How to Read a Gambling License Number

What a license number is and who issues one

A gambling license number is an identifier a regulator gives to one licensed company. It is not a score, a rating or a quality mark. It answers exactly one question: which authority licensed this business, and under which entry in its records.

The number is tied to a company, not to a brand. That distinction matters more than anything else on this page. A single licensed company can run several websites under different names, and all of them sit under the same number. Gibraltar's register shows ElectraWorks Limited holding Betting license RGL No. 051, covering bwin, Sportingbet, Gamebookers, Party Sports, Premium Betboo and Unikrn⁶. An earlier version of the same register entry lists Betoto, Bwin, Gamebookers, Partybets, Partysports and Premium under the same RGL No. 051⁷. One number, many brands, and the brand list changes over time while the number stays put.

The same pattern shows up elsewhere. LC International Limited holds Betting license RGL No. 010, covering Ladbrokes, Coral, Gala Bingo, Gala Casino and Gala Spins⁶. WHG (International) Limited is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission of Great Britain under account number 39225⁸.

So when you look at a footer badge, you are looking at a company's license, presented under a brand name. The number is the thread back to the company.

Different regulators use different formats, and the format itself is a clue:

You do not need to memorize any of these. You need to notice when a number does not look like the others from that regulator. MGA numbers follow the format MGA/B2C/XXX/YYYY, and an older style such as MGA/CRP/131/2006 is still in use², so a number that matches neither pattern is a warning sign, and that is the single most useful thing to know about MGA numbers³.

Checking a license number against the regulator's register

The check is short and it is the whole point of the exercise. The UK Gambling Commission's player guidance says to check that the details of the license, including activities and website domain names, match the public register, and to confirm the business holds a license before you transfer money into a gambling account¹⁰. That is the standard: not just the number, but the domain and the activities too.

Here is the sequence, step by step.

1. Find the number. Look in the site footer, the terms and conditions, or the "about us" page. If there is no number anywhere, that is your answer.
2. Identify the regulator. The footer should name it, for example "Licensed by PAGCOR", "Regulated by Curacao eGaming" or "Under Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)"¹.
3. Go to the regulator's own site. Not the casino's site, not a review site, not a badge image. Type the regulator's address yourself.
4. Search the register for the company name, not the brand. The brand may not appear at all; the company will.
5. Check three things match: the company name, the license number, and the domain you are actually on. If the register lists a different domain, you are on an unlicensed clone.
6. Check the status. Active, suspended, revoked or expired are all different, and only one of them is fine.

The domain check is the step people skip, and it is the one that catches the most problems. A company can hold a perfectly valid license and still not be licensed to accept bets from your country, or on the domain you are looking at.

For Anjouan, the check is even more direct. The regulator runs a validation page where you enter a domain and a seal ID and it returns a status. A validation generated on September 26, 2026 for coinpoker.com returned operating status VALID for Precise Interactive Inc under License No. ALSI-202412004-FI1⁴. That is what a real check looks like: a regulator's own page, a company name, a number, a status, and a date.

If you want the general method rather than one regulator's version, see how to check if a casino, betting site or lottery is licensed, and for the register addresses themselves, public gambling license registers.

When a license is not what it seems: unauthorized URLs and revoked licenses

Two things go wrong with license numbers, and they are different problems.

Fake badges have recognizable habits. They show only a blurry or distorted logo image, with no direct link to the licensing body, and the registered company name differs from the brand name being used¹. A real operator links its badge to the register entry, because it wants you to check.

That is the practical risk of trusting a number you saw once. A license is a status, not a fact. It changes, and the site has no incentive to tell you when it does. If you want the detail on what revocation means for players, see what happens when a gambling license is suspended or revoked, and for the pattern of cloned seals and invented numbers, fake gambling license claims.

One more thing worth knowing: a license number says nothing about whether the site is legal where you are. Betfair is described as an unlicensed gambling service provider in Singapore¹¹. That is a licensed company, in a market where it is not allowed to operate. The number is real; the market is closed.

