UAE Online Casino Law 2026: Is It Legal?

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has moved, since 2023, from a near-total prohibition of gambling to a narrow and centrally licensed model of “commercial gaming”. The general rule has not changed: the federal criminal law still treats gambling as an offence. What has changed is that a federal regulator, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), now holds exclusive jurisdiction to license lotteries, casino resorts, internet gaming and sports wagering. Activity that falls within a GCGRA licence is lawful; activity outside it remains illegal for operators and, according to the regulator, for the people who take part. This guide explains both halves of that system, the penalties attached to unlicensed gambling, and the small number of licences issued so far.

Key points

The Crimes and Penalties Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021) criminalises gambling. Law-firm summaries report a maximum of two years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to AED 50,000 for taking part, and heavier penalties for running a gambling venue.
The GCGRA was announced in September 2023 and is based in Abu Dhabi. It states that commercial gaming without its licence is illegal and that consumers who play with unlicensed operators “may equally be subject to penalties”.
As of 5 October 2026, the GCGRA register lists one lottery operator, one land-based gaming facility (Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, due to open in September 2027) and one internet gaming and sports wagering licensee.
The federal cybercrime law separately punishes running or promoting gambling websites outside authorised cases, with fines of AED 250,000 to AED 500,000 and/or imprisonment.
Offshore online casinos are not licensed by the GCGRA, and accepting UAE customers does not make them lawful in the UAE.

Last reviewed: 5 October 2026.

Historical development

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. Its Constitution provides in Article 7 that “the Islamic Shari’a is a main source of legislation”, and Article 121 reserves “major legislation relating to the penal, civil, and commercial codes” to the federal level. Gambling offences are therefore a matter of federal criminal law, applied uniformly across all seven emirates.

Until 2023 there was no federal gambling regulator and no casino in the country. The most visible exceptions to the general prohibition were large raffle-style prize draws, including the weekly draws Mahzooz and Emirates Draw, which offered jackpots of up to US$54 million according to Al Arabiya.

The turning point came on 3 September 2023, when the state news agency WAM announced the creation of the GCGRA. As iGaming Business reported at the time, the authority was to regulate both a national lottery and commercial gaming. Its first chief executive was Kevin Mullally, previously of the Missouri Gaming Commission and Gaming Laboratories International, and its chair was Jim Murren, the former chairman and chief executive of MGM Resorts. The authority describes itself as “established by Federal Law by Decree” and headquartered in Abu Dhabi; its website does not publish the number of that decree-law, and we have not been able to verify it from an official text.

The regulator’s first visible act was to clear the field. From 1 January 2024 the existing weekly draws, including Mahzooz and Emirates Draw, suspended operations under what Mahzooz described as “an industry-wide mandate consistent with the regulators’ new role”, as Al Arabiya reported. Licences followed: a national lottery licence in July 2024, a casino resort licence in October 2024 and an internet gaming and sports wagering licence in late 2025.

Legal framework

Reviewing licence categories with a United Arab Emirates skyline

The general prohibition in the Crimes and Penalties Law

The principal criminal statute is Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, dated 20 September 2021. The official English text on the federal legislation portal could not be retrieved in full for this review, so the following account relies on published summaries by UAE law firms, which agree on the substance but differ slightly on article numbering.

Definition. Gambling is defined as a game in which each party agrees that, if it loses, it will pay the winner a sum of money or another agreed benefit. TLP Advisors place the definition in Article 460; SOL International cite Article 461.
Taking part. Gambling is punishable by imprisonment of up to two years or a fine not exceeding AED 50,000. All three summaries consulted (TLP Advisors, Rubert & Partners and Al Rowaad Advocates) give these figures.
Running a gambling venue. Opening or managing a place for gambling, or organising gambling open to the public, attracts temporary imprisonment of up to ten years and a fine of not less than AED 100,000, according to Rubert & Partners and Al Rowaad. SOL International’s summary presents the fine as an alternative to imprisonment rather than an addition to it.
Confiscation. Money and equipment used in gambling are to be confiscated, and premises may be closed (Rubert & Partners).

These are statutory maxima, not typical sentences. Reported cases show how courts have applied the earlier code. In November 2018, for example, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced a man who ran a street betting game to three months in jail, a fine of AED 20,000 and deportation, as Gulf News reported.

Online gambling and the cybercrime law

Online conduct is also covered by Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Countering Rumours and Cybercrimes. Article 38 provides that whoever “creates, manages or supervises a website, or uses information network to broadcast, transmit, disseminate, re-disseminate, or promote practicing of gambling activities in the cases other than the authorized” is punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than AED 250,000 and not more than AED 500,000. The words “other than the authorized” matter: they leave room for activity licensed by the GCGRA while catching offshore sites and their promoters.

