Legal casino gambling age in Suriname
Suriname regulates gambling through a licensing system built on three Dutch-language statutes adopted together in September 2023: the Gambling Act (Wet Hazardspelen), the Lottery Act (Loterijwet) and an amended Gaming Supervision and Control Act (Wet Toezicht en Controle Kansspelen). Land-based casinos may operate only inside hotels, and the 2023 Gambling Act for the first time created a separate online casino licence, capped at three. Licences are granted by the President of the Republic on the advice of the national regulator, the Gaming Control Board Suriname (GCBS). Offering online casino services in Suriname without that licence is prohibited, wherever the operator is based. A private member’s bill to ban online money gambling altogether was still at committee stage in May 2026.
Key points
- The Gambling Act (S.B. 2023 no. 135), the Lottery Act (S.B. 2023 no. 136) and the amended Gaming Supervision and Control Act (S.B. 2023 no. 134) were enacted on 13 September 2023 and replaced laws dating from 1939 and 1962.
- The Gaming Control Board Suriname supervises all gambling and advises the President, who grants and revokes licences. Casino licences are capped at 20, plus up to three for new five-star hotels; online casino licences are capped at three.
- Operating a casino or online casino without a licence is a criminal offence under Article 313 of the Criminal Code. Knowingly taking part in an unlicensed lottery is also expressly prohibited by the Lottery Act.
- Casinos pay a monthly casino tax of SRD 1,600 per slot machine and SRD 12,000 per gaming table, and income from casinos and online casinos is taxed at 40%.
- The minimum age for casinos and online platforms is 21. The law provides for a central exclusion register, including voluntary self-exclusion, but no dedicated national gambling helpline could be identified.
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026.
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Historical development
Suriname’s gambling law has its roots in the colonial period, and its terminology still follows Dutch legal usage. The oldest statute still in force is the Lottery Tax Act of 27 December 1933 (Wet op de Loterijbelasting, G.B. 1933 no. 103). Lotteries themselves were governed by the Lottery Act 1939 (G.B. 1939 no. 31).
Casinos were regulated by the Gambling Act of 27 July 1962 (Wet Hazardspelen, G.B. 1962 no. 114). It allowed the President to license games of chance only in named hotels. Entry required a police-issued pass, intended for non-residents; residents could obtain one only when accompanying named non-residents. The Act also set a flat 50% income-tax rate on gambling income.
From 1997, according to Justice and Police Minister Kenneth Amoksi in a 2022 parliamentary debate reported by Key News, the President began licensing new commercial lottery companies, including electronic number games such as Lotto, and new casinos. Before then the National Lottery had run traditional lotteries alone. The minister called lotteries and gambling “a growing problem with regard to money laundering” and said the law had not kept pace.
Oversight in this period was weak. In 2012 Stabroek News, citing the Surinamese daily de Ware Tijd, reported “chaos with Suriname casino licences“: it was unclear how many parties held casino licences, the Association of Casino Operators (Vereniging Casino Surinaam, VCS) was unsure how many casinos were operating, and four licences had been issued in 2011 despite an understanding that none would be granted until a gaming board was working.
The regulator was created by the Gaming Supervision and Control Act of 2009 (S.B. 2009 no. 78), which established the Toezicht en Controle Instituut voor Kansspelen (Gaming Supervision and Control Institute), commonly called the Gaming Board. The 2012 report notes that preparations had begun in 2009 but had stalled. A package of new laws, drafted from 2021, was adopted by the National Assembly (De Nationale Assemblée, DNA) in September 2023.
Legal framework
Laws are published in the State Gazette (Staatsblad, S.B.); the texts cited here are those published by the Foundation for the Rule of Law in Suriname (SRiS). The key statutes are:
- Gambling Act (Wet Hazardspelen, S.B. 2023 no. 135), dated 13 September 2023. It governs casinos and online casinos, repeals the 1962 Act, and amends the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Casino Tax Act 2002.
- Lottery Act (Loterijwet, S.B. 2023 no. 136), also dated 13 September 2023 and published on 14 September 2023. It replaces the Lottery Act 1939 and covers incidental and commercial lotteries, including online lotteries.
- Act amending the Gaming Supervision and Control Act (S.B. 2023 no. 134), which rewrote the regulator’s tasks, governance and sanctioning powers.
- Tax statutes: the Casino Tax Act 2002 (S.B. 2002 no. 111, as amended) and the Lottery Tax Act 1933.
