Updated on September 3 by Ian McMillin Ad Disclaimer
Anyone who has signed up to Gamstop will be aware of the reality that Gamstop membership prevents users from signing up to, or playing at, any casino that is based in the UK. All UK-licensed casinos are, by law, required to be members of Gamstop. So when you want to play at an online casino and are a member of Gamstop yourself, you are faced with the choice of using non UK casinos or not playing at casinos at all.
Membership of non UK casino sites may seem like a big step for a UK online casino fan, but in truth, it is the only choice they have - and as we will see, it’s not illegal to play at non UK online casinos. However, it does mean that you’ll need to take some precautions in order to enjoy the games you want to play.
In this article we look at the best non UK casinos accepting UK players and delve into why and how you can and should sign up and play there. Finding the best and safest non UK gambling sites will mean that you can play your preferred casino games without having to deal with the issues caused by Gamstop self-exclusion. We’ll help you find the right casino for you.
List of Non UK Casinos
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- List of Non UK Casinos
- Why do UK players look for non UK casinos?
- Is there anything bad about non UK casino sites?
- What do we look for in non UK online casinos?
- Where to find Non UK Casinos?
- What do we consider when reviewing non UK gambling sites?
- What are the best non UK casinos?
- Why does a non UK casino site need a licence?
- Where do non UK casinos get their licences?
- Why do people want to avoid Gamstop?
- What are the pros and cons of non UK casino sites?
- Why are some people reluctant to play at non UK sites?
- What games can you play at non UK casinos?
- Non UK Casinos Coming Soon
- Non UK casinos 2023 Conclusion
- Casinos without a UK Licence FAQs
Why do UK players look for non UK casinos?
As we noted above, for a casino to be operative in the UK, it needs to have a UK licence. Licences are issued by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), which is responsible for all legal matters relating to the British gambling industry. Non UK casinos are not permitted to have a UK licence, unless they maintain part of their infrastructure in the UK.
To qualify for a UK casino licence, a casino must also be affiliated with Gamstop. We’ll cover Gamstop in more detail later, but for the key points: Gamstop is a service that allows people with gambling problems to self-exclude, or disqualify, themselves from gambling sites. Because all UK gambling sites are affiliated with Gamstop, a self-exclusion from one Gamstop casino spreads to every casino thus affiliated.
A Gamstop self-exclusion cannot be broken, ever, for any reason. So, if you are under a Gamstop self-exclusion, but no longer need it, you cannot play at UK online casinos. The only choice you will have is to play at non UK casinos, which you may also see described as “offshore” casinos. These casinos are permitted to offer services to UK customers, so it’s legally accepted that you can use them. As such, they offer an alternative to UK licensed casinos.
Is there anything bad about non UK casino sites?
This is a question everyone will ask when learning about the purpose of non Gamstop betting sites. If these sites exist as a way of playing casino games beyond the reach of the regulatory body for UK casinos, does this mean they are problematic? We’ve said they are legal, but lots of things that aren’t good for you are legal. So is betting at non UK licensed casinos really above board?
In truth, it depends on the casino, and that is why we are here. Of course some casinos that operate outside the UK regulated casino structure are going to be less than ideal places. That’s inevitable. What is also true is that more than a few UK based online casinos, despite having the permission of the UK Gambling Commission to run their sites, have also conducted themselves in a less than stellar way. The UKGC has had, in the past, to hand out punishments to sites that ignored its rules. Our job is to look at non UK casinos and find those which you can use, safely, to play online casino games.
How we do that is going to be covered later. For the moment, just know that there are legal, safe and enjoyable alternatives to UK sites when it comes to betting, and if you hear that a potential site is actually a non UK licensed casino, that doesn’t mean you need to avoid playing there.
What do we look for in non UK online casinos?
Among all of the casinos accepting UK players that we have tested and played at, we know that there are good and bad to be found. We’ve seen both during our tests and on this site, we will only list the non UK licensed casinos that have provided a positive gaming experience. It’s a positive thing to find non UK casinos accepting customers from the UK, but it only remains positive if the casino is worth playing at and offers the customer a beneficial experience. When we are rating online casinos, we look at the following criteria:
Active, verifiable licence
If a casino wants your custom, then the very least it should be prepared to do is provide a credible licence from a gaming licensing authority that is respected and recognised. Some online casinos fudge the licensing question altogether by not having one, and we’ll say it time and again throughout this article, but you should never play at a casino with no licence. There is no good reason not to have a licence, and if you are concerned that an unlicensed casino might just go dark, taking your money with it, then that’s probably a good instinct.
Variety in what to bet on
At non UK casino sites, as at UK casinos, one of the most prized qualities is variety. If a casino doesn’t have a lot of different games to play across different genres and parts of the casino, then it indicates less than positive news. Possibly, they don’t have the money to license games from the widest range of providers. In extreme cases, it may be that these online casinos are using pirated software to run games, and this is even worse news because it demonstrates that they are both unlicensed and fraudulent. So, a wider range of games is always better.
