CASINO NEWS DAILY / GUIDES & REVIEWS

Yemen Online Casino Guide

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Yemen has no lawful gambling sector. There are no casinos, no state lottery, no licensed betting operator and no regulator with responsibility for gambling, and no law that authorises any form of commercial gambling has been identified. The Constitution declares Islamic Shari’ah to be the source of all legislation, and gambling (maysir or qimar) is forbidden in Islamic law. The country’s criminal code, Republican Decree-Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties, applies throughout the country in principle, but since 2014 Yemen has been divided between rival authorities: the internationally recognised government, led since April 2022 by the Presidential Leadership Council and based in Aden, and the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement, which holds Sana’a and much of the north. Banking, payments and internet infrastructure are split along the same lines, and international sanctions apply to Ansar Allah. This guide sets out what can be verified about the legal position, explains where the sources are silent, and summarises the developments of 2024–2026.

Key points

Yemen has no licensing framework, regulator, casino or state lottery; no form of commercial gambling is lawful.
Article 3 of the Constitution provides that “Islamic Shari’ah is the source of all legislation”; gambling is prohibited under Islamic law.
Republican Decree-Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties is the general criminal code. The parts of it we were able to review contain no express gambling offence; the remainder could not be checked.
Authority is divided between the internationally recognised government and Presidential Leadership Council (Aden) and the Ansar Allah (Houthi) authorities (Sana’a), each with its own central bank.
Yemen is on the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring (June 2026), and the United States designated Ansar Allah a Foreign Terrorist Organization on 4 March 2025.
No dedicated gambling helpline or self-exclusion scheme could be identified.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

Online casinos for Yemen

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Historical development

The present Republic of Yemen was formed in 1990 by the union of the Yemen Arab Republic in the north and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in the south; as the Associated Press notes in its reporting on southern separatism, the south had been a separate state between 1967 and 1990 (AP, 9 January 2026). We found no record that either state, or any subsequent Yemeni government, established a casino, a national lottery or a licensed betting market. The 1991 Constitution, as amended, identifies Islam as the state religion and Shari’ah as the source of all legislation, and the criminal code adopted in 1994 incorporates the fixed Islamic hudud penalties.

The current division of authority dates from September 2014, when Ansar Allah, commonly called the Houthi movement, took control of Sana’a (Recorded Future, 2018). A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government. On 7 April 2022 President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi transferred his powers to an eight-member Presidential Leadership Council, while, as Agence France-Presse reported at the time, the Houthis continued to control Sana’a and most of northern Yemen (AFP via Khaleej Times, 7 April 2022). According to the Associated Press, the conflict has lasted more than a decade and killed over 150,000 people.

The south has its own fault line. The Southern Transitional Council (STC), founded in April 2017 to seek the restoration of an independent southern state, was for several years represented within the Presidential Leadership Council. In December 2025 STC forces advanced into Hadramawt and al-Mahra and took the presidential palace in Aden; Saudi-backed forces subsequently regained those positions. On 9 January 2026 the STC’s secretary-general announced that the council would dissolve its bodies, a step the Associated Press reported was disputed by an STC spokesman, who said that only the full council could take such a decision (AP, 9 January 2026). The status of the STC should therefore be treated as unsettled.

Legal framework

The Constitution and Shari’ah

The Constitution of the Republic of Yemen (1991, with amendments through 2015) states in Article 1 that Yemen is “an Arab, Islamic and independent sovereign state”, in Article 2 that “Islam is the religion of the state”, and in Article 3 that “Islamic Shari’ah is the source of all legislation”. In Islamic jurisprudence, maysir (games of chance for stakes) and qimar (wagering) are prohibited, on the basis of the Qur’an (5:90–91). The constitutional provision means that legislation is expected to conform to Shari’ah, and it is the basis on which the absence of any lawful gambling sector should be understood. It does not by itself define a criminal offence or a penalty.

Republican Decree-Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties

Yemen’s general criminal code is Republican Decree-Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties, issued on 12 October 1994 according to the WIPO Lex record. An Arabic text is published on the website of the Ministry of Justice, and an unofficial English translation is hosted by UNHCR’s Refworld database.

