Online Casinos in Cyprus

Two Regulators, Two Separate Remits

Cyprus does not have one gambling regulator. It has two, and the boundary between them is the single most important thing to understand about the Cypriot position. The Αρχή Παιγνίων και Εποπτείας Καζίνου Κύπρου (Cyprus Gaming and Casino Supervision Commission) is the competent regulatory and supervisory authority for the operation of the casino in the Republic of Cyprus. The Εθνική Αρχή Στοιχημάτων (National Betting Authority) is a supervisory authority with financial independence and autonomy responsible for the regulation and supervision of betting activity within the Republic. The Commission states on its own site that regulating betting is a distinct field of competence, regulated by the National Betting Authority, and that the two bodies exercise distinct competences in regulating the Cypriot games-of-chance market.

The Casino Side

The Commission was established in 2015 under the Operation and Control of Casinos Law of 2015 (N. 124(I)/2015) and the related Regulations, to secure the lawful, safe and responsible operation of the casino in Cyprus. In its own catalogue of Cypriot gambling legislation the Commission describes that Law, as amended to 2022, as setting the framework governing the operation of one casino resort and four satellite casinos in various districts, and the establishment of the Commission as the authority competent to supervise casino games. The first integrated casino resort opened on 10 July 2023; following an international tender the licence was awarded to Integrated Casino Resorts Cyprus Limited, made up of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd and The Cyprus Phassouri (Zakaki) Ltd, and Melco uses the brand City of Dreams in Cyprus. The resort operator also runs three satellite casinos, in Nicosia, in the free area of Famagusta and in Paphos, with the option of applying for a fourth in the Larnaca district. The Commission must approve, or exempt from approval, every game used in the casino resort and the temporary casino.

The Betting Side

The National Betting Authority was set up in 2012. It licenses the provision of betting services in two forms: betting inside a licensed premises, excluding electronic and horse-race betting services, which it calls land-based betting and licenses as Class A; and the provision of electronic betting services, which it calls online betting and licenses as Class B. The licences it issues are a Class A receiver's licence, a Class B receiver's licence, a licence for an authorised representative of a Class A receiver, and a premises licence. An applicant for either class must be a company limited by shares whose principal activity is betting, with issued and paid-up share capital of at least 500,000 euros and a bank guarantee of 550,000 euros; a Class B applicant must additionally install a backup server in the territory of the Republic, connected in parallel with its central server. A Class A or B licence holder pays betting tax of 10 per cent of its net betting receipts to the Republic and a 3 per cent contribution to the Authority. A one-year receiver's licence costs 30,000 euros and a two-year licence 45,000 euros. Separately, under article 9 of the Certain Games of Chance Law (N.52(I)/2018) and a contract of 26 June 2024, the Authority has granted an exclusive licence to ΟΠΑΠ (ΚΥΠΡΟΥ) ΛΙΜΙΤΕΔ for the period from 26 June 2024 to 25 June 2039.

Where Online Casino Games Fall

Neither route licenses them. The Class B online licence covers the provision of electronic betting services excluding limited-payout gaming machines, casino games of chance provided online, and electronic horse-race betting. The Commission's catalogue of Cypriot gambling law records that the Betting Law provides for the imposition of penalties for betting transactions and the operation of an online casino. The Authority's blocking list covers unlicensed websites providing online betting and websites providing illegal betting, among which it names poker, online casino, exchange and spread betting; the list is published on the Authority's site and updated weekly. One of the Authority's statutory competences is to notify internet service providers electronically of every website address through which betting services not covered by a Class B licence, or services prohibited by the Law, are offered. A reader who tries to reach a listed site is redirected to the Authority's own website.

That is the state of the sourced record, and it is worth being exact about its limits. The sources cited describe penalties on operating an online casino and the blocking of such sites. None of them addresses the position of a player who uses one, and no claim is made about that in either direction.

Sweepstakes Casinos

A sweepstakes casino is not a real-money casino and is not a licensed alternative to one. The dual-currency sweepstakes model is a United States construct built on United States sweepstakes and promotional-game law. No Cypriot statute, regulator page or government source read addresses that model, so no sweepstakes status is recorded for Cyprus. In particular, the fact that the betting regulator's remit does not reach online casino games says nothing about sweepstakes, and nothing here should be read as implying it does.

What Is Available Instead

Licensed land-based casinos and licensed betting, including online betting — but the online betting licence expressly excludes casino games. The National Betting Authority licenses betting inside a premises as Class A and electronic betting as Class B, and the Class B licence excludes casino games of chance provided online. The first integrated casino resort opened on 10 July 2023 under a licence awarded by international tender to Integrated Casino Resorts Cyprus Limited, which also runs three satellite casinos.

Player Protection and Age

Cyprus applies two different minimum ages, which is easy to get wrong. An application to register as a player on an online betting site must include confirmation that the applicant has completed their 18th year, together with identity details, a residential address, a valid e-mail address and confirmation that they have been informed of the terms and manner of the betting. For the casino the threshold is 21: people under 21 are prohibited from taking part in casino games, from using gaming machines, and from watching or approaching gaming machines or casino gaming tables on the casino resort's premises, and from entering the satellite casinos; every player entering the casino must be at least 21. Minors may not enter a licensed betting premises, unaccompanied or accompanied by an adult.

The National Betting Authority's statutory competences include issuing regulations and directions on mechanisms for protecting young people and pathological players, cooperating with international organisations on protecting young people and vulnerable groups from betting, and commissioning periodic studies on betting's effect on them. A Class B licence holder must keep players' funds in a dedicated client bank account at a credit institution, separate from its own money, and must file the credit institution's written undertakings that it will not set off or combine that account against the operator's other debts. The Authority runs safergambling.gov.cy under its own aegis to promote responsible betting, provide information and publicise the programmes for tackling problem play and betting addiction; its stated aims are education, prevention and public awareness, and it carries a self-assessment questionnaire, a monthly-budget tool and the routes to free support.

Advertising

Under the Betting Law a person who advertises betting so as to imply that it promotes or is associated with social acceptance or personal or financial success or the solution of personal, financial or social problems; or that includes the endorsement of well-known personalities in a way implying betting is connected with their success; or that may in any way influence minors to take part; or that promotes betting using services provided by someone who is not a Class A or B licence holder or an authorised representative; or that exceeds the bounds of honesty and decency, commits an offence punishable on conviction by up to six months' imprisonment or a fine of up to 30,000 euros, or both.

Scope

Everything above concerns the Republic of Cyprus, whose authorities are the two bodies named above. Nothing is stated about the area of the island outside the Republic's effective control.