Play971 (Coin Technology Projects LLC)
play971.ae
🇦🇪For operators · Tax, marketing & compliance
Operating in the United Arab Emirates: ad limits
Online casino games and sports betting can be licensed in the UAE by the federal GCGRA, which has licensed one online company (Coin Technology Projects LLC, whose site names its brand as Play971) and one lottery (The UAE Lottery) as of 22 October 2026. The Penal Code still punishes gambling with no licensed-play exception written into it, and gambling agreements stay void under the Civil Transactions Law. Unlicensed sites are illegal, and the GCGRA reports about 6,000 blocked as of December 2024; even so, offshore brands such as Stake and BC.Game showed Arabic casino and sports lobbies when we visited from a UAE internet address on 22 October 2026 (a proxy, not a home Etisalat or du connection, so this does not show what the UAE’s filter lets through).
Gaming taxNone publishedIn-principle approval fee10% of feeLicence termNot publishedDecision timeNot publishedActive licensees~3
Product by product
An operator licence needs a relationship with a Qualifying Domestic Entity, a UAE company with substantial business operations; licences are limited by law, and the limits are not published.| Product | Status | Licensed by | Tax | Key restriction | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports betting (horse racing included) | Limited | GCGRA: Sports Wagering Operator licence; one licensee on the register | No gaming tax published; corporate tax 0% up to AED 375,000 and 9% above; VAT 5% | Operator licences are limited by law and the limits are not published; Penal Code arts 460-463 have no licensed-gaming exception and Civil Transactions Law art 946 keeps gambling agreements void | Allowed for GCGRA licensees under the Advertising Standards; promoting gambling that is not authorised is a crime |
| Online casino, poker, bingo and fantasy | Limited | GCGRA: Internet Gaming Operator licence; one licensee on the register | As for Sports betting (horse racing included) | Systems must be tested and certified by GCGRA-approved laboratories to the GLI standards; live casino, esports and virtual products are not specified | Allowed for GCGRA licensees; no Arabic in ads until the GCGRA directs otherwise, and no Emirati or Islamic culture |
| Lottery | State monopoly | GCGRA: Lottery Operator licence, held only by The Game LLC (UAE Lottery) | No gaming tax published | The only lottery licence permitted; the Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free airport lotteries continue under GCGRA supervision; retailers need a Lottery Retailer licence | Allowed under the Advertising Standards; underage means under 18 for lottery |
| Games and platform supply (B2B) | Licensable | GCGRA: Gaming-Related Vendor licence; 33 vendor licensees on the register | No gaming-specific levy published | The GCGRA decides, in its sole and absolute discretion, whose activities need a licence; vendors apply by the same route as operators, and their directors and executive officers are licensed as Key Persons | — |
| Unlicensed commercial gaming | Banned | None: all commercial gaming without a GCGRA licence is illegal | — | The GCGRA reports about 6,000 illegal websites blocked as of December 2024; suppliers, payment processors and advertisers that back unlicensed operators risk sanctions. How operators sell it: offshore brands show Arabic lobbies to UAE visitors (Stake, Curaçao licence by its own terms; BC.Game, Anjouan licence it prints and crypto, while saying it does not accept UAE players; 1xBet showed its own access-denied page), read from a UAE proxy exit on 22 October 2026, not a test of the TDRA filter; no police or Public Prosecution statement found | Promoting unauthorised gambling is a crime: Cyber-crimes Decree-Law art 38, AED 250,000 to 500,000 |
Decided1 Jan 2026In force 1 January 2026
How does the Child Digital Safety Decree-Law affect an online gaming operator?
Decree-Law 26/2025 took effect on 1 January 2026. It defines a child as anyone under 18 and bars digital platforms from letting children take part in, create accounts for or access online commercial gaming (art 9). Two steps are still pending as of 22 October 2026: a Cabinet regulation setting the administrative penalties for breaches (art 16), and the end of the period of at most one year from entry into force in which everyone already subject to the law must regularise their status (art 18), which the Cabinet may extend. Neither the regulation nor an extension was found.
