Online Casinos in Isle of Man

The Legal Position

Online casino play is a licensed activity in the Isle of Man. The Island's regulator states on its own legislation page that "All forms of online gambling and gaming are potentially licensable under OGRA, with the exception of spread betting, as set out in the Online Gambling (Prescribed Descriptions) Regulations 2007", OGRA being the Online Gambling Regulation Act 2001. The same page adds that where an operator intends to establish in the Isle of Man and provide certain forms of online gambling, "they must hold a licence under OGRA". Spread betting is excluded because it falls to the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority instead.

The Regulator

The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission describes itself as "established in 1962 as an independent statutory body" that "regulates all gambling activities on the Island", with a remit covering "both land-based and online gambling, including casinos, slot machines, betting offices, lotteries, and digital gaming". Its current footing comes from the Gambling Supervision Act 2010, which the Commission says "established the Gambling Supervision Commission as an independent Statutory Board of the Isle of Man Government, setting out in law its status, constitution and regulatory objectives". The Commission is explicit that it "both licence and regulate all land-based gambling operations (casino, amusement and slot machines, betting offices and lotteries) as well as all online gambling activities" - so online casino play sits with the same body that handles the Island's land-based sector. Its three statutory objectives for gambling are to "ensure that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way", to protect children and other vulnerable persons, and to prevent gambling from being a source of crime or disorder.

Licensing and the Registers

Applications go to the Commission's Inspectorate: "To apply for authorisation to conduct online gambling activities, applicants must submit a completed application form, vetting forms, all required supporting documentation, and the application fee to the Inspectorate." Land-based betting and lotteries sit under separate Acts - the Gaming, Betting and Lotteries Act 1988 for betting offices, bookmaking and amusements with prizes, and the Commission records that "The National Lottery Act 1999 and the GBLA regulate lotteries in the Isle of Man."

The Commission publishes a register of online gambling licence holders - "The companies listed below have been granted an online gambling licence by the GSC." - alongside registers of land-based licence holders, software suppliers, approved businesses and former licence holders. It also keeps a public list of sites making false claims to a Manx licence, introduced with the words "Occasionally, gambling websites appear that purport to be licensed by the Isle of Man GSC." Anyone checking a site's claim to an Isle of Man licence can confirm it on those registers.

Responsible Gambling

The Commission publishes free services for Island residents: "If you are an Isle of Man resident and are concerned with any of the above or feel that gambling is taking over your life, the Isle of Man can offer the following free services." The first named is Motiv8 Addiction Services, whose own site prints its freephone line as 0808 1624 627. The Commission's page also names the Crisis Response and Home Treatment Team, the Office of Fair Trading Debt Counselling Service, the GamCare helpline and Gordon Moody Gambling Therapy, and gives a telephone number for each; those numbers are not repeated here because they were read on the regulator's page rather than on each service's own site.