Ideally, a sportsbook
This is not an essential element of a non UK casino, or even a UK casino site, for that matter. It is however very welcome, and most of the casinos we have a particular fondness for tend to have sportsbooks attached. A good sports betting section with lots of markets at a non UK casino site will always be well received. The caveats there are included for a reason. If the casino has just bolted on a half-hearted sportsbook because that’s what other casinos are doing, then it will rarely make a difference to how enjoyable the site is.
Little need for KYC
To be fully secure, online casinos will need to take some information from customers to show they are who they say they are. So a complete absence of verification information should be taken with caution. However, once you have signed up and completed your application to a non UK casino, that should ideally be where the need for KYC begins and ends. People, justifiably, don’t like to give out their personal information when they don’t have to. A non UK licensed casino will get a better review from us if it limits its demands for personal data.
Where to find Non UK Casinos?
What do we consider when reviewing non UK gambling sites?
We specialise in reviewing casinos that will be appropriate for people who wish to bet while excluded through Gamstop, or people who simply would prefer to bet at sites that are not handled by Gamstop due to that service’s restrictions. So when we are looking at non UK registered casinos with a view to potentially recommending them to customers, we have to look at what we think our readers will be interested in.
Anyone looking for non UK casinos in order to enjoy Gamstop-free casino gaming will have their own priorities. We try to meet with those priorities in a way which will ensure people reading our reviews get the most from them, and are able to make a decision on where they should play. As such, we cover the following aspects of an online casino when it comes to making our decisions on which ones we recommend, and which ones we don’t.
Bonuses
Any casino that is looking to attract new customers will know that they tend not to get far without having a solid bonus structure. Customers want to have the chance to really profit from their time on non UK slot sites, so we look closely at the bonuses offered by non UK online casino sites. In particular, we’re looking for an initial deposit bonus which offers a decent percentage of the initial deposit as free betting credits. We also expect further deposit bonuses, either on the first few deposits, or in the form of reload bonuses that reward continued betting. We also check for wagering requirements and any special terms.
Payment methods
One of the difficulties with UK registered gambling sites is that they have very restrictive terms when it comes to how you can deposit in your casino website account. These are restrictions placed upon them by gambling authorities, but they are frustrating nonetheless, so when we are reviewing the top non UK casinos we will reward the casinos that make an effort to widen their acceptance when it comes to how people deposit in their accounts. Casinos should accept credit cards, and ewallets, and it’s a bonus if they’ll accept cryptocurrencies.
Game selection
As we previously noted, not every casino outside the United Kingdom is equal. Some are excellent, and at the very least are competitive with the best UK based casinos. Some are not. And often the difference is that the better casinos have gone to the source to get the best games possible, getting on board with the top providers. You should be able to play the best slots that are available on UK licensed casino sites, no matter where the site you choose is based. If a site can’t come to an agreement with good providers, we’d wonder why that is - and it will affect the marks we give a casino.
Support
If you look at the customer support provision of gambling sites, it will usually give you a fairly solid idea of how good the casino is overall. Even though you are less likely to need customer support in a quality casino, they are conscious of the fact that that support needs to be there. Because, even in a good casino, when thousands of people are playing there, sometimes things will go wrong. Just as with UK betting sites, non UK casinos need to have quality customer service - and if they don’t, the rest of the site probably isn’t up to much either.
General pros and cons
If there is anything to relate about non UK casinos that doesn’t fall into the above categories, then we will include it in the Pros and Cons section of the review. This is also where we stack the good of a non UK online casino against the bad, and balance out whether it is, overall, a casino worth signing up to or one that you should leave well alone. Given the importance of getting this right, we will only ever recommend online casinos that show a significant balance in favour of the Pros section, because you can’t be wasting your money on a 50/50 casino.
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What are the best non UK casinos?
In reality, we need to be honest and say that we have our own opinions on which casinos are the best, but even among the few people who write our reviews, we don’t have an absolute consensus in which is the very best. The moral of that story is that there is no objectively “best” non UK casino out there. Different ones will have attractions for different people, but we firmly believe that there are some online casinos that are better than others, so we absolutely have a list of non UK casinos that we would recommend. We might put them in a different order than you would, but they’re all good.
The casinos we list below are non UK casino sites with great games, exciting offers, superb customer support and - we can’t stress this enough - licences. Each of these casinos is licensed by a trusted authority, and there is absolutely no way we will ever recommend a casino that is not.
Spicy Jackpots
There is no disputing that as things stand, Spicy Jackpots is the talk of the scene when it comes to non UK casinos accepting UK players. A brand new online casino which has clear designs on being the best around, this site is licensed by Curacao e-Gaming and offers a superb initial bonus of up to $2000 on your first deposit. They then keep the bonus funds coming with further boosts on all of your first six deposits. Although there is no sportsbook as of this moment, there are hundreds of slots and table games from top providers, and live casino games too.
Mr Sloty
Persistently one of the most popular worldwide casinos, Mr Sloty is filled with excellent online casino games with, as the name may suggest, a particular emphasis on slots. That’s not where things begin and end, however. Mr Sloty also delivers on the live casino gaming front, with excellent table games from a range of providers featuring live dealers and offering plenty of opportunities to get to know the games - and your fellow players - a bit better.