Each of the three 2023 Acts entered into force on the day after its publication. In the DNA vote, reported by Key News, the Lottery Act passed 29 to 0, the supervision amendment 30 to 1 and the Gambling Act 28 to 2.
The Gambling Act defines a casino as a room in a hotel of at least three stars where games of chance are commercially operated, and an online casino as an online platform offering the listed table and machine games commercially. It also defines a game centre (gamecentrum), a physical outlet of an online casino licensee for sports betting and games, and a sales point (verkooppunt) for tickets, top-ups and payouts only, which may not be in a supermarket.
Regulator and licensing model
The regulator is the Toezicht en Controle Instituut voor Kansspelen, which the 2023 amendment gave the English name Gaming Control Board Suriname (GCBS). It is based in Paramaribo and is run by a Director and one or two deputies appointed by the President, under a five-member Supervisory Board. Under the amended Act its tasks include:
- advising on licence applications, suspensions and revocations;
- supervising licence conditions and operators’ anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing (AML/CFT) duties, and reporting suspicions to the Financial Intelligence Unit Suriname;
- screening owners and managers of licence holders, and keeping a register of licence holders; and
- developing policy on preventing gambling addiction.
The GCBS may demand information, issue binding directions and impose administrative fines of up to SRD 1,000,000 per information request not complied with. On licensing, however, its role is advisory; the President decides.
Suriname follows a limited licensing model: private operators may be licensed, but the number of licences is capped by law. The main licences are:
| Licence | Main conditions |
|---|---|
| Casino licence (Art. 2) | Granted by the President after GCBS advice; maximum of 20, plus up to three extra for five-star hotels under construction; 15-year term, renewable in 10-year periods |
| Online casino licence (Art. 6) | Granted by the President; maximum of three; same term and renewal rules as casino licences |
| Commercial lottery licence (Lottery Act, Art. 4) | Granted by the President; public limited company; 1 to 10 years; an online lottery licence only for a holder of an online casino licence |
| Incidental lottery licence (Lottery Act, Art. 3) | Granted by the President or a District Commissioner; maximum one year |
Casino applicants must be a public limited company (naamloze vennootschap) with at least 25% of its shares held by Surinamese residents of Surinamese nationality, meet solvency guidelines and hold a licence for a hotel of at least three stars. Owners and managers are screened for integrity.
The final law was more favourable to casino operators than earlier drafts. Key News reported in May 2024 that the licence term had grown from five years (2021 draft) to fifteen, a proposed five-year hotel-operation requirement had been dropped, and only the President may revoke a licence. The VCS chairman neither confirmed nor denied lobbying, but the association had submitted written advice to parliament.
We could not find a public online register of licensees or an official count of licensed casinos.
Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced
Online gambling is lawful in Suriname only through a licensed online casino or a licensed online lottery. Article 6 of the Gambling Act prohibits operating an online casino without a presidential licence. It extends the prohibition to offering online casino services in Suriname regardless of where the operator is established. A foreign licence therefore does not authorise an operator to serve players in Suriname.
Licensed online operators must:
- admit only players aged 21 or over with an identity-verified player profile;
- keep a “near real time” control database of players’ stakes and winnings for the regulator;
- not offer credit to players; and
- according to the explanatory memorandum, use games certified to international standards.
A distinctive feature of the Surinamese market is the large network of physical outlets selling betting and lottery products, which the 2023 Act brought under the online casino licence. Figures given in the DNA in September 2023 and reported by Key News put the number of sales points at 993, held by three providers, against 897 betting offices counted by the Gaming Board a year earlier. Under the transitional rules, holders of sports betting and similar licences issued under the 1939 Lottery Act had to convert them into an online casino licence within six months. They then had to reduce their game centres in stages: at least 35% in the first year and 50% of the remainder in the second year, down to a number to be fixed by state decree in the third year. Game centres must be in stand-alone buildings at least 500 metres from sports facilities, youth centres and youth boarding schools. We could not verify how far these reductions have been carried out.
Unlicensed operation is punishable under Article 313 of the Criminal Code, as amended in 2023, with up to four years’ imprisonment and a third-category fine; the penalty may be doubled for a repeat offence within two years. Article 539 of the Criminal Code covers intermediaries who facilitate unlicensed gambling. The GCBS may fine licensees up to SRD 1,000,000 and, after three fines within two years, close a casino or online platform for up to three months. We found no provision in the 2023 Acts for court- or regulator-ordered blocking of websites or of payments to unlicensed operators, and no published blocklist.
