the player.
Lotteries are reserved to the National Lotteries Authority under the National Lotteries Authority Act 1998; Super 6 tickets have been sold online through the national lottery’s own website.
Gaming operators pay a monthly fee of 8% of the gross revenue of their gaming activities. The Income Tax Act contains no specific provision on gambling winnings.
We found no national self-exclusion scheme and no gambling-specific helpline; exclusion lists under the Act are managed by the Authority for public-order reasons.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.

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Historical development

For much of the twentieth century, organised gambling in Saint Lucia was limited. According to a 2014 retrospective in The STAR, proposals to legalise gambling met opposition from churches and the parliamentary opposition in 1995, and a new government elected in 1997 placed legalised gaming on its legislative agenda. Lotteries came first: the National Lotteries Authority Act (Act 27 of 1998) entered into force on 31 December 1998 and created a public authority to promote and regulate “lotteries, pools and games of chance” (National Lotteries Authority Act).

Casino gaming followed with the Gaming Control Act, Act 29 of 2000, which came into force on 14 May 2001 and was amended in 2003 and 2004 (Gaming, Racing and Betting Act, arrangement and history). Its long title describes it as an Act “to permit gaming in Saint Lucia”. A government press release of February 2006 records that the Gaming Authority approved a licence in 2005, after inviting public objections and conducting due diligence, for Treasure Bay (St. Lucia) Ltd, a company based in the United States, for a stand-alone casino (Government of Saint Lucia, 2006). According to The STAR, the original law required casinos to be in hotels of at least 250 rooms, and stand-alone casinos providing at least 200 jobs were proposed in 2004.

The casino opened on 13 December 2010 at the Baywalk shopping mall in Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, with 260 slot machines and 22 table games, according to Travel Weekly. High Court records confirm that its first gaming operator licence was issued in October 2010 and that, at the time of the litigation, it was the only gaming operator licence issued under the Act (Treasure Bay (St. Lucia) Ltd v Gaming Authority, 2014).

From 2011 the market was also shaped by video lottery terminals (VLTs), electronic machines linked to a central system. A private company, CAGE St. Lucia Ltd, introduced them under a management agreement with the National Lotteries Authority to run additional lottery games. Treasure Bay brought judicial review proceedings in 2011 arguing that the machines were gaming devices requiring a gaming licence (Treasure Bay v Gaming Authority, 2011). The STAR reported in 2014 that the ten-year agreement allowed up to 1,000 machines in bars, restaurants and hotels. The excerpts of the judgments available to us do not show the final outcome of the case, so we do not state one. The 2019 amendments later added a statutory definition of “video lottery terminal” to the gaming legislation.

In 2018 and 2019 the Act was substantially rewritten to bring horse racing and betting within the same framework, and it was renamed the Gaming, Racing and Betting Act. A 2020 amendment cut the employment threshold for stand-alone casinos from 200 to 100 persons.

Legal framework

Checking gambling legislation and licensing

The Gaming, Racing and Betting Act

The principal statute is the Gaming, Racing and Betting Act, Chapter 13.13 of the Revised Laws of Saint Lucia, which the Attorney General’s Chambers publishes in a 2023 revised edition. Its history note lists Acts 29 of 2000, 5 of 2003, 13 of 2004, 18 of 2018, 24 of 2019 and 7 of 2020, and Statutory Instrument 101/2009. The Act is organised in seven Parts: the Authority; licensing; regulation of gaming; regulation of racecourse operators and betting providers (Part 4A, added in 2018); finance; prohibitions and penalties; and general provisions. Readers should note that the online edition marks some 2023 texts as not yet authenticated by a commencement order, so the official Gazette remains the authoritative source.

Several definitions in section 2 matter for online gambling:

Gaming means offering a game for money or money’s worth.
Game “includes table games, slot machines, on-site gaming and online gaming”, but excludes a game played in a private residence where no betting takes place (substituted in 2019).
Betting covers live betting and related conduct, whether remote or non-remote, and excludes gaming.
Remote refers to communication by the internet, telephone, television, radio or other electronic technology.

Under section 3, the Act supersedes any other law regulating gaming and betting, but “does not apply to a lottery provided for under the National Lotteries Authority Act”.

The central prohibition is in section 13. No person may conduct gaming, manufacture, sell or distribute gaming devices, lease gaming machines for a share of profits, or offer live or remote betting without an appropriate licence. Contravention is an offence carrying, on summary conviction, a fine of up to EC$150,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both, and a convicted person cannot obtain a licence for five years.