Four Crowns Casino
In just over a year since its launch, Four Crowns casino has become one of the go-to sites for people looking to play casino games without the restrictions placed by Gamstop. There are plenty of reasons for its popularity: it has far better bonus offers than any UK betting sites, it has a standing relationship with top game providers ensuring that it can provide the best games, and its customer support is among the most reliable online. While some people are less than enthused about using foreign casinos, this Curacao-licensed site shows there is no need to be concerned
BetSwagger
Just logging on to Bet Swagger you immediately get a sense that this is a casino that pulls out all the stops to be among the top echelon of non UK regulated casinos. The site looks impressive, offering quick routes to all of the best content without ever being cluttered or difficult to navigate. A 400% first deposit bonus also helps its credibility no end, and the ready and easy availability of the best games, including live casino games from providers like Ezugi, helps seal the deal. Bet Swagger has been around for longer than many of these casinos, but has put those couple of extra years to good use.
Magic Win Casino
Magic Win Casino at least recognise one thing that’s important about branding, and that’s presenting a positive image. “Win” sounds good, and “Magic Win” sounds even better. As for the casino itself, it does a lot to live up to that positive image. A wide selection of excellent games from big name providers is one reason you’ll enjoy playing here. Generous deposit bonuses and reload offers are another, and the fact that they have 24/7 customer support is a much bigger boost than many people realise.
Kaboom Slots
It’s hard to believe just how seismic the main bonus offer at Kaboom Slots is, but let’s just put it in words and let the facts speak for themselves. This site offers 450% on your initial deposit, which is more than we’ve seen anywhere else. Based in Costa Rica, the site is specifically designed for UK customers, and even though it is located outside the United Kingdom, it functions perfectly as an alternative to standard UK bingo sites. With a solid range of games along with its excellent offers, Kaboom Slots is a place you’ll be delighted to play at.
Ocean Breeze Casino
Licensed in Malta, the name Ocean Breeze may ring a few bells for people who have been playing casino games for a while. That’s because the company has been providing gaming machines to the retail casino world since the 1980s. With that level of pedigree, they have plenty to offer as an online casino, and with more than 4,000 games to enjoy you can be confident that this is a site where the player’s interests will be taken into account. A hefty opening offer which includes 130 free spins will also help focus the mind on what is on offer here.
Hustles Casino
Based in the USA, licensed in Curacao, and available to a huge number of global customers, Hustles Casino is a casino that offers a lot, and then backs up that offer with genuine quality. The huge selection of games is a great way to start, and there is also, reliably, a thumping big bonus that ensures you’ll have plenty of betting funds with which to start your journey. A lot of effort has clearly gone in to making the site safe and secure for customers new and returning, and we’re also big fans of the range of payment options which include cryptocurrencies - something that UK players won’t usually find at online casinos.
GodOdds
Every casino we list here is an excellent all-round casino, and GodOdds is no different. But every casino also has something that really makes it stand out, and, again, GodOdds meets that definition. In their case, it’s about their provision of the best games in every category. Superb 3D slots will be more than enough for most people, but GodOdds also manages to offer the very best in live dealer games, with more than twenty top-of-the-range titles in its live casino. Of course there is still a lucrative signup offer and brilliant customer service, but those are just added bonuses on top of the general quality of the gaming offer.
Damslots
Along with a sportsbook that would be the envy of most UK sports betting sites, Damslots is one of the best casinos to emerge over the last 12 months. It’s not hard to see why it attracts so many UK players; it sticks to a tried and tested system of an easy-to-navigate site combined with an elite level of bonus offer and, as we’ve come to depend upon from the best sites, a customer service department that is always available and always on the ball when it comes to helping customers.
Why does a non UK casino site need a licence?
We’ve been vocal in short bursts about the importance of licences, and why they are as important at foreign casinos as they are at UK-based ones. When we’ve mentioned unlicensed sites, we’ve been pretty clear they’re not a good thing. We’ve not gone to great lengths so far to explain why this is, so now seems like as good a time as any to be absolutely clear on why we won’t recommend casinos that don’t have licences. We don’t want to labour a point, but people still play at unlicensed casinos in large numbers, and are always surprised when it goes wrong. So we want to be absolutely down-the-line on this.
A licence is more than just a document
When a casino takes the time and effort - and pays the money, because there is always a fee to be paid - to get a licence, it means something. This is a casino that takes seriously its responsibilities to customers. Having a licence means that there is someone to complain to if the casino doesn’t do what they say they will. Having a licence means that you can lose that licence if you break the law or merely the terms of the licence. Having a licence means that you have carried out the work necessary to get a licence - which means proving the fairness of your games, showing that you treat people’s deposits with care, and so on.
Not having a licence is a very clear statement
In truth, having a licence is just what you should do. It doesn’t say as much about a casino as the opposite - not having a licence - does. If you go to the effort of starting an online casino for UK players, and you don’t apply for a licence, you’re saying to customers that you didn’t feel it was worth taking the actions necessary to protect their deposits. That your games could have come from anywhere, and may even have been pirated. That you’ve joined the ranks of non UK casinos not because you wanted customers to have a better gaming experience, but because you didn’t want any scrutiny for your site.