Regulator and player protection in United Arab Emirates
Regulator
Application authority and enforcement body
Self-exclusion scheme
The GCGRA runs a Voluntary Self-Exclusion programme: it keeps the VSE list an…
How players exclude themselves; what it covers is in the player guide
Mandatory RG controls
deposit limits
Deposit limits or reality checks the law requires operators to offer
Heads-up for operators
1 item
First Integrated Resort Opens
The Wynn Al Marjan Island resort is scheduled to open, marking the operational start of the land-based casino market.
Source: 1
Not yet in force: drafts, laws adopted without a start date, and sections of the law still to be commenced. An item moves to the timeline below on the day it takes effect.
Getting licensed: by public tender
The licence, its cost and the steps are in the licence guide
6 licence types: Internet Gaming Operator; Sports Wagering Operator; Lottery Operator and Lottery Retailer; and others. Year-1 budget Year 1 cannot be totalled: the GCGRA’s fee schedule is not published.. Fees, requirements, documents, certification and the step-by-step route are set out there.Read the licence guide
Gambling tax: No gaming tax published
Detail
No gambling tax, duty or levy appears in any published instrument as of 22 October 2026: the gaming decree (Federal Law by Decree No. (30) of 2022), the GCGRA’s Executive Regulations and its schedule of fees are not published, and the Licensing Guide, Responsible Gaming Framework, Advertising Standards and Policy Paper mention no gaming tax; ask the GCGRA and the Federal Tax Authority. Corporate tax (Decree-Law 47/2022) is 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above, the return and payment due within nine months of the tax period’s end.
VAT is 5% (Decree-Law 8/2017); the FTA has said nothing on gaming stakes, and returns are due by the 28th day after each tax period (normally three months). The GCGRA’s fees are regulatory, not taxes: an application fee, an in-principle approval fee of 10% of the overall licence fee, the licence fee (the remainder) and a yearly maintenance fee; no amount is published.
Which foreign licences the United Arab Emirates accepts
The United Arab Emirates recognises none of these 8 foreign licences.
BannedMalta (MGA) · United Kingdom (UKGC) · Curaçao (CGB) · Alderney (AGCC) · Kahnawake (KGCB) · Anjouan · Isle of Man (GSC) · Gibraltar (GRA)
Not recognised: only holders of a GCGRA licence may do business in commercial gaming in the UAE, and no published text recognises a foreign licence. The GCGRA reports about 6,000 illegal websites blocked and 11 high-volume offshore operators served with cease-and-desist letters as of December 2024 (Commercial Gaming Policy Paper, 2025). Offshore brands still show Arabic lobbies to a UAE address, for example Stake under a Curaçao licence and BC.Game under an Anjouan licence (their own pages, read from a UAE proxy exit on 22 October 2026, which is not shown to be an Etisalat or du line, so this does not show what the TDRA’s filter lets through).
Bonus rules: welcome bonuses allowed
Inducement ads: Allowed
The GCGRA’s Advertising Standards allow bonuses, free bets and other promotions if their terms sit alongside the offer; none is capped. No bonus may go to a player in a cooling-off period or on the self-exclusion list.
What the player can claim
- Welcome bonus
- Allowed
- VIP schemes
- Allowed
- Loyalty schemes
- Allowed
- Cashback
- Allowed
No wagering cap. The playthrough must be explained with an example, and the time limit, minimum stake, excluded games, any winnings cap and maximum bet must be stated (Advertising Standards s. 5.2). Terms should change only in exceptional circumstances, and players who joined before keep the old terms (s. 5.5).
What the operator can advertise
- Penalties
Promoting gambling other than as authorised: imprisonment and/or a fine of AED 250,000 to 500,000 (Cyber-crimes Decree-Law art. 38). The GCGRA’s own fine amounts are not published.
The GCGRA may deny, revoke, suspend, condition or restrict a licence and impose a monetary fine.
