To check a casino licence number on the Gambling Commission register, take the account number from the site’s footer, search it on the Commission’s register of gambling businesses, and confirm three things: the business name matches the footer, the licence status reads Active, and the site’s own web address is listed as an Active or White label domain.
Updated 4 October 2026: new meta description; register re-read dated 4 October 2026; Regulatory actions register named; link to the licence application timing post in place of the Surrendered post link.
This is an evergreen how-to for readers in Great Britain, not a news story. This desk read the Commission’s register of gambling businesses on 23 September 2026, when the page showed “Last updated: 22 September 2026”. We re-read the register page on 4 October 2026, when it showed “Last updated: 03 October 2026”; the search box, field definitions and status values were unchanged. The same day as the first read we read its display of licensed status technical requirements, last updated 11 June 2021, and the players’ guide page make sure that the gambling business is licensed, last updated 18 September 2020. Neither older page listed any changes. They are the current guidance as read, not new rules.
How do I check a casino licence number on the Gambling Commission register?
Six steps, in this order:
- Find the statement. The Commission sets the wording: “(licensee’s name) is licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under account number (account number)”. Note the name and the number exactly as written.
- Click the number. The technical requirements say the link must go “to the licensee’s record” on the public register, not to the Commission’s home page or the register’s landing page. If you land on a front page rather than a business record, you have not been shown anything yet.
- Search it yourself. Open the register directly and type the account number into the search box. Going to the Commission’s own site, rather than relying on a link the casino supplied, means you know whose page you are reading.
- Match the name. The register’s Account name is the legal name of the business. The display rules say the name in the footer statement must match the name on the Public Register.
- Read the licence status for the activity the site offers (more on that below).
- Find the domain. Open the domain list on the record and look for the exact web address you are on, with a status of Active or White label.
A brand name you see in the logo is usually a trading name, not the account name. That is normal; the check is whether the trading name and the domain both sit under the account in the footer.
Is a licence number the same as an account number?
No, and this is where most readers get stuck. The technical requirements page says a licence number “is usually in the following format 000-012345-N-987654-001”. For display of licensed status, operators use the account number instead: the first block of six digits, 012345, with any leading zeros removed. In the Commission’s own example that leaves 12345, and its illustrative footer reads “HotSlotsRUs Limited is licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under account number 12345”.
So if a terms page quotes the long form, the number to search is inside it. If a footer quotes a short number, that is the account number, and it is what the register search expects. The requirements add that leading zeros “must be omitted” and that the account number sits inside the statement, so it need not be shown again separately.
What should the footer statement include?
The requirements cover remote operators, business-to-business operators, and non-commercial societies, local authorities and external lottery managers that sell lottery tickets on websites or apps. They sit under LCCP licence conditions 8.1.1, 8.1.2 and 8.1.3. These licensees must display, on their websites and mobile apps:
- a statement that they are licensed and regulated by the Commission
- their account number
- a link, supplied by the Commission, to their current licensed status on its website
Where several licensees operate one site, the statement lists every name and every account number. The account number carries the link, and should be underlined and in a different colour so it reads as a link. The whole statement must be “readily accessible to consumers”. These are website and app rules; they say nothing about a high-street venue.
Can you search the Gambling Commission register by website?
Yes. The register page offers one search box: “Search by business name, trading name, domain name or account number”. Searching the domain you are on is the fastest way to find which business has declared it. The page also links to a full register view and offers the data as Excel, CSV and a Zip file.
One caveat is printed on the page itself: “Domain names and trading names are provided by the gambling business”, and the Commission cannot guarantee the accuracy of information provided by third parties. A domain on a record is the operator’s declaration. The account, its legal name and its licence status are the Commission’s own record.
Which register fields should you read, and what do they mean?
The register publishes a table of its own fields. The definitions below are the Commission’s, as read on 23 September 2026; the right-hand column is our check.
| Field | Register’s definition | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Account number | The unique reference number of the business | Same number as the footer |
| Account name | The legal name of the gambling business | Same name as the footer statement |
| Licence status | The status of the licence | Active for the product offered |
| Activity from / until | Most recent grant date for this product / date it stopped operating it | No end date in the past |
| Trading name count and status | Names declared by the business; Active or Inactive | The brand appears, Active |
| Domain name count and status | Domains declared by the business; Active, Inactive or White label | Your exact domain, Active or White label |
| Regulatory actions | Sanctions and/or settlements imposed by the Commission | Read any entries before you deposit |
The head office address may not show in full, because the register notes that some businesses ask for that. The Commission’s public register hub, read on 4 October 2026, also lists a separate Regulatory actions register, alongside personal licences and premises, worth searching by the business name.
Which licence statuses mean the licence is live?
Only one. The register defines Active as “Licence is active and up to date”. Pending means a new licence has been applied for or is being varied and is not yet active. If a new brand shows Pending, see how long a licence application takes. The rest describe a licence that is not operating:
- Suspended: suspended by the Commission pending investigation. Our suspension post covers what that means for a balance.
- Surrendered: given up by the business as no longer required.
- Revoked, or Revoked (Non payment of fee): removed after regulatory action or breach, or for an unpaid annual fee.
- Expired, Lapsed or Forfeited: no renewal application, liquidation, bankruptcy or incapacity, or a court order.
Because Activity from is defined per product, read the row for the product the site actually offers, not simply the first row on the record.
What does the domain name status tell you?
The register allows three values, Active, Inactive and White label, and its field table defines none of them further. Read Active as a domain the business has declared as live on that account. Treat an Inactive domain as not covered today. White label usually describes a site run under another business’s licence, so check that the account in the footer is the one listing the domain. Our white label explainer walks through that arrangement.
What if the footer and the register do not match?
The register cannot tell you why. It can tell you whether this account, under this legal name, lists this domain with a live status. If it does not, you have not confirmed that the site is covered by that licence, and the Commission’s player guide is plain that you should check before you gamble. The register page directs complaints about a gambling business to the Commission’s contact page.
Questions readers ask
How do I find a Gambling Commission licence number? Look in the site’s footer for the Commission’s mandated statement, which names the licensee and ends ‘under account number’ followed by a number. That is the account number, not the full licence number. A full licence number usually looks like 000-012345-N-987654-001; the account number is its first six-digit block with the leading zeros dropped, so 12345.
What is a Gambling Commission account number? The register defines it as the unique reference number of the business. It identifies the licensee, not a single licence or a single website, which is why one account number can sit behind several trading names and domains. It is the number operators covered by the display rules must show in their footer statement, hyperlinked to their register record.
Can you search the Gambling Commission register by website? Yes. The register of gambling businesses can be searched by business name, trading name, domain name or account number. A domain search is the quickest way to find which business has declared a site. The Commission warns that domain and trading names are supplied by the businesses themselves, and it cannot guarantee the accuracy of information provided by third parties.
What does it mean if a casino is not on the Gambling Commission register? It means you have not found evidence that the site is covered by a Commission licence, whatever its footer says. Try the account number, the legal name and the domain before concluding anything. The Commission’s player guide says to check that a business holds its licence before you gamble, and that licensed businesses must link to its public register.
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Number, name, status, domain: four checks, on the Commission’s own site. For the longer version, read the UKGC licence register, used properly. 18+. UKGC-licensed operators only. GambleAware. Please gamble responsibly.