The bottom line: it’s illegal to run an unlicensed casino
The most important thing to bear in mind about betting at a casino without a licence is that, wherever they are based, that casino is breaking the law. Any business that is handling people’s money needs to have a licence of one kind or another. A casino absolutely needs a licence. If non UK casinos, or UK casino sites for that matter, are operating without a licence, they could at any moment be swept up in a crackdown on illegal gambling. And if you have deposited money with them, that will be the last you see of that money. Even if they aren’t caught up in a crackdown, an unlicensed casino can just disappear whenever it wants, taking your money with it - and because it was never official, you can’t track it.
This is very much not a case of us telling you that it’s wrong to bet at an unlicensed casino, and you shouldn’t do it because it’s bad morally (even though illegal casinos can definitely be very sketchy on that front). This is us telling you that whatever an unlicensed casino may offer you in order to get their hands on your money, it’s highly likely that they’ll just rob you and not give you anything in return. Even if you don’t care about the moral side of things, we’ve got to assume that you’d be livid if you lost your money to an obvious scam.
Where do non UK casinos get their licences?
A casino having a licence is a non-negotiable for us. We won’t recommend any non UK casino sites that don’t have a valid licence. The key point here is that the sites we cover certainly have licences, they just aren’t issued by the UK Gambling Commission. Not that the UKGC is doing anything wrong, or isn’t doing its job, but the sites we recommend are free of what we consider to be excessive limitations. Nonetheless they are still licensed - but where do these licences come from?
Curacao
The vast majority of non UK casino sites offering registration to UK customers are licensed in Curacao. The small island nation in the Caribbean is home to hundreds of casino licences, and is popular among non UK online casinos because its licences are not expensive to apply for. They do, nonetheless, insist that casinos prove they have the ability to run an above-board casino before they will grant a licence - so a casino with a Curacao licence can generally be trusted - with all of the caveats that always apply when spending money online, admittedly.
Malta
The Malta Gaming Authority is one of the biggest hitters in all of iGaming, and is generally considered to be on a par with the UKGC. You may well have noticed in the past, if you have been on UK casino sites, that many of them have both a UKGC licence and one from the Malta Gaming Authority. In general, this is because the no-verification casinos may be located in the UK, but they wish to offer their services to EU customers - who can, generally speaking, access any casino that has an MGA licence. Malta is seen by many as a hub of European and global iGaming, and a Maltese licence is considered pretty ironclad.
Gibraltar
Although GIbraltar is a country which falls under the protection of the UK, it does not apply UK law, at least not in a blanket fashion. This is abundantly clear when you consider that gambling licences offered in Gibraltar differ from the UKGC’s licences in a number of ways. Among those differences is the fact that the GGC will apply heavier penalties and demand greater customer service compliance from casinos that carry their licences. So if you find a casino that is licensed in Gibraltar, you can be confident that you have a strong supporter in your corner when it comes to any disputes or remedial action.
Costa Rica
It is not technically legal to gamble in Costa Rica - to put this another way, the country does not at present allow its citizens to gamble. However, Costa Rica does issue gambling licences to casinos that offer services outside of the country. Many of those casinos are specifically aimed at UK customers and, if you find yourself betting at a Costa Rica-licensed casino, you can be confident that the terms of the licence are applied strictly and fairly.
Antigua and Barbuda
If a casino site has an Antigua and Barbuda licence, then you can be confident that it is not a casino that believes it can simply show its licence and then ignore its responsibilities. The Antigua and Barbuda FSRC (Financial Services Regulation Commission) is extremely strong in how it enforces its licensing responsibilities. If a provider is found to be in breach of its licence, it loses that licence. Right away. The casinos covered by the FSRC - which has been licensing online casinos since 1994 - must also continuously prove that they have the ability to pay winning customers, with a mountain of supporting evidence needed each and every year.
There are other licensing authorities: most countries with legal betting (and most states, in the USA and Canada) also issue their own licences. Those licences only apply within the jurisdictions they are held in, however, so non UK registered casinos cannot reach out to UK casino customers from, say, Romania or Pennsylvania. To play at such casinos, you also many not pretend to be in those regions by using a VPN. You will be caught, and if you managed to get as far as depositing funds, you will almost certainly lose every penny.
Why do people want to avoid Gamstop?
We’ve mentioned at many points that people in the UK look for non UK casinos because they want to be free of the restrictions that Gamstop places. What we haven’t been clear about is what those restrictions are. We do appreciate that it is often important to be shown something rather than told. We’re not even saying that Gamstop is bad here, but we might be best to illustrate for you what the problems are with Gamstop in a specific situation. So let’s go:
Gamstop has an important role to play
When people are in the grip of a gambling addiction, they will often be well aware that a problem exists, but not be in a position to stop it by willpower alone. So a lot of people self-refer to Gamstop, which then takes the proactive step of communicating their details to all of the non gamstop casinos and betting sites under their auspices. Which, as we have already discussed, is every casino and every betting site in the UK. These sites will then autoban customers for the duration of the self-exclusion period chosen, which can be six months, a year, or five years.