Terms must sit directly alongside the promotion and be reachable in one click (ss. 5.1.1, 5.4); every advertisement must refer to the ban on underage play, in wording the GCGRA sets but has not published (s. 4.1). No list of banned words such as "free" exists; advertising must not mislead or present gaming as a solution to hardship (ss. 3.1.3, 3.1.7).
Advertising: limited
Only GCGRA licensees may advertise gambling in the UAE, under the GCGRA’s Advertising Standards (Version 1.0, 27 February 2024), which apply to advertising by any means and complement the unpublished Chapter 17 of its Executive Regulation. TV, radio, online, social media and sponsorship are permitted with audience and content limits; no Arabic until the GCGRA directs otherwise, and no Emirati or Islamic culture or national emblems (ss. 13.1, 14.1). Promoting gambling other than as authorised is a crime (Cyber-crimes Decree-Law art. 38). The platform rows reflect each platform’s own policy.
| Channel | Status | Vertical & Platform Split (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Ads | Licensed operators only | As of March 10, 2026, Google permits ads from GCGRA-licensed operators who also obtain separate Google certification. The March 23, 2026 “Good Policy Health” update requires a proven history of compliance and ownership of the second-level domain used in ads.678 |
| App Store Publishing | Restricted | Split the two stores. APPLE: a GCGRA-licensed operator can publish, submitting the licence for the specific category during app review and geo-gating the app to the UAE. GOOGLE PLAY: not available. Play permits real-money gambling apps only in the countries on its published country/region allowance list, and THE UAE IS NOT ON IT. A local licence does not create a Play route, because the country list is the gate. Android distribution therefore means a mobile web app or a direct download from your own domain. Re-check the list before planning, since Google adds countries periodically. This matters more than usual in a market where the regulated offering is being built from scratch: plan Android around the web from day one.91011 |
| Google/Apple App Store Ads | Restricted | Promoting published gambling apps via Apple Search Ads or Google App Campaigns is permitted for GCGRA-licensed operators. Campaigns must target users aged 21+ and adhere to platform-specific creative and responsible gaming disclosure rules.121314 |
| Meta (FB/IG) | Licensed operators only | Advertising online casino and sportsbook products requires prior written permission from Meta after submitting a valid GCGRA license for verification. All ads must target users aged 21 and over and must not be in Arabic unless specifically permitted by the GCGRA.1516 |
| TV & Radio | Restricted | Permitted for GCGRA licensees with limits (Advertising Standards s. 8): no ads during, before or after programmes directed at under-21s (under-18s for lottery) or likely to cause harm or offence, and none during or next to programming for underage persons or when many are likely to be watching or listening. Responsible gaming ads may run during major sporting events if they promote responsible play without encouraging participation and state the age restriction and help resources (s. 8.2.1). Ads must carry the responsible gaming messages the GCGRA instructs (s. 8.2.1.3).2 |
| Sponsorships | Restricted | Permitted for GCGRA licensees (Advertising Standards s. 9.1): sponsorship of jerseys, teams, e-sports teams and stadiums may use only text, logos or imagery that identify the operator; product placement is forbidden; sponsoring underage persons, or activities with a mostly underage or vulnerable audience, is prohibited. Advertising inside stadiums and venues must follow the applicable laws and the GCGRA’s instructions, which are not published (s. 9.2).2 |
| Digital OOH | Restricted | The Advertising Standards have no outdoor section but apply to advertising by any means (s. 3.1), so only GCGRA licensees may use billboards or transit media, within the Standards’ audience and content rules. Whether outdoor media are allowed, and any municipal permit, is not stated in the published texts; ask the GCGRA and the emirate concerned.2 |
Channel rules for United Arab Emirates reflect each platform's published policy and the sources numbered in each row (listed under Methodology & sources). Verify with the local regulator and your ad-platform account manager before launching.