The National Lotteries Authority Act

The National Lotteries Authority Act (Act 27 of 1998, amended in 2005, Cap. 13.20) establishes the National Lotteries Authority. Under section 5, the Authority is “the body responsible for operating lotteries in Saint Lucia”; Windward Islands Lottery Incorporated may run multi-island games with its approval, and management contracts with third parties are allowed. Section 4 empowers the Authority to run lotteries alone or with other organisations, inside or outside Saint Lucia, to run pool betting approved by the Minister, and to promote public education on lotteries and games of chance. Under section 30, promoting or conducting a lottery or pool betting game in contravention of section 5 is an offence punishable by a fine of up to EC$50,000, up to ten years’ imprisonment, or both.

Anti-money-laundering context

Saint Lucia is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF). Its 2021 mutual evaluation report, based on an on-site visit in September 2019, recorded a single casino, rated the casino sector’s money-laundering risk as medium in the national risk assessment, and noted that the casino had consistently filed suspicious activity reports. The report identifies the Financial Intelligence Authority as the main anti-money-laundering supervisor for designated non-financial businesses.

Regulator and licensing model

Saint Lucia follows a limited licensing model. In such a model gambling is lawful only where the state grants an individual licence, and licences are deliberately few. It differs from a monopoly, in which one operator holds an exclusive right, and from an open licensing market, in which any qualifying applicant may enter.

Under section 4, the regulator is the Gaming, Racing and Betting Authority, which continues the former Gaming Authority under a new name. Its functions under section 7 include considering licence applications and making recommendations, investigating applicants’ background and reputation, monitoring the scope and location of licensed gaming, inspecting gaming devices before use, keeping a list of persons excluded from gaming establishments, and granting provisional betting provider licences. It has powers to compel documents and witnesses and to inspect premises.

Section 14 provides six licence categories:

gaming operator (conducting gaming);
gaming distributor;
gaming manufacturer;
gaming machine;
racecourse operator; and
betting provider, covering live, non-remote and remote betting and other activities approved by the Board.

A gaming operator may not hold another licence type at the same time unless Cabinet grants an exemption. Final decisions on licences rest with Cabinet, acting on the Board’s recommendation.

Section 22 restricts who may be licensed. Corporate applicants must be registered in Saint Lucia, and every shareholder, officer and director needs the Board’s written approval (for listed companies, holders of more than 5%). No licence may be granted to an individual under 25, or to anyone whose director or officer has an unappealed conviction for a “serious offence”, which includes fraud, money laundering and gaming offences. A gaming operator licence requires premises that are a hotel of at least 250 rooms or, under the 2020 amendment published in the Extraordinary Gazette of 3 August 2020, premises at which at least 100 persons will be continuously employed. These conditions are tied to physical premises.

The Authority does not appear to publish an online register of licensees. Sections 47 and 48 of the Act require the Secretary to keep registers and allow public inspection, but we did not find them online.

Online gambling and enforcement

Online casino games on mobile devices

Saint Lucian law addresses online gambling only in part. Because “game” includes online gaming, conducting online casino games falls within the Act and, under section 13, needs a gaming operator licence. However, the conditions for that licence in section 22 are framed around hotel rooms and on-site employment, and neither the Act nor the regulations published on the Attorney General’s Chambers website set out a separate procedure, technical standard or fee for an online casino licence. We found no record of an online casino licence being granted. The practical result is that no locally licensed online casino exists for Saint Lucian residents.

Remote betting is treated differently. Since 2019, the betting provider licence has expressly covered remote betting, meaning wagers placed by internet, telephone or similar means. A betting provider pays a monthly fee at a rate fixed by regulations (section 30A). We did not find a public list of licensed betting providers.

Online lottery play exists through the state channel. A 2022 report in The Voice stated that tickets for the regional Super 6 game, played in Saint Lucia, Dominica, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, could be bought online through the national lottery’s website as well as from agents.

On enforcement against foreign websites, we found no statutory power to block websites, no published blacklist, and no rules requiring banks or payment providers to refuse gambling transactions. The Act does not state expressly whether an operator located abroad that accepts players from Saint Lucia “conducts gaming” in Saint Lucia for the purposes of section 13, and we found no reported prosecution of a foreign online operator. The Act also contains no gambling-specific advertising code, although section 38 bars licensees from acts likely to harm public order or the public interest.

Position of players

The Act places most duties on operators rather than players. We did not find any provision making it an offence for an adult in Saint Lucia to gamble with an offshore online operator, and we found no record of players being prosecuted for doing so. This does not mean such play is authorised: an unlicensed operator remains outside Saint Lucian supervision, and a player has no local regulator to complain to.