But Gamstop is extremely rigid in how it does things
Now, gambling issues can come in waves. There will be times when people gamble more because they are dealing with other things and, just like alcohol provides an escape for some people, gambling can be that escape for others. Once the trigger for a problem is gone, the problem itself is often defanged. Gamstop themselves realise this: their self-exclusion periods do not include a permanent exclusion. However, if you sign up for a six month self-exclusion, you’ll serve every minute of that exclusion.
You can’t cut short a Gamstop self-exclusion
If you’re in the jaws of a gambling problem, you will often take any path you are offered to get out of it. People in an addictive spiral will take impulsive decisions - in both good and bad directions. So they will be tempted to bet. And when they are offered help to suppress that impulse, they will take it. Sometimes, they will take the five-year self-exclusion. If their impulse to gamble recklessly is mastered within three months, they can’t return to UK online casinos for another 57 months. Because you can’t cut short a Gamstop self-exclusion.
No, not even if you really want to
So, let’s say you’ve got those 57 months still to run. You’ve found your situation much improved since you took a break from gambling, and can see things far more clearly. You’d like, with the impulse for excessive betting gone, to get back to occasional betting. You tell Gamstop this, and ask them to lift the self-exclusion. They say “no”. Because of course they will. If they were to lift a self-exclusion when you asked, there would be no point in their existence. Maybe you are over your issues, but that’s also what someone who wasn’t over their issues would say. You signed up for a period of self-exclusion, and you will serve it.
This is why people seek out non UK casino sites. Gamstop operates precisely as it is set up to operate. It operates in exactly the way it has to, and that means that even if you are in a better place, and now able to bet without going into a spiral of bad decisions, you can’t bet at a UK online casino until such time as your exclusion ends. Your only option, if you are confident about betting again, is to instead transfer your attention to non UK licensed casinos. And as we have all acknowledged, they must be licensed casinos.
What are the pros and cons of non UK casino sites?
Betting at non UK licensed casinos is, as we have acknowledged, a way of ensuring that you are not subject to the rules and regulations of Gamstop, which can be extremely restrictive for customers. Of course, nothing is ever as clear as it might appear on the surface, and while there are definitely advantages to playing at non UK gambling sites, there are certainly disadvantages too. As part of any analysis of non UK online casinos, it is incumbent upon us to look into both the pros and cons of these casinos. So let’s have a look at those.
Pros
There is a wider range of choice
If you’re betting at UK casinos, you have a wide range of providers from which to choose, but you are limited to one country’s casinos, one country’s gambling laws and one country’s approach to things like bonuses, funding methods and licensing. When you choose to play at non UK casino sites, you open up a much wider and larger range of choice. While it would be an exaggeration to say you suddenly have access to all the casinos in the world, you will be able to play at a huge number of casinos which span much of the globe.
You have more control
Opinions on regulation differ strongly between people. It’s more complicated than “regulation stops you from doing things you want to do” or “regulation saves you from doing the wrong thing”. But playing at non UK casino sites does mean that the ability to decide on things like maximum deposits and other limits is in your court. If you’re comfortable with a lighter touch when it comes to regulation, then playing at non UK licensed casinos can be a good way of enjoying the online gambling experience you are looking for.
You don’t need to turn to unlicensed rogue casinos
If you want to bet but are prevented from doing so by Gamstop regulations, then you have no legal UK sites that will let you gamble. That doesn’t mean there are no UK sites you can use, but it does mean that if you want to bet, you’re pushed towards unlicensed providers, and that’s an extremely negative state of affairs. There is really no good that can come of betting at an unlicensed casino, and if you want to bet while under Gamstop restrictions, the best choice is always going to be a non UK licensed casino accepting UK players.
Some non UK casino sites are more protected than UK sites
The fact that non UK casinos are regulated differently from UK sites may cause some people to believe that this means they are always regulated more loosely. That’s not actually the case. While it is generally true of Curacao-licensed casinos, you may find while playing at a casino licensed in Gibraltar or Antigua and Barbuda that there is more care taken to ensure that your play is safe and that the casino works to ensure you are satisfied.
Cons
There’s no single body that looks over non UK licensed casinos
The advantage to playing at UK licensed casinos is that there is one single unified organisation responsible for ensuring fair play. The UKGC can sometimes seem like it gets rough treatment from sites like this, but there is no doubt that it has its part to play and it does get results for people who make a complaint to it. And if you are playing at any UK licensed casino, you can count on that assistance. It doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do if you’re negatively affected by a non UK casino, but you’ll have to do more on your own.
There’s no immediate path to assistance with gambling issues
If you are playing at UK sites and find that you are experiencing issues with problem gambling, referring your issue to Gamstop doesn’t just mean you are able to self-exclude. It also opens up the way to services like Gamcare, which can provide assistance and counselling that help you find a definitive solution for gambling problems. You can be directly referred to these services, which will then work with you to find solutions. These are not inaccessible for people playing at non UK sites, but you will have to do more of the work yourself, and that’s not easy when you’re fighting impulses.