How the United Arab Emirates enforces against unlicensed operators
The GCGRA acts against unlicensed operators mainly by blocking: its Policy Paper reports about 6,000 illegal websites blocked and 11 high-volume offshore operators served with cease-and-desist letters as of December 2024. No fine, suspension or revocation decided against a licensee had been published as of 22 October 2026. The tools exist: the GCGRA lists denial, revocation, suspension, conditioning or restriction of a licence and monetary fines among its penalties, and AML breaches can draw fines of AED 10,000 to AED 5,000,000 per violation (Decree-Law 10/2025 art. 17).
- On 9 December 2024 the GCGRA warned that advertisers, payment processors and other service providers supporting unlicensed operators risk sanctions.
- Operating or running a gambling place is punished by temporary imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of at least AED 100,000 (Penal Code art. 462).
Enforcement cases in the United Arab Emirates: 2 recent
Material regulator actions, court rulings, and high-profile fines from 2016–2026 against operators serving United Arab Emirates. Each entry includes the technical failure and a one-line read-across for other operators in the market.
- December 2024
Offshore gaming operators (not named)
Grey-MarketAbout 6,000 illegal websites blocked; 11 high-volume offshore operators served with cease-and-desist lettersUnlicensed operators offering gaming to players in the UAE, as of December 2024 (GCGRA, Commercial Gaming Policy Paper 2025).
Read-across: Offshore sites still reach UAE players; the GCGRA answers with blocking and cease-and-desist letters rather than published fines.
- December 2024
Unlicensed lottery and gaming operators (not named)
Grey-MarketPublic warning (9 December 2024)The GCGRA warned that advertisers, payment processors and other service providers supporting unlicensed operators risk sanctions, and that consumers may be implicated in a regulatory or criminal investigation.
Read-across: Suppliers, payment firms and affiliates serving unlicensed operators are within reach, not only the operators.
Licensed operators: ~3
As of 26 Oct 2026, approximately 3 operators hold an active licence in United Arab Emirates. Size your entry against this base before committing capital.
Notable licensed operators
- Visit site
The UAE Lottery (The Game LLC)
Traps operators hit in the United Arab Emirates
Specific operational risks that have caught new entrants in this market. Each item is country-specific. Generic gambling-ops issues (KYC, RG tools) are not included unless they have a local twist.
The rulebook you will be held to is not published
The founding law the GCGRA names (Federal Law by Decree No. (30) of 2022) and its Executive Regulations are not published. The licence term, the fee amounts, payment rules, a local-entity requirement and an appeal route sit in them; get the texts and the fee schedule from the GCGRA ([email protected]) before committing.
The Penal Code has no licensed-gaming exception written into it
Penal Code arts. 460-463 punish gamblers and anyone who runs or organises gambling, and the Civil Transactions Law keeps gambling agreements void (art. 946). No official text says how these fit with a GCGRA licence; the only provision found that excepts authorised gambling is Cyber-crimes Decree-Law art. 38, on promotion.
A federal licence is not the only permit
No one may operate commercial gaming without the licences, approvals and permits required "from the GCGRA and Local Entities", and an operator applicant must have a relationship with a Qualifying Domestic Entity, a UAE company with substantial business operations. The Local Entities are not named and their instruments are not published.
AML from the first transaction of AED 11,000
Gaming operators are designated non-financial businesses for single or linked transactions of AED 11,000 or more (Cabinet Resolution 134/2025 art. 3(1)), with the GCGRA as supervisor; the MLRO must regularly reside in the UAE, and AML breaches can be fined AED 10,000 to AED 5,000,000 per violation (Decree-Law 10/2025 art. 17).
No Arabic and no national symbols in advertising
Operators should not use Arabic in any advertising until the GCGRA directs otherwise, nor represent Emirati or Islamic culture, the UAE flag, traditional dress, national events, UAE leaders or national emblems (Advertising Standards ss. 13.1, 14.1); advertising goes through the GCGRA’s approval before it runs.
Timeline: rules in force
- June 1, 2026
Civil Law Amendment Takes Effect
Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 becomes effective, removing gambling from the civil code and making licensed contracts legally enforceable.