The most prominent recent action concerned a domestic company. In December 2025, according to Suriname Times, the GCBS required NV Take a Change to cease all gambling activities, including its online casino activities, from 27 December 2025 because it lacked a valid licence. It cited the Lottery Act and the Gambling Act and asked the public to stop buying the company’s tickets and top-ups.
Advertising is not regulated in detail. The GCBS sets guidelines on lottery recruitment and advertising, and promoting unlicensed foreign lotteries is prohibited.
Position of players
The legal position of players depends on the type of game:
- Lotteries. Article 15(c) of the Lottery Act prohibits taking part in a lottery “knowing that no lottery licence has been granted for that lottery” (wetende dat voor die loterij geen loterijvergunning is verleend). Article 21 makes breaches of Article 15 criminal offences punishable by up to four years’ imprisonment and/or a fifth-category fine. The GCBS cited this provision when warning the public in the Take a Change case.
- Casino and online casino games. The Gambling Act and the amended Criminal Code penalise those who offer gambling as a business, offer it to the public, or take part in gambling “as a business” (als bedrijf). On our reading, they do not expressly make it an offence for an individual to play casino games with an unlicensed online operator for leisure.
We found no reported prosecution or fine of an individual player in Suriname, whether for an unlicensed lottery or an offshore casino website. This is not approval: players on unlicensed sites lose the protections of Surinamese law, such as age checks, the credit ban and the exclusion register, and have no recourse to the GCBS.
Access rules for licensed venues also apply to players. The minimum age is 21. Casino visitors must identify themselves and register on entry, using an identity card, driving licence or passport if they are residents, or a passport or driving licence if they are not. The 1962 rule limiting residents’ access was not carried over. Cash prizes of SRD 10,000 or more in lotteries must be paid by bank transfer.
Taxation
Operators
Operators are taxed in three main ways:
- Casino tax. Under the Casino Tax Act 2002, as published in consolidated form by the Tax Authority (Belastingdienst Suriname), this is a fixed monthly levy per device, not a percentage of revenue: SRD 1,600 per slot machine and SRD 12,000 per gaming table, including roulette tables. The rates were set by an amendment of 30 December 2022 (S.B. 2022 no. 151). Its explanatory memorandum described the change as a 100% increase on rates last adjusted in 2011 and expected revenue of at least SRD 56 million a year. Returns are filed monthly.
- Income tax on gambling income. Article 18 of the 2023 Gambling Act taxes income from casinos and online casinos at 40%, down from the 50% rate that had applied since 1962. Key News reported that the minister did not explain the reduction in the DNA, and that opposition members criticised it.
- Lottery tax. Under the Lottery Tax Act 1933, licensed lotteries pay 25% of the value of tickets issued and 10% of the gross value of each prize (15% and no prize tax for charitable lotteries; 30% on tickets sold for foreign lotteries).
In 2023 the GCBS also consulted the sector on a new licence contribution (vergunningsbijdrage) to fund supervision. Key News reported in October 2023 that it had presented a “final proposal” and that the sector was willing to pay, subject to transparency safeguards. We could not verify whether the contribution has since been introduced or at what level.
Players
The Casino Tax Act and the 2023 Gambling Act tax operators, not players. The only explicit tax on winnings we found is the 10% prize element of the lottery tax. The licence holder is liable for it but may withhold it from the prize. Prizes below a threshold are exempt, but the version we reviewed still states this in pre-2004 Surinamese guilders. We could not confirm how the general income tax treats other gambling winnings, and players with significant winnings should seek advice from the Tax Authority.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
The 2023 Acts introduced a set of statutory safeguards for licensed gambling:
- Minimum age of 21 for casinos, online platforms and lotteries, with identity checks.
- Central exclusion register. The GCBS must keep a central register of excluded persons. Registration can be voluntary (self-exclusion) or involuntary, under a procedure to be set by state decree. The regulator may also exclude a person showing signs of gambling addiction, on expert advice.
- Exclusion for criminal investigations. The Prosecutor General may bar people under investigation for economic offences, money laundering or organised crime.
- No credit may be offered or arranged by operators.
- Opening hours. Casinos must close between 04:00 and 10:00 on weekdays and 06:00 and 10:00 at weekends.
How far these tools work in practice is unclear. We could not find a public portal for self-exclusion or evidence that the state decree on involuntary exclusion has been issued. The regulator’s capacity has long been questioned: in 2022 an MP noted, as reported by Key News, that the Gaming Board had a single car to inspect hundreds of outlets, and proposed university research on gambling addiction. In May 2026 the GCBS told a DNA committee that research into gambling behaviour and addiction had been prepared but not yet carried out.
