There are plenty of locally licensed casinos available for players in the UK. Also, new UKGC-casinos emerge every once in a while, enriching players’ options. Yet, a large number of casino fans opt for non UK licensed casinos. Something must be wrong or at least not fitting everybody in the homeland of gambling.
Some players still miss those days when bonuses were of a mammoth scale, gamification was considered a natural practice in UK casinos and self-exclusion was an act to cool down yourself for a period and not get banned from every site in Great Britain. These are exactly the elements that casinos accepting Brits and residing overseas still offer.
Reputable non UK casinos accepting UK players
Quite a few non UK casinos are accepting UK players. However, not all of them are to be trusted. We divide them into two primary categories: licensed and independent. You may think that only regulated casinos are trustworthy, but that isn’t necessarily true. Although a license may keep a casino owner compliant, many aspects of your experience (e.g. withdrawal policy) are still in their hands. That’s why you should be picky when choosing a casino outside the UK. In the following mixed list, we present you the best non UK sites with their respective welcome bonuses.
What is a non UK casino?
In short, a non UK casino is a website based outside of the United Kingdom. Practically, we are talking about all the casinos that don’t hold a license issued by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. These casinos may or may not accept British players depending on their licensed jurisdiction. Some of them, called ‘independent casinos’, haven’t obtained a license and in their majority, they accept Brits.
Licenses of Non UK Registered Gambling Sites
At first, playing at a non-UK registered casino might seem reckless or irresponsible from the player’s side. Why should you dismiss the UKGC sites as a whole and turn your interest to overseas casinos? The reality is that players just don’t want to put up with all these guidelines given by the Gambling Commission, which refer to every aspect of gambling, from gameplay and bonuses to Responsible Gambling tools and withdrawals. We understand that seasoned players, at some point, want to skip all this and focus on the fun part.
So, what are British players’ options if they reject the UKGC sites?
MGA Casinos: Casinos based in Malta and authorized by Malta Gaming Authority are widely respected among European players. However, even if MGA Casinos happen to be the most popular within Europe, they aren’t compatible with players from the United Kingdom.
Curacao Casinos: This is the predominant type of license that hundreds of online casinos select to obtain due to the ease of setting up the platform and the fewer financial and compliance obligations. Curacao casinos might have very few country restrictions, yet, unfortunately, one of them is the United Kingdom. With a few exceptions, the majority of them wouldn’t take in Brits.
Gibraltar/ Alderney/ Isle Of Man Casinos: You will encounter them less frequently, but all of these authorities are considered solid licensees. They are legit licenses with real supervision and accountability. All three regions belong to the British Overseas Territory, therefore to the United Kingdom, so British players are accepted there. In general, these regulators replicate UKGC’s guidelines and watertight framework. Still, even if the UK government whitelists them, they don’t have an obligation to register at the GAMSTOP scheme.
Independent/ US-focused Casinos: We have extensively reviewed these non uk based online casinos in another article, so we will just point out that they are super-friendly to players from the United Kingdom and the United States. They might accept players from all around the world. However, it’s a shared secret that they mainly target US players whose state of residence hasn’t regulated gambling or British who want to circumvent the UKGC’s strict guidelines.
Ranking criteria of non UK licensed casinos
Searching for non UK licensed casinos, soon you would realize that the options are endless and you would get confused. This article simplifies the selection process by establishing specific ranking criteria.
Which are the positive elements that influence the ranking of a non UK casino?
Not Restricted by UKGC’s guidelines
So, let’s be honest, this is the main reason you ended up in this article, right? You had enough of all these restraints that UKGC has put on you and you are looking for a way to bypass them. All these sites we are talking about won’t put you through similar restrictions as they are looser towards compliance.
Not part of Exclusion Schemes
Don’t get us wrong here; we favour safe gaming and the GAMSTOP scheme in Great Britain helped volumes dealing with the concerning public health problem of gambling addiction. However, not all players are addicts or cause damage to their credit scores, so they don’t need to get through mandatory six month -at least- ‘probation’.
Cryptocurrency payments
This is another advantage casinos non UK have over UKGC licensed ones. In UK casinos, payments using Bitcoin or any other type of cryptocurrency are forbidden. On the contrary, casinos outside the British Isles allow their players to make their transactions anonymously and without the intervention of a third party with crypto.
Deposit by Credit Cards
Since April 2020, online gambling with credit cards has been banned in the UK. British players cannot use credit cards for gambling on their soil, but they can pay with them in casinos that don’t hold a UKGC license.
Faster KYC verification
In non-UKGC casinos, account creation and ID verification tend to be more straightforward and less time-consuming. The process should take no more than a couple of minutes.
Larger Bonuses
The restrictions in the UK casinos apply to bonuses, too, and that’s why you will rarely see a large casino bonus on such sites. On the contrary, non UK gambling sites tend to offer more appealing promotions.
What are the liabilities of non UK gambling sites?
We talked about the perks of joining non UK gambling sites, now is time to inform you about the problems these casinos try to sweep under the carpet.
Reliability Issues
Playing at licensed casinos, you have fewer chances of getting scammed by playing at licensed casinos, but not all licenses are the same. For example, MGA casinos are much more reputable than Curacao casinos, where it’s easier to face mistreatment.
Resolution policy
Again, it depends on the type of casino that you have registered. In MGA Casinos, for example, you can file your complaints at MADRE, the alternative dispute-resolution entity and hope for a plausible solution. On the other hand, in Curacao and independent casinos, you can negotiate your situation with the casino, whatever this may mean.
Payments in GBP not always available
You may discover that the pound sterling isn’t supported in all non UK regulated casinos. Converting your currency into another is an inconvenience that many players wouldn’t enjoy.
Available for gambling addicts
Not all players are in need of the extreme Responsible Gambling measures and the harsh self-exclusion scheme that the UKGC imposes. However, many of them are indeed gambling addicts and should stay away from online casinos at all costs. Since not being on this scheme, non UK licensed online casinos have no previous knowledge of their addiction and may contribute to intensifying their problematic behavior.
What bonuses do non UK Casinos offer?
In UKGC casinos, you are allowed to claim only non-sticky bonuses due to compliance reasons. The idea behind non-sticky bonuses is that you start playing with your own funds and the bonus balance becomes available only when you lose all of your real money. Meanwhile if you have recorded a big win using your deposit, you would be able to request a withdrawal, but forfeit the bonus.
Some players prefer to start wagering the bonus money right from the gates and don’t want to put all of their deposit money on the line. If you believe that non-sticky promotions’ advantage of withdrawing without having wagered the bonus isn’t so important, then non UK casinos will provide the solution for you as they feature mostly sticky bonuses.
Apart from the sticky-non sticky separation criteria, you will soon find out that online casinos outside Great Britain are far more generous than those back home. Welcome packages are significantly bigger and the chances of locating a superb no deposit bonus are more frequent in non UK casinos.
Should I trust non UK casinos?
Not being licensed by UKGC doesn’t imply that these sites shouldn’t be trusted. Each case is different as there are non UK casinos licensed by reliable regulators (Gibraltar, Alderney, Isle of Man) and sites considered independent and aren’t controlled by any authority. The reliability of Independent websites may be questionable, but they offer other perks such as a more loose environment regarding KYC policies and Responsible Gambling measures. Before registering, you need to consider several things, but your preferences will define whether you invest in a casino outside the UK. The choice, as always, is yours.