Source: 26
- June 2026
New Civil Transactions Law keeps gambling agreements void
Decree-Law 25/2025 replaced the 1985 law and kept "any agreement on gambling or wagering shall be void" (art. 946).
Source: 23
- January 2026
Child Digital Safety Decree-Law
Decree-Law 26/2025, in force 1 January 2026, bars digital platforms from letting under-18s access online commercial gaming (art. 9).
Source: 27
- October 2025
New AML law
Decree-Law 10/2025 in force 14 October 2025; its Executive Regulations (Cabinet Resolution 134/2025) in force 14 December 2025 make gaming operators designated non-financial businesses at AED 11,000.
Source: 19
- December 2024
Warning against unlicensed operators
Advertisers, payment processors and other service providers supporting unlicensed operators risk sanctions; other lotteries ordered to shut down.
Source: 18
- October 2024
First Casino Licence Awarded
Wynn Resorts receives the first Gaming Facility Operator Licence for its Wynn Al Marjan Island resort in Ras Al Khaimah.
Source: 28
- July 2024
Sole lottery licence
The GCGRA granted the only lottery licence it permits to The Game LLC (The UAE Lottery).
Source: 29
- May 2024
Licensing Guide and Responsible Gaming Framework
The Licensing Guide (01 May 2024) sets the nine application steps and the fees by type; the Responsible Gaming Framework (May 2024) the player-protection duties.
Source: 22
- February 2024
Advertising Standards
The GCGRA’s Advertising Standards for Commercial Gaming (Version 1.0, 27 February 2024) set the minimum standards for licensed operators’ advertising.
Source: 2
- September 2023
GCGRA established
The federal General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority announced its establishment on 3 September 2023, with exclusive jurisdiction over commercial gaming.
Source: 30
Operator myths vs reality in the United Arab Emirates
Common assumptions about gambling licensing that turn out to be wrong in practice.
- MythA foreign licence (MGA, Curaçao) is enough to serve UAE players.Reality
Only holders of a GCGRA licence may do business in commercial gaming in the UAE, and no published text recognises a foreign licence. The GCGRA reports about 6,000 illegal websites blocked and 11 offshore operators served with cease-and-desist letters as of December 2024. Offshore brands still show Arabic lobbies to UAE visitors (Stake under the Curaçao licence its terms give, BC.Game under the Anjouan licence it prints, read from a UAE proxy exit on 22 October 2026, which is not shown to be an Etisalat or du line, so this does not show what the TDRA’s filter lets through); the GCGRA warns that advertisers, payment processors and other service providers supporting unlicensed operators risk sanctions.
- MythSince June 2026 gambling contracts are enforceable in UAE courts.Reality
The new Civil Transactions Law, in force since 1 June 2026, keeps the rule that any agreement on gambling or wagering is void (art. 946), and the Penal Code’s gambling offences (arts. 460-463) carry no licensed-gaming exception; no official text says how they apply to a GCGRA licensee.
- MythA GCGRA licence is the only permit needed.
Markets that work like United Arab Emirates
Compared on what our records hold for each country: whether online casino, betting, poker and lottery are licensed, state-run or banned, the licensing model, what the operator tax is levied on and its band, how most advertising channels are treated, and how foreign licences are treated. A point we hold for only one of the two countries counts for nothing.
- PortugalIn review
Online casino, betting and poker licensed; lottery state-run; licensed market; most ad channels restricted.
- Dominican RepublicCheckedNamibiaAI overview
Online casino, betting and poker licensed; licensed market; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly banned.
- UgandaCheckedUkraineChecked
Online casino, betting and poker licensed; licensed market; most ad channels restricted.
Methodology & sources
The research behind our United Arab Emirates coverage
Counted across every United Arab Emirates page, not this page alone.
compiled 26 Oct 2026
22
official websites
regulators, legislatures, courts
89
pages cited
specific documents, not homepages
246
sourced data points
each traced to the instrument
Across every United Arab Emirates page on this site: players, operators and the licence guide. The research report behind them cites official sources: the law, the regulator, the gazette, the courts and each platform’s own published advertising policy. Page sections not yet rewritten from the report may cite other sources.