Article 12 lists seven hudud crimes, offences whose penalties are fixed by Islamic law: they include slander (qadhf) and drinking alcohol. Gambling is not among them. Under Islamic legal theory, conduct that is forbidden but carries no fixed penalty falls within ta’zir, the discretionary category in which the state legislates or the judge determines the punishment. Penalties available under the code include imprisonment, fines and, for hudud crimes, flogging.

We were not able to confirm whether the code contains an article that expressly criminalises gambling, keeping a gambling house or running a lottery. The English translation (hosted by Refworld, ecoi.net and the University of Nottingham) ends partway through Article 234; the Arabic text on the Ministry of Justice website breaks off at Article 133, and another Arabic copy hosted by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library at Article 149; the WIPO Lex text reproduces only selected later articles. None of the parts we reviewed (Articles 1 to 234, and the selected later articles up to Article 321) mentions gambling, betting or lotteries. Commercial summaries of Yemeni gambling law that we examined assert a general ban but cite no article. Readers should not assume that a statutory gambling offence either exists or does not; what is clear is that no Yemeni law authorises or licenses gambling.

Divided authority and the application of law

Both the internationally recognised government and the Ansar Allah authorities in Sana’a claim to apply the laws of the Republic of Yemen, including the 1994 code, and each operates its own courts, ministries and security services in the areas it controls. Rules issued in one area are not necessarily applied in the other. This guide describes the de jure position under national legislation and notes, where relevant, which authority exercises de facto control, without taking any position on questions of legitimacy or recognition.

Regulator and licensing model

Yemen follows a prohibition model: rather than licensing gambling or reserving it for a state monopoly, the state permits no gambling at all. There is no gambling regulator, no licence category, no register of licensed operators and no published fee schedule. We found no evidence of any casino, slot-machine hall, horse-racing totalisator, sports betting outlet or national lottery operating lawfully in any part of the country, under either administration.

Supervision of the financial sector, which is relevant to how payments for any gambling could flow, is itself divided. The Central Bank of Yemen has operated as two institutions since the conflict: the Central Bank of Yemen–Aden, in government-held areas, and the Central Bank of Yemen–Sana’a, in areas controlled by Ansar Allah. The Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies describes the bifurcated central bank as the subject of “a high-stakes power struggle”, with old and new rial banknotes trading at very different exchange rates (Sana’a Center, October 2024).

Online gambling and enforcement

No operator is licensed or authorised to offer online casino games, betting or lotteries to people in Yemen, and no Yemeni law provides a route to such authorisation. Any online gambling service accessible from Yemen is therefore operating without any Yemeni permission.

Unlike many prohibition jurisdictions in the region, Yemen has no published blocklist of gambling domains, no regulator issuing blocking orders, and no public record of payment-blocking directives specific to gambling. Internet infrastructure is split. According to a 2018 study by the threat-intelligence firm Recorded Future, Ansar Allah has controlled YemenNet, the main national internet provider, since taking Sana’a in September 2014, and has reportedly used that control to restrict access to social media platforms at various times; the government established a separate backbone provider, AdenNet, in Aden in June 2018 (Recorded Future, 2018). Whether gambling websites are systematically filtered on either network could not be verified from published sources.

We searched English- and Arabic-language news sources for reported enforcement against gambling or betting, including campaigns against betting applications, in both government-held and Ansar Allah-held areas between 2023 and 2026. We did not find a report that we could verify from a reliable source. This does not establish that no enforcement has occurred: reporting from Yemen is constrained, and local police actions may go unrecorded in accessible sources. No advertising rules specific to gambling exist, since gambling itself cannot lawfully be offered.

Payments, banking and sanctions

Payment channels into and out of Yemen are heavily restricted by the conflict and by international measures. In 2024 the Central Bank of Yemen–Aden issued a relocation order (in April) to banks headquartered in Sana’a and then revoked the licences of six major Sana’a-based banks, a step that threatened to cut them off from the SWIFT international messaging network; these measures were reversed under a de-escalation agreement announced by the UN Special Envoy on 23 July 2024 (Sana’a Center, October 2024). On 17 April 2025 the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a Sana’a-headquartered bank and three of its senior officials, stating that the bank was “controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis” and gave them access to the international financial system (US Treasury, 17 April 2025).