Not all licences are equal
Being licensed by the UKGC means that a casino is bound to follow UKGC rules, on pain of losing that licence and potentially the site. To put it bluntly, UK casino operators are scared of the UKGC, because they know that if they break the law they could be finished. And so when you are in dispute, and you mention that you are going to the UKGC, you may find that your complaint is escalated. If it isn’t, the UKGC can escalate it swiftly. That same urgency of action is not always present with other regulators; that doesn’t mean they won’t help you, but it may not be as straightforward as it is with UK casino sites.
Why are some people reluctant to play at non UK sites?
As we’ve spent much of this article talking about the benefits of non UK casino sites, you might reasonably ask why anyone bets at UK sites at all. If online gambling outside of the UK is so good, why wouldn’t everyone choose to bet that way? It’s a reasonable enough question, although we do need to allow for the fact that not everybody knows the non UK sites exist - and, if you aren’t self-excluding through Gamstop, one of the major reasons for using non UK casino providers becomes less relevant.
With that said, there are other reasons that people don’t play at non UK sites, and it is important to consider those. In most cases, these reasons are to all intents and purposes simple misconceptions, but that doesn’t mean we can dismiss them out of hand. We need to be conscious of the fact that people want to bet somewhere they feel confident and safe, and just being dismissive of what they believe is not a good way to go about that. So let’s look at some of those reasons for being uncertain about offshore gambling sites.
They’re unfamiliar
Even most people who have never placed a bet in their lives can probably name at least one bookmaker, and the same goes for casinos in most cases. But if you ask a UK citizen to name a casino or bookmaker, they’ll almost invariably name a British site. The same goes for anyone: ask a Spanish citizen to name a casino, and they’ll usually name a Spanish one. And while we think of ourselves as broad-minded and would have no problem trying an unfamiliar food or a non-native musician, we’re more cautious with money - so some of us will be more reticent to try a non-UK casino. However, the fact that they are licensed should demonstrate that they can be trusted.
People don’t realise it’s legal
Although the internet is global, there are a lot of parts of it that are only really accessible if you happen to be from a certain part of the world. For good reasons, if you’re living in London you can’t just automatically go to a German banking site and open an account. And you may also have tried to bet at a French or Swedish site and found you couldn’t - a lot of sites geographically restrict customers from different places. But that isn’t true of every non UK online casino. You can play at Curacao or Maltese-licensed casinos perfectly legally. It’s not even legally grey - it’s absolutely legal for you to play there and for them to let you.
They’re worried about payments
There are, by and large, different questions to answer when it comes to sending money abroad than if you were just sending it to a site based in the same country. For completely valid reasons, a lot of people will want to keep things as simple as possible when sending money - because, after all, the fewer stages and complications are involved, the better. However, there are very easy ways to make a payment to an online casino whether it’s located in Curacao or Cheltenham. These include ewallets, which can be used to transfer money anywhere, or credit cards, which are used interchangeably no matter the country as long as they have the VISA or MasterCard logo (and sometimes the AmEx one).
They don’t think the games will be the same
We do like to stick with what we know, and when picking a betting site, we generally stick with ones in our home country because they’re pretty much the same whatever the name at the top of the site. We often assume that if we play at a Maltese casino or similar, we won’t get the same games. If we bet at a Curacao sportsbook, maybe it won’t have odds on what we want to bet on. However, the companies that provide casino games largely produce them on a global basis. You can play Starburst at a US casino just as you can in the UK, and just as you can bet on dozens of football leagues at UK bookmakers, you can easily bet on the Premier League at a Caribbean-based site.
Language barrier?
You could be forgiven for not playing at an overseas casino because you have doubts over whether you’ll understand the sites if they happen to be outside of the UK. This is somewhat understandable, although most of the alternative locations have English as a primary language anyway. But if you’ve ever looked around UK betting sites, you might notice that there is usually a flag on the screen that shows you are viewing the English language version of the site: you can get it translated into other languages by clicking on that. In almost every case, any casino that you can sign up to will automatically display in English; of those that don’t, all of them will have an option to display in English.
Essentially, as long as the financial protections are in place - and this should be the case when you play at UK casinos, too - betting at a casino without a UK license really isn’t something that you need to get hung up about. It is essentially the same experience. For sure, there will be some differences - but as you can see from the rest of this article, the vast majority of these differences are beneficial.
What games can you play at non UK casinos?
When you’re choosing to play at an overseas casino, you accept that you are doing something “different”. But how different is it from playing at a casino based in the UK? Well, in reality, you can get an idea for the answer if you ask that question with anything else in place of “playing at a casino”. In general, businesses are set up along the same lines wherever in the world they are based. In large part, businesses in different countries learn from one another. It’s not like the casino was invented in the UK - so you’re not exactly leaping into the unknown here.
Different games are popular in different places, but you will generally find that the games you play in a non UK casino are the same as you will play anywhere else. On many non UK sites, the only way you’ll know you’re even playing at a non UK casino is to check the licensing at the bottom of the page. Here are the common games you’ll get to play at a non UK casino…
Slots
At non UK betting sites, as with those based in the UK, and indeed at retail casinos, slot games are the king of the casino. What you will tend to find in non UK casinos is that there are usually more slot games to enjoy. In the case of some of the casinos listed here, you will find thousands of slot games. That’s no exaggeration - at some casinos, it’s 4000 or more. These will also be more familiar than some people expect. Companies such as NetEnt, Yggrdrasil, Microgaming, and others that provide games to the UK online gambling industry, are also present on a lot of non UK sites.