Civil law

Gambling debts are also unenforceable. According to Al Rowaad Advocates, Article 1021 of the Civil Transactions Law (Federal Law No. 5 of 1985) renders agreements relating to gambling or prohibited betting void. Articles 1012 to 1019 allow limited prize arrangements in racing, shooting and other sports, provided the prize does not come from the competitors staking against each other.

The regulator and the licensing model

The GCGRA describes its role as having “exclusive jurisdiction to regulate, license, and supervise all commercial gaming activities and facilities in the UAE”. The model is federal: one authority licenses across the country, rather than each emirate creating its own regime. Whether gaming is allowed in a particular emirate, however, is still a decision for that emirate, as Al Arabiya noted in January 2024. So far, only Ras Al Khaimah has a licensed casino project.

A January 2026 overview by DV Dolce Vita Advisors describes five broad licence families: gaming operators (facility, lottery, retail, internet and sports wagering); gaming-related vendors; corporate key persons such as controllers and management providers; individual key persons such as directors; and occupational licences for gaming employees.

The GCGRA’s published list of licensees showed the following on 5 October 2026:

Category	Licensee	Notes
Lottery	The Game LLC	Operator of the UAE Lottery
Land-based gaming facility	Island 3 AMI FZ-LLC	Operating as Wynn Al Marjan, Ras Al Khaimah
Internet gaming	Coin Technology Projects LLC	Also the sports wagering licensee
Sports wagering	Coin Technology Projects LLC	Same company as above
Gaming-related vendors	33 companies	Equipment, game content, data and geolocation suppliers

A vendor licence lets a company supply products to licensed operators. It does not authorise that company, or any website using its games, to offer gambling to the public in the UAE.

The national lottery

The first licence went to The Game LLC, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi company Momentum, on 28 July 2024. iGaming Business reported that the licence runs for ten years, that payout rates are set between 40% and 60% of ticket sales, and that the operator pays an undisclosed single-digit tax on revenue as well as the UAE’s 9% corporation tax. The previous draw operators applied but were not selected. In December 2024 the GCGRA warned the public that the UAE Lottery was the only licensed lottery. It added that participants in unlicensed activities “may face legal repercussions” and have no legal recourse to recover lost funds. The same report noted that the Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free airport draws operate under GCGRA supervision.

The Ras Al Khaimah casino resort

On 5 October 2024 Wynn Resorts announced that it had received from the GCGRA what it called “the first commercial gaming facility license in the UAE” for Wynn Al Marjan Island, an integrated resort in Ras Al Khaimah (AsGam). Wynn holds a 40% stake in the joint venture building the resort. In its second-quarter 2026 results, published on 4 August 2026, the company said the resort “will open its doors to guests in September of 2027”. Wynn’s cumulative cash contributions had reached US$1.06 billion by 30 June 2026. Gulf News reported that the total project cost had risen to US$5.7 billion. Until the resort opens, there is no operating licensed casino in the UAE.

Online gambling

Licensed online gambling now exists in the UAE, but only on a very small scale. On 15 December 2025 Play971, operated by Coin Technology Projects LLC, an Abu Dhabi company, went live with GCGRA licences for internet gaming and sports wagering. The National and Khaleej Times reported that:

players must be at least 21 years old and physically located in the UAE to register, deposit or play;
VPNs and other location-masking tools are prohibited, and access is blocked from “sensitive geographic areas” designated by the GCGRA;
the site offers casino games such as blackjack and roulette as well as betting on football, horse racing and cricket;
the licence was the 19th issued by the GCGRA since September 2023.

Independent observers have raised questions about transparency during the rollout. In December 2025 the blocking-software provider Gamban pointed out that some live-casino suppliers on the site did not yet appear on the GCGRA’s public vendor list, as iGaming Expert reported. The GCGRA confirmed the operator’s licence.

Every other online casino or sportsbook that accepts UAE residents operates without a UAE licence. The GCGRA’s licensing page states that “engaging in, conducting or facilitating commercial gaming activities without a valid license from the GCGRA is illegal and will lead to severe penalties, including criminal penalties”. The prohibition covers employees of such operators and third parties that provide products or services to them. The cybercrime law’s Article 38 adds a specific offence for running or promoting unauthorised gambling websites. A licence from Curaçao, Malta or anywhere else has no effect on the position under UAE law.