Licenses in practice: MGA, Anjouan and Cambodia compared

The regulator behind the number tells you how much weight the number carries. Three examples show the range.

Malta Gaming Authority. The MGA is a full regulator with a public register, a complaints process and a recognizable number format. Betfair International Plc is licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority under No. MGA/CRP/131/2006, for customers residing anywhere other than the UK, Australia or New Zealand². Betway Limited is licensed to provide gambling services and products by the Malta Gaming Authority¹², and Betway's Canadian-facing casino page states it is licensed in Canada by the MGA¹³. Notice how the same regulator covers different customer groups under different arrangements. The number is the same kind of number; the coverage is not.

Anjouan. Anjouan issues real licenses for online games of chance¹⁴, and it publishes a validation page you can use⁴. The scope is narrow and specific. Pinnacle holds Licence ALSI-2024 l 2052-FI2 issued for the provision of sports betting⁹. Precise Interactive Inc is authorized to operate remote gambling services under a valid Anjouan gaming license covering all real-money poker games, poker tournaments, casino games, betting services and related gameplay services on the platform¹⁵. Phenom Poker holds an Anjouan license for real-money Internet-based interactive poker services¹⁶. Lucky Red Casino is licensed by the Government of the Autonomous Island of Anjouan, Union of Comoros, under License No. ALSI-202409030-F12¹⁷. Lucky Block cites licensure by the Offshore Finance Authority of the State of Anjouan¹⁸.

Anjouan licenses also carry excluded territories. The Anjouan Internet Gaming License No. ALSI-202412004-FI1 lists Australia, Comoros, France, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom and USA as excluded⁴. That list is the regulator telling you where the license does not reach. If you are in one of those places, the number is real and it still does not cover you.

Cambodia. Cambodia's Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling divides the country into three distinct gaming zones where gaming is either prohibited, permitted or favored⁵. Foreign online casinos that accept Cambodian players usually operate from jurisdictions like Panama, Anjouan, Mwali, Curaçao, the Isle of Man, Malta and others¹⁹. So a Cambodian player checking a license number is almost always checking a foreign one, and the Cambodian authorities have no power over it.

The practical comparison is simple. An MGA number points to a regulator that will take your complaint. An Anjouan number points to a regulator that publishes a validation page and a list of excluded countries. A revoked Cambodian license points to nothing at all.

If you want the deeper versions, see the Malta Gaming Authority and Anjouan gaming licenses.

Ganga Club: an example of an MGA-licensed operator

Ganga Club states on its own site that it holds a Malta Gaming Authority license²⁰. That is the claim. Here is how you would test it.

First, the format. An MGA number should look like MGA/B2C/XXX/YYYY or an older style such as MGA/CRP/131/2006². If the number shown does not fit either shape, stop there.

Second, the register. Search the MGA's licensed operator list for the company behind the brand, not for "Ganga Club". Brands are not always listed; companies are. If the company appears with a matching number and the domain you are on, the claim holds up.

Third, the coverage. An MGA license does not automatically cover every country. Betfair's MGA license, for example, applies to customers residing anywhere other than the UK, Australia or New Zealand². So even a confirmed MGA number does not tell you that the site is licensed to serve you where you are.

Fourth, the date. Check when you last looked.

That is the whole method, and it works the same way for any brand. The number is a starting point, the register is the answer, and the domain and your own location are the parts most people forget to check.

If the site turns out not to be licensed, the risks are practical rather than theoretical: no regulator to complain to, no dispute process, and in some markets a risk to you personally. Players in China have faced administrative penalties of detention and fines under the Public Security Administration Punishments Law, and criminal liability where a crime is constituted, alongside possible large property losses, for taking part in cross-border gambling²¹. In Hong Kong, if illegal gambling is found in an amusement game center, the participating customers are also considered to have violated the law²². Singapore's Gambling Control Act 2022 makes it an offense for an underaged individual to use false evidence of age to gamble, enter an approved gambling venue during a restricted period, or open or re-open an account with a licensee for general remote gambling²³.

None of that is about the license number itself. It is about what the number is protecting you from.