Poker
Some providers in the UK - and elsewhere - offer Poker as a separate site altogether, considering it to be separate enough from their casino games to merit its own vertical. In other cases, UK slots sites and non UK ones alike offer poker within the remit of their casino. The versions of poker may differ from site to site. Texas Hold ‘Em is universally popular, while Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw and Omaha are all fairly prominent in most casinos. There may be some regional variations, but in truth the greatest variation exists between casinos, not countries.
Roulette
Roulette is another casino classic that you’ll find on just about every casino site you check. It’s eternally popular due to its simplicity and universality. A wheel, some colours and a ball mean the same thing in any language. What you may notice, though, is that some casinos will favour a different form of the game. If you have played roulette at a UK betting site, you are more likely to have played European Roulette. Some offshore casinos - although not the ones specifically focused on UK customers - may favour the American version of the game which has an extra green square and a higher house edge. Always play the European game if it’s available.
Blackjack
Blackjack is a classic casino game which, you may think, is the same anywhere it is played. However, it’s worth being conscious of the fact that different games of Blackjack do have some subtle distinctions. Ideally, at a casino, if you get Blackjack (21 on your first two cards dealt), then you will be paid out at a rate of 2 to 1. In some casinos, this may more commonly be 3 to 2. In others, the rate can be as different as 6 to 5. This may seem a minimal consideration, but bear in mind that if you bet £50 on a hand of Blackjack, the first will pay out £100. The second will pay out £75. The last will pay out £60. That’s a difference in return of 40%, so if you can find a 2 to 1 Blackjack table, always play there.
Sports betting
Not every casino, wherever they are in the world, will offer a sportsbook section, but it is becoming increasingly common on both UK sites and non UK betting sites. You may wonder whether non UK sportsbooks attached to casinos are as good as domestic sportsbooks, and the truth is that for the most part, they are. Sometimes, they’re even better. However, some casinos just attach the most basic sportsbook they can throw together simply so they can say they have one. When we review a casino site, we also review its sportsbook. If it isn’t any good, we say so.
Non UK Casinos Coming Soon
Non UK casinos 2023 Conclusion
Hopefully this page has given you some solid insight into non gamstop betting sites accepting UK players. They all might seem to blend into one on the internet but as we have outlined, there are some stark differences between those registered in the UK, and those not. And they are generally evident in their advantages and flexibility.
Freedom is an important weapon for non UK casinos and are good options for those based in the UK. Hopefully next time you come across a new online overseas casino, you will know instantly whether it is non UK or not.
Casinos without a UK Licence FAQs
Is it safe to play at non UK casinos?
This is a tough question to answer because what we mean by “safe” can be open to interpretation. So let’s be as clear as we can be. It is, generally, safe to play at non UK casinos. However, there are a lot of non UK sites which accept UK players. We’re sure anyone would agree that there are sometimes issues of safety with UK based casinos, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t safe to play at UK sites. Equally, while it is the case that some non UK casinos aren’t as safe as others, that doesn’t mean they aren’t safe as a whole. We would simply recommend exercising caution when playing at a non UK casino, as we would when playing at one in the UK.
What is the best non UK casino?
You could realistically ask this question of 25 people and get 25 different answers. People are looking for different things from casinos, and so what they consider the best will differ too. We have focused on ten excellent non UK license sites in this article, and we list more on our site. All of them are of a strong enough standard that we are happy to recommend them to you. The ten we have named in this article are particularly good, in our view. We can’t really say what is the best non UK casino, the field is too broad for that to be properly answered.
What is the best non UK license for a casino to hold?
For UK players, there are a few casino licences worth looking out for, from a point of view that those licenses denote a casino you can trust. Again - and this isn’t a cop-out, it’s just true - what one person considers the best licence might differ from what another thinks, because they offer different benefits. You’ll find there’s more freedom of choice at Curacao licensed casinos, while bingo sites that hold a Maltese licence will be more strictly regulated. A casino with a Gibraltar licence is likely to be strongly focused on customer support. The simple fact is, any casino licence is better than none at all.
Are all unlicensed casinos bad?
We can’t say we know the story of all unlicensed casinos inside and out. The fact that they are unlicensed means that, often, we won’t even have seen them before. So we can’t make a single statement that covers all unlicensed casinos, other than this: If a casino doesn’t have a licence, it either doesn’t know what its responsibilities are to players, and therefore can’t be trusted to uphold those responsibilities. Or it knows what its responsibilities are, and doesn’t care, and will almost certainly trample all over those responsibilities in the cause of making money. Does either of those possibilities sound good to you?
What can non UK sites offer that the UK gambling industry can’t?
Playing at a non UK casino essentially means that you can play at casinos that are free to do things in a different way. Not necessarily better, not necessarily worse, but different. This will have both primary and secondary benefits. For example, it is cheaper to apply for some non UK casino operators licences. As a result of this, non UK casinos may be better able to offer a higher deposit bonus or more free spins than their competitors can. They may be able, because of freer regulations, to offer higher buy-ins on their poker sites. There are numerous other benefits, these are just a few examples.