Position of players

The UAE is one of the few jurisdictions in this series where the regulator says in terms that players can be liable. The GCGRA states that “consumers who play via unlicensed operators, whether online or at a physical venue, are also engaging in illegal activities, and may equally be subject to penalties” (GCGRA licensing guidance). This is consistent with the Crimes and Penalties Law, which punishes the act of gambling itself and not only its organisation.

The sources consulted for this guide do not show how often individuals have been prosecuted solely for playing on offshore websites. Reported prosecutions mainly concern people who organised gambling, such as the 2018 Dubai street-game case mentioned above. It would be wrong to say either that players are routinely prosecuted or that they face no risk. Using an unlicensed site exposes a player to the criminal provisions summarised above, and any winnings are not legally recoverable, because gambling contracts are void under the Civil Transactions Law.

Taxation

The UAE government portal states that “the UAE does not levy income tax on individuals”, so there is no personal income tax on lottery or gaming prizes. Licensed operators are subject to federal corporate tax, which the government describes as a tax on the net income or profit of corporations. For the lottery, iGaming Business reported an additional undisclosed single-digit levy on revenue. The GCGRA has not published a general gaming tax schedule for casino or online operators.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

The GCGRA has published a Responsible Gaming Framework and says that responsible gaming is “at the core” of its approach. Licensed online play includes deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion. Play971’s self-exclusion carries a minimum period of six months, according to The National. We could not identify a national, cross-operator self-exclusion register or a dedicated national gambling helpline in the GCGRA’s published material as of October 2026. Commentators such as BetBlocker’s founder have argued that treatment and support networks must be built alongside the new market (iGaming Expert). General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

Leadership. In December 2025 The National reported that Kevin Mullally had left the GCGRA and that Jim Murren had been appointed interim chief executive.
Casino opening. Wynn Al Marjan Island is scheduled to open in September 2027. Whether other emirates will seek casino licences is not settled in any published decision.
Online market. The register still lists a single internet gaming licensee. Any expansion will appear on the GCGRA’s public list, which is the authoritative check.
Enforcement. The GCGRA’s December 2024 warning signalled that the authority intends to act against unlicensed lotteries and gaming, and against those who promote them.

Sources and further reading

General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, About us (accessed 5 October 2026).
General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, Licensing (accessed 5 October 2026).
General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, Our licensees (accessed 5 October 2026).
General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, Responsible gaming (accessed 5 October 2026).
UAE Legislation portal, Federal Law by Decree No. (31) of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law (2021).
United Arab Emirates, Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Countering Rumors and Cybercrimes (2021; English text hosted by ADGM).
Constitute Project, United Arab Emirates’s Constitution of 1971 with Amendments through 2009 (accessed 5 October 2026).
TLP Advisors (via Mondaq), Betting On Change: The UAE Rolls On New Regulator For Gaming Licences (2024/2025).
DV Dolce Vita Advisors (via Mondaq), UAE Commercial Gaming Law: GCGRA Licences, Online Gaming, Sports Wagering and Lotteries (2026).
SOL International, Game Changer: Reform in Gaming and Gambling Laws in the UAE and the GCC (2023).
Rubert & Partners, Gambling in Dubai: Legal Shifts and the Rise of RAK Casino (accessed 5 October 2026).
Al Rowaad Advocates, UAE’s Gambling Laws: Prohibition, Consequences, and Exceptions (accessed 5 October 2026).
iGaming Business, UAE establishes federal gambling regulator (2023).
Al Arabiya, UAE-wide suspension on prize draws, inc Mahzooz, Emirates Draw comes into effect (2024).
iGaming Business, GCGRA licenses The Game LLC to operate UAE Lottery (2024).
Gulf News, UAE authorities warn of risks from unlicensed lottery and gaming activities (2024).
AsGam, Wynn Resorts says it has been granted gaming license for Al Marjan Island development in UAE (2024).
Wynn Resorts, Wynn Resorts, Limited Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results (2026).
Gulf News, Wynn Al Marjan Island sets new opening date as project cost rises to $5.7 billion (2026).
The National, UAE’s first regulated online gaming website begins operations (2025).
Khaleej Times, UAE: First licensed sports wagering and iGaming website Play971 launches (2025).
iGaming Expert, UAE online casino licence confirmed but alarms are ringing (2025).
Gulf News, Man fined Dh20,000 for running gambling game in street (2018).
UAE Government portal (u.ae), Taxation (accessed 5 October 2026).

Casino listings for players in the United Arab Emirates

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that any operator is licensed by the GCGRA. Outside the licences named above, offering online casino games to UAE residents is not permitted, and taking part in unlicensed gambling is itself an offence under UAE law. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful. Check any operator against the GCGRA’s list of licensees.