Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB)
Online gambling has been legal in Curaçao since 1993, with the introduction of the National Ordinance on Offshore Games of Hazard legislation, and the first license was issued in 1996. As such, Curaçao is one of the oldest regulators of its kind.
With the introduction of new legislation, Curaçao is now implementing major changes in the way that it offers its licenses and regulates all types of gambling.
There can be only one
Despite not having the best reputation as a regulatory authority, Curaçao has always been one of the most popular jurisdictions for licensing online gambling businesses, due to favorable tax rates and affordable, simple licensing processes. Until recently, regulation of all online gambling was under the full control of four Curaçao Master License Operators working independently of each other:
- Antillephone N.V. with license number 8048 / JAZ
- Curaçao eGaming with license number Cyberluck Curaçao NV 1668 / JAZ
- Curaçao Interactive Licensing N.V. with license number (C.I.L.) 5536 / JAZ
- Gaming Curaçao with license number 365 / JAZ
This system had some major flaws and could be confusing for players. For example, each company had its own procedures and contact channels, and only had authority over the casinos that operated under their particular license. This meant that there was no centralized authority to make a complaint to, and if you contacted the wrong regulator, you would be disregarded.
However, this is now changing due to the application of the new legislation, the Landsverordening op de kansspelen (Lok), in November of 2023. The four separate authorities are now being phased out, and the Gaming Control Board is now the only body with the authority to issue new Curaçao licenses. Any operators previously licensed according to the old legislation were invited to register themselves on the GCB online portal to be considered for the new license, and had until April 30th 2024 to do so.
At the time of writing, licenses granted by one of the previous Curaçao authorities mentioned above may still be valid until their date of expiry.
How to check a Curaçao license is legitimate
The easiest way to check a Curaçao (GCB) license is valid is to click on the validator on the website of the casino. This will appear as a small GCB logo:
Every casino licensed by Curaçao should display the seal of their license on their website, and it can usually be found in the footer at the bottom of the page. Once clicked, you will be taken to the validator certificate, where you can check the status of the license:
The license status should of course be "Good Standing" and the validator certificate should show the domain name of the website you are playing on. You should also check that the URL of the website is correct and secure (the part in bold will always be the same):
https://cert.gcb.cw/certificate?id=%20ZXlKcGRpSTZJazFaYmpoeU0wZHdTV....
Additionally, the Gaming Control Board also keeps a list of all licensees, or License Register, on its website. Here you can check all companies which have been granted a license under the new online gaming policy.
Complaints and disputes
It is stated in the regulations that all operators must provide an adequate process for players to make complaints to them directly, and that disputes may be referred to an Alternative Dispute Resolution service that must first be approved by the GCB.
However, the GCB states on its website that they do not handle individual disputes between players and gaming operators. It seems the regulator will only pay attention to complaints regarding potential violations of law. It is possible to contact the GCB via this contact form.
Responsible Gambling
The GCB has a number of responsible gambling conditions attached to the new license that operators must adhere to. At the point of registration, players must be able to set limits on the amount of deposits they make, the amount of time they can play for and the amount of money they can spend through their account in a given time period.
So far, there is no way to exclude from all Curaçao online casinos at once, but it is stipulated that every operator must offer players the ability to exclude themselves for a minimum of 6 months.
Contact Information
Gaming Control Board
Address: Emancipatie Boulevard, Dominico F. “Don” Martina 23, Willemstad, Curaçao
Tel: +(599 9) 737-2299
E-mail: info@gcb.cw