We could not identify a dedicated national gambling helpline or specialist gambling-treatment service in Suriname. People concerned about their own or a relative’s gambling may approach general mental-health and addiction services and their doctor. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Gambling also falls within Suriname’s anti-money-laundering framework. Suriname is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), whose fourth-round mutual evaluation was adopted in November 2022. At a 2023 GCBS session on it, reported by Key News, operators were urged to improve customer due diligence and reporting to the FIU. A 2024 follow-up report upgraded Suriname to “largely compliant” on Recommendation 28, which covers the supervision of designated non-financial businesses such as casinos. Suriname nevertheless remained in enhanced follow-up.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Implementation of the 2023 laws. The six-month transitional periods have elapsed. We found no official report on licence conversions or on the reduction of game centres, although the ministers were required to report to the DNA within one year.
- Enforcement against an unlicensed operator (December 2025). The GCBS ordered NV Take a Change to stop all gambling activities from 27 December 2025 pending a valid licence.
- Bill to ban online gambling (2025–2026). On 10 December 2025 four DNA members, E. Jones, I. Karta-Bink, S. Reyme and W. Joeloemsingh, submitted a private member’s bill, the Wet Verbod Online Kansspelen en Digitale Kansspelpreventie (Act banning online gambling and on digital gambling prevention). A DNA committee heard stakeholders on 18 February 2026, including the GCBS and the Telecommunications Authority Suriname. The minutes record concerns about limited enforcement powers, missing research and inconsistencies in the bill. At a further hearing on 4 May 2026, the GCBS said a total ban “could lead to further illegality and loss of oversight” and that regulation was preferable. It added that the law must be tightened to allow effective supervision. No decisions were recorded, and as of the latest minutes we found, the bill remained under committee review.
Casino listings for players in Suriname
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator holds a Surinamese licence. Only operators holding one of the three presidential online casino licences may lawfully offer online casino services in Suriname, and no public register of licensees could be found. The listings must not be read as an indication that an operator is authorised in Suriname. Readers should check an operator’s status with the Gaming Control Board Suriname.
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Sources and further reading
- Republic of Suriname (via SRiS), Wet Hazardspelen, S.B. 2023 no. 135 (2023).
- Republic of Suriname (via SRiS), Loterijwet, S.B. 2023 no. 136 (2023).
- Republic of Suriname (via SRiS), Wijziging Wet Toezicht en Controle Kansspelen, S.B. 2023 no. 134 (2023).
- Republic of Suriname (via SRiS), Wet Hazardspelen 1962, G.B. 1962 no. 114 (1962, repealed).
- Belastingdienst Suriname, Wet Casinobelasting 2002 (consolidated text) (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Republic of Suriname (via SRiS), Wijziging Wet Casinobelasting 2002, S.B. 2022 no. 151 (2022).
- Republic of Suriname (via SRiS), Wet van 27 december 1933 op de Loterijbelasting (1933, as amended).
- De Nationale Assemblée, Beknopt verslag Cie-035: Wet Verbod Online Kansspelen en Digitale Kansspelpreventie (February 2026).
- De Nationale Assemblée, Beknopt verslag Cie-091: Wet Verbod Online Kansspelen en Digitale Kansspelpreventie (May 2026).
- Suriname Times, Gaming Control Board Suriname eist sluiting kansspelbedrijf NV Take a Change (December 2025).
- Key News, Lobby casino’s werpt vruchten af: vergunningsvoorwaarden versoepeld, lagere belastingen (18 May 2024).
- Key News, Casino’s krijgen korting op belasting (6 September 2023).
- Key News, Binnen een jaar bijna honderd betting-kantoren bijgekomen (5 September 2023).
- Key News, Gaming Control Board organiseert wederom discussieronde met de kansspelsector over de implementatie van de vergunningsbijdrage (25 October 2023).
- Key News, Gaming Board informeert kansspelsector over MER (5 May 2023).
- Key News, Loterijen en hazardspelen groeiend probleem met betrekking tot money laundering (5 September 2022).
- Key News, Gaming Board heeft een auto om heel Suriname te controleren (12 November 2022).
- Stabroek News (from de Ware Tijd), Chaos with Suriname casino licences (January 2012).
- Caribbean Financial Action Task Force, Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation Report of Suriname (2023).
- Financial Action Task Force / CFATF, Suriname’s progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing (2024).