The United States Department of State designated Ansar Allah a Foreign Terrorist Organization on 4 March 2025; it had already been listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on 16 February 2024. OFAC issued general licences under the Foreign Terrorist Organizations Sanctions Regulations covering matters such as agricultural commodities, medicine, personal remittances and certain telecommunications (OFAC FAQ 1219). Separately, the UN Security Council’s sanctions regime established by resolution 2140 (2014) imposes an asset freeze, travel ban and targeted arms embargo on designated individuals and entities in Yemen (UN 2140 Sanctions Committee); on 14 November 2025 the Council renewed the asset freeze and travel ban until 14 November 2026 by resolution 2801 (2025), with China and the Russian Federation abstaining (UN press release SC/16222). These measures are not directed at gambling, but they limit the banking and payment routes available for any cross-border transaction involving Yemen. This guide does not provide legal advice on sanctions compliance.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard-setter for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT), lists Yemen among the jurisdictions under increased monitoring, often called the “grey list”. Its June 2026 publication, which repeats the Yemen statement first issued in February 2023, notes that, due to the security situation, the FATF “has been unable to conduct an on-site visit” to assess Yemen’s progress (FATF, 19 June 2026). Yemen is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF), which carried out its last published mutual evaluation in 2009 (FATF country page).

Position of players

No Yemeni law permits individuals to gamble, whether in person or online, and gambling is forbidden under the Islamic law that the Constitution makes the source of legislation. A person who gambles therefore has no lawful channel and no legal protection in any dispute with an operator. Beyond that, the precise criminal exposure of a player could not be established. We did not find, in the parts of the 1994 code we were able to review, a provision expressly penalising participation in gambling, and we found no verifiable report of a player being prosecuted, fined or otherwise punished for gambling in Yemen in recent years.

The authorities in different parts of the country apply criminal law differently, and courts may impose discretionary (ta’zir) penalties for conduct regarded as contrary to Shari’ah. The absence of documented prosecutions should not be read as an indication that gambling is lawful or tolerated.

Taxation

Because no form of gambling is lawful, Yemen has no gambling duty, no tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR, the amount staked minus prizes paid) and no licence fees. We found no provision of Yemeni tax law addressing gambling winnings specifically, and their treatment could not be verified.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Yemen has no gambling-specific consumer protection framework. There is no national self-exclusion register, no regulator handling complaints against operators, no requirement for age verification or deposit limits, and no dedicated problem gambling helpline that we could identify.

People affected by gambling may find general information and international support resources in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

Banking de-escalation (July 2024). Measures against Sana’a-based banks were reversed under a UN-announced agreement (Sana’a Center).
US designations (2025). Ansar Allah became a Foreign Terrorist Organization on 4 March 2025; a Sana’a-based bank was designated on 17 April 2025.
UN sanctions renewal (November 2025). Resolution 2801 (2025) extended the 2140 measures to 14 November 2026; a further decision is due in November 2026.
Southern Transitional Council (December 2025–January 2026). The announced dissolution of 9 January 2026 was disputed within the STC and remains unsettled (AP).
FATF monitoring (2026). Yemen remained under increased monitoring in June 2026 (FATF).
Gambling law. We found no bill, decree or court decision on gambling in 2024–2026 from either authority. Given the fragmented legal system, readers should treat this as the absence of available evidence rather than confirmation that nothing has changed.

Casino listings for players in Yemen

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. No operator is licensed or authorised to offer gambling in Yemen, there is no regulator or register against which an operator’s status can be checked, and gambling is unlawful under Yemeni law and the Shari’ah principles on which it is based. The listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful. International sanctions, including the UN 2140 regime and US measures against Ansar Allah, also restrict payments and dealings involving Yemen.

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Yemen Online Casino Guide

Key points

Online casinos for Yemen

Historical development

Legal framework

The Constitution and Shari’ah

Republican Decree-Law No. 12 of 1994 on Crimes and Penalties

Divided authority and the application of law

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling and enforcement

Payments, banking and sanctions

Position of players

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Yemen

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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