The most distinctive rule concerns citizens. Section 39 provides that persons listed in Schedule 1 may not, personally or through an agent, play, place wagers on or collect winnings from a game approved by the Board. Schedule 1 (substituted by S.I. 101/2009) lists “Citizens of Saint Lucia” except those who are also citizens of another country and those who are part of a membership scheme or club associated with an approved casino. The duty and the offence fall on the gaming operator, which is liable on summary conviction to a fine of EC$150,000 if it fails to prevent a listed person from playing; no penalty is stated for the player. The Minister may amend the Schedule by order. The STAR reported that an earlier version of the rules barred resident Saint Lucians from casino gambling, while Travel Weekly reported in 2010 that all players over 18, locals included, needed a complimentary membership to enter. Together, these suggest membership is how citizens may lawfully play.

Section 39 refers to games “approved by the Board”, that is, games at licensed operators. Its application to online play with foreign operators is untested in any source we found.

Minors are also protected through operator liability. Under section 36, a person under 18 may not enter a gaming establishment or play, wager or collect winnings, and an operator that fails to prevent this is liable to a fine of up to EC$100,000. Section 36A applies a similar prohibition to betting.

Taxation

Operators. Under section 30, a gaming operator pays a monthly fee equal to 8% of the gross revenue of its gaming activities, payable to the Accountant General by the fifteenth day of the following month. The Act does not define gross revenue. Betting providers pay a monthly fee at a rate prescribed by regulations (section 30A); we could not locate the prescribed rate. The National Lotteries Authority’s own income is exempt from income tax under section 28 of its Act. The STAR reported in 2014 that the VLT operator guaranteed the Lotteries Authority EC$250,000 a month plus a share of revenue above a threshold; we could not verify whether those terms still apply.

Players. Saint Lucia levies income tax on individuals, but the Income Tax Act does not deal expressly with gambling or lottery winnings. The list of exempt income in section 25 does not mention them, and the definition of assessable income in section 32 lists business, employment, investment and periodic receipts plus a residual category of other gains “of an income nature”. Whether occasional winnings fall within that residual category is not answered by the statute. A person who gambles as a business could be treated differently from a recreational player. Players with large or regular winnings should seek advice from the Inland Revenue Department.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

The statutory protections are mainly controls on access to gaming premises:

Minimum age. The minimum age for gaming is 18 (section 36), and section 36A prohibits betting by minors.
Exclusion list. The Authority keeps a list of excluded persons. Under section 49, a person may be listed where their presence “threatens the orderly conduct of gaming activities”, and under section 37 operators that admit listed persons are liable to a fine of up to EC$50,000. The list is a public-order and integrity tool; we found no provision allowing a person to exclude themselves or a family member to request exclusion.
Licensing standards. Probity checks on owners and managers, equipment approval and internal-control regulations (S.I. 77/2001) are intended to secure fair games and honest accounting.
Public education. The National Lotteries Authority has a statutory duty to promote public education on lotteries, pools, betting and games of chance (section 4).

We found no national self-exclusion scheme covering online gambling and no gambling-specific helpline in Saint Lucia. The directory Find A Helpline lists the government’s National Health Helpline (203) for mental, social and emotional issues as the available contact. Our responsible gambling guide explains practical ways to set limits and where to find international support.

Recent and upcoming developments

Status of the casino. The CFATF evaluation, based on a 2019 visit, described one operating casino. A 2021 travel article by TravelDailyNews stated that the Rodney Bay casino closed in 2020. We could not confirm this from an official source, and we could not establish whether any land-based casino was operating in October 2026.
Anti-money-laundering follow-up. In its October 2024 follow-up report, the FATF network recorded that Saint Lucia had made significant progress, re-rated seven Recommendations upwards and kept the country in enhanced follow-up, with a further report due to the CFATF in November 2025. The report does not refer to gambling.
Revised edition of the laws. The Gaming, Racing and Betting Act and the National Lotteries Authority Act are published in the 2023 Revised Laws, which consolidate the 2018–2020 amendments.
Online gambling legislation. As of October 2026 we found no public record of a bill to license online casinos or to introduce website or payment blocking. Any such change would most likely come by amendment of the Gaming, Racing and Betting Act or by regulations under section 55.

Casino listings for players in Saint Lucia

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in Saint Lucia. We are not aware of any online casino licensed by the Gaming, Racing and Betting Authority, and the Authority does not publish an online register. The listings must not be read as an indication that an operator is supervised locally, or that the restrictions on citizens in the Gaming, Racing and Betting Act do not apply.

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Key points

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Historical development

Legal framework

The Gaming, Racing and Betting Act

The National Lotteries Authority Act

Anti-money-laundering context

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling and enforcement

Position of players

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Saint Lucia

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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