The Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB), established on April 19, 1999, serves as the regulatory authority for the entire gaming industry operating within and from Curaçao. As the primary licensing agency for the region's casino industry, the Gaming Control Board is recognized for its dynamic role in knowledge dissemination and its expanding influence in the regional gambling sector since 2013. While it may not be as stringent as some other licensing agencies, the Gaming Control Board is considered a transparent entity that takes clear actions to penalize violations by online casino operators.
About Curacao Gaming Control Board
As a long-established licensing agency for casino activities, it wasn't until 2020 that the Gaming Control Board (GCB) took on the responsibility of licensing and supervising Curaçao's online gaming sector on behalf of the Minister of Finance. The GCB is likely the most comprehensive source of information regarding gambling regulations in Curaçao, offering an official website that provides clear and detailed information for both players and operators.
This agency is known for its strict measures against illegal activities by online operators, including imprisonment or fines up to NAF 25,000. It works closely with other law enforcement bodies, such as the Curaçao Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU Curaçao), to regulate online gambling operators.
The Gaming Control Board also issues Responsible Gambling Guidelines, which are a crucial part of casino licensing requirements. These guidelines include Self-Exclusion provisions for problem gamblers, who can apply to be added to a self-exclusion database managed by the Gaming Control Board (GCB) or the Financial Management Authority (FMA). This database is accessible to casino staff to help enforce.
Despite its mixed reputation, Curaçao has been a popular choice for online gambling licenses due to low taxes and simple processes. Previously, regulation was handled by four independent operators, each with its own procedures:
- Antillephone N.V. (license 8048 / JAZ)
- Curaçao eGaming (license 1668 / JAZ)
- Curaçao Interactive Licensing N.V. (license 5536 / JAZ)
- Gaming Curaçao (license 365 / JAZ)
This fragmented system often confused players and lacked a central authority for complaints.
However, since November 2023, new legislation (Lok) has centralized regulation under the Gaming Control Board. All operators must register on the GCB portal by April 30th, 2024, to obtain a new license.
Regulations for Operators
The Curaçao Gaming Control Board establishes a set of conditions for casino operators aimed at enhancing security within the gambling industry and protecting customer rights. The primary objectives include:
- Preventing the exploitation of players' trust.
- Ensuring a transparent service environment.
- Guaranteeing the resolution of player complaints.
Preventing the exploitation of players' trust
In order to protect new players as well as sensitive young players, operators need to ensure:
- The Curaçao Gaming Control Board mandates that operators restrict players to those over 18 years old.
- Additionally, it ensures that problem gamblers can self-exclude and set self-imposed limits on their gaming activities. These limits include maximum playing time and maximum or minimum deposit or spending amounts.
- Operators are strictly prohibited from extending credit to players to increase their spending capacity. Players' accounts cannot have negative balances, and they are not allowed to continue playing if their balance is insufficient. These measures are designed to prevent the creation of player debt and subsequent debt collection by the casino.
Ensuring a transparent service environment
In order to ensure environmental transparency, the operator must comply with:
- Operators must ensure that players are always in a secure environment where their personal information is protected, and games are consistently available, allowing players to play safely without interruptions. Operators must protect players' personal data and have all games tested by a third party before releasing them.
- Operators are also required to maintain sufficient funds to pay players, which will be audited by the finance department. Additionally, they must keep players' bets and winnings in separate, verified accounts to minimize risks for players if any issues arise with the operator.
- All transactions between the operator and the player must be conducted through the player's account. Operators must provide players with access to information related to their accounts and any account changes.
Guaranteeing the resolution of player complaints
Operators must offer a straightforward and free complaints handling process for players. This process must include the following elements:
- Clear instructions on where and how players can file complaints.
- Immediate confirmation of receipt upon receiving a complaint.
- Written notification of the complaint resolution, including reasons and supporting documents.
- Provision of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options approved by the GCB.
How to Verifying the Authenticity of a