The same research as a 81-page United Arab Emirates report: every one of the 201 checklist questions, each answer cited to the instrument behind it.
Request the United Arab Emirates reportOur Deep AI Scan took United Arab Emirates through all 201 questions of our regulatory checklist, from 84 official documents, read on 26 Oct 2026. Our research team then traced every figure on this page to the document and sentence that states it. The full research report is reviewed by a named legal expert (26 Oct 2026). Where a fact rests on a press report or a law-firm summary rather than an official document, the page says so.
Documents cited on this page
- 1Source
- 2GCGRA, Advertising Standards for Commercial Gaming (Version 1.0, 27 February 2024)
- 3GCGRA, Responsible Gaming Framework (May 2024)
- 4Federal Decree-Law 34/2021 on Countering Rumors and Cybercrimes (official English; arts 38, 58, 59)
- 5GCGRA, Supervision and Investigations (web page)
- 6Google Ads Policy
- 7GCGRA Official Site
- 8iGaming Press Report
- 9Apple App Review Guidelines
- 10Google Play Policy
- 11GCGRA Licensing Guide
- 12Apple Advertising Policies
- 13Google Ads Gambling Policy
- 14GCGRA Advertising Standards Overview
- 15Meta Advertising Policy
- 16GCGRA Advertising Standards Summary
- 17GCGRA with the National AML/CFT/CPF Committee, Commercial Gaming Policy Paper (2025)
- 18GCGRA press release, 09 December 2024: GCGRA Issues Warning Against Unlicensed Lottery and Gaming Operators
- 19Federal Decree-Law 10/2025 on AML/CFT/CPF (GCGRA-hosted official English PDF; arts 17, 40, 41)
- 20Federal Decree-Law 31/2021 promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law (official English; arts 54, 66, 460-463)
- 21GCGRA, Legislation (web page)
- 22GCGRA, Guide to Obtaining a Commercial Gaming License in the UAE (01 May 2024)
- 23Federal Decree-Law 25/2025 promulgating the Civil Transactions Law (official English; art 946)
- 24GCGRA, What We Do (web page)
- 25Cabinet Resolution 134/2025, Executive Regulations of Decree-Law 10/2025 (GCGRA-hosted official English PDF; arts 1, 3, 70, 71)
- 26Source
- 27Federal Decree-Law 26/2025 on Child Digital Safety (official English; arts 9, 16, 18, 20)
- 28Source
- 29GCGRA press release, 28 July 2024: The GCGRA awards License for UAE Lottery
- 30GCGRA press release, 03 September 2023: Commercial Gaming Regulator Established in UAE
- 31GCGRA, Our Licensees (the licence register page)
Other documents this page relies on
- Gaming Laboratories International, GLI-19 Standards for Interactive Gaming Systems, Version 3.0 (revision date 17 July 2020)Regulator
- GCGRA, Licensing Process (web page)Regulator
- GCGRA Intake Form (file gcgra-intake-form-0225)Regulator
- GCGRA, License Types (web page)Regulator
Also cited on this page
- GCGRA, Who We Are (web page)
- Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, consolidated to Decree-Law No. 28 of 2025 (Ministry of Finance)
- GCGRA, Consumer Advisory Notice, 09 December 2024: How to Protect Yourself from Unlicensed, Illegal Commercial Gaming Operators
- GCGRA, Licensing (web page)
- Play971 Help Center, What documents are accepted to pass KYC checks
84 documents in all. Request the full research report for every source, answer by answer.
Looking for the player guide?
For consumer-facing information about gambling in United Arab Emirates (tax on winnings, where to play legally, self-exclusion options), see the United Arab Emirates player guide.
Disclaimer. This page reflects the law as we understood it on 26 Oct 2026. Rules change: always check the current position with General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA). We are not a legal adviser.