How do non UK casinos offer customer support to UK players?
There may be some who question how a casino based outside of the United Kingdom can deliver customer support to someone living in the UK. Bear in mind, though, that many companies which are actually based in the UK “offshore” their customer support. If you are looking for help on an item bought in a UK store, you could end up speaking to someone on another continent. So it is not that different to speak to customer service which may be based in another country when you are dealing with a business that you already know to be offshore. This is less of a problem than people may think it is.
How many non UK casinos are there out there?
A lot. The world is huge. In terms of casinos that UK players can play at, and which are covered by the licenses we have talked about in this article, there are realistically thousands of casinos out there. We’ve looked at hundreds ourselves, and we have considered something in the region of a hundred to be worth looking at if you are seeking a casino that offers a positive service.
Have you covered all of the best non UK casinos in the world?
We can’t possibly know that. Again, there are so many. What we can say with absolute confidence is that we have covered more offshore casinos than any other source that we know of. We are absolutely certain that we have covered as many offshore casinos as we can easily find, and as many as we have been able to devote the time to testing, reviewing and getting the full experience of. We could have more casinos listed on this site, bur we wouldn’t have been able to cover them in depth, and if we’re not looking at them in enough detail, there is no point in us covering them at all. These are the casinos that have passed our extensive investigation; that’s a big deal.
How do these casinos differ from UK sites?
They’re not on Gamstop. That’s really the main difference - when you are playing at an online casino, you want an online casino experience. Just because it’s based in another country, that doesn’t mean you want a radically different experience - and neither do players in those countries. You, and they, want free spins, sports betting, live casino games from Evolution Gaming, a great deposit bonus… all the things that UK gambling sites offer, and more in some cases. These casinos are just like UK ones in every way that matters, but with a more beneficial financial offer in many cases.
Can I play at any non UK casino?
No. While it is not illegal for you as a UK citizen to play at casinos outside of the UK, this doesn’t mean that you are permitted to play at any and all non UK casinos. Different countries have different laws governing this, and different casinos have different policies on which countries’ residents they will allow to access their casinos. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to say which countries and casinos do and don’t permit UK players, because there are a lot of caveats involved. But you will find that the terms and conditions of the casino lay out who can and can’t play there - and no, you can’t use a VPN to get around the restrictions.
Can I get Gamstop to exclude me from offshore casinos?
Unfortunately not. If you are experiencing problems with gambling at non UK casinos, you will need to take the issue up with the specific casinos you are a member of. There is no specific equivalent of Gamstop that does this for all non-UK casinos, because there are a lot of different countries with a lot of different laws involved. Gamstop can only prevent you from playing at casinos that are affiliated to it; their methods of prevention are on the supplier side, which means they implement a block at the casino so you can’t access it. They don’t have that permission outside the UK.
Will I get payouts just as quickly from non UK casinos?
That’s entirely dependent on the casino, but there are usually very few issues with getting prompt payouts from offshore casinos. In the main, these casinos are serving United Kingdom customers, so they tend to have time-served ways of getting payments to UK accounts. If you have any doubts or concerns, then it is advised that you check at the casino website itself. Usually, in the terms and conditions, they will have a table that specifies the likely minimum and maximum times for payouts depending on method. If you are betting using cryptocurrency, then the payout should be almost instant.
Do non UK casinos usually accept Bitcoin?
It is certainly more common to find a non UK casino that accepts Bitcoin than to find one that accepts it in the United Kingdom. The same is true of cryptocurrency deposits in general. UK casinos, and UK outlets in general, tend to be somewhat suspicious of cryptocurrencies and will tend to err on the side of not accepting them. Outside of the UK there is no absolute consensus, but certainly those casinos with Curacao and Malta licences tend to be more welcoming of crypto for the most part.
Is a UK casino a more reputable casino than a non UK site?
No. The main difference between a UK casino and one from another country is that you’re more likely to have heard of the UK one. That, in some people’s minds, equates to being more reputable. But think about it for a moment. If UK casinos were, de facto, more reputable and reliable than overseas casinos, do you think overseas players wouldn’t be up in arms over the lack of transparency and reliability of “their” sites? Of course a casino’s nationality is not specifically relevant to its reputability.
Do non UK casinos have apps?
Some do and some don’t. However, there is some question over whether they will have apps that will be available through the App Store or wherever you normally look for betting apps. For the most part, they won’t be available, but the sites are usually highly responsive, meaning that you don’t need an app to play there, you will enjoy the same standard of play as you would find on a dedicated app.
Wishcasinos.com is an affiliate site created in 2020. Our experts provide casino gambling reviews for both casino and betting sites. By no means are we tied to any provider or platform and don't provide and information for illegal purposes. All sites reviewed above are licensed by International licensing bodies namely Curacao, Malta, and Gibraltar. Still, Every individual must check the laws and the regulation in your country of residence and agree to the full T&C before gambling. We hope you have a safe gambling experience.