Players should make sure that the online casino they are about to register at bears a valid license from a gaming control board. If an online casino is licensed, it means that it is accountable to the gaming control board that issued the license. This means that the gaming control board can revoke the license anytime it finds that the online casino is not maintaining the required industry standards. Players should remember that it is illegal for an online casino to operate without a valid gaming license.

What Is a Gaming Control Board?

A gaming control board is also known as a gambling commission. It is a body or an agency specially created by the government of a particular country or state to oversee gambling activities, issue or revoke licenses, and regulate the gambling industry in that particular jurisdiction. It is a regulatory body that is given different names in different jurisdictions.

For example, several forms of gambling are legal in the US and individual US states have been granted the right to regulate gambling activities within their jurisdictions. Accordingly, we have regulatory bodies such as the Arizona Department of Gaming, California Gambling Control Commission, Nevada Gaming Commission, and New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Spread over the rest of the world, we have the Kahnawake Gambling Commission, Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, Malta Gambling Authority, and so on.

Responsibilities of Regulatory Bodies

Regulatory bodies set down specific regulations, laws, rules, and guidelines for operators of gambling businesses and individual gamblers. These rules are based entirely from an act that has been passed into law by the jurisdiction. While the act provides the overall gambling policy, the regulatory framework created by the regulatory body provides a set of requirements that gambling operators, individual gamblers, employees related to the gambling industry, and others are required to meet in order to be considered legal.

The regulatory body is authorized to issue and revoke licenses to gambling businesses, software providers, vendors, and owners. Before they can get hold of a license, applicants should prove that they are honest. They should also provide details such as personal information, business deals, employment histories, financial fitness, and criminal records. Usually, the procedure to obtain a gaming license is rather cumbersome and involves a lot of government investigation into the doings of the applicant.

Regulatory bodies also serve as law-enforcement agents as they bear the responsibility of ensuring that applicants comply with the rules and regulations. In some jurisdictions, the regulatory body has a division that is given the task of enforcing law. Most regulatory bodies also have the power to hear the civil cases referred to them by the law-enforcement division.

Players should, therefore, make sure that they register only at licensed and well-regulated online casinos as they can be trusted to offer the ultimate gambling experience in a safe and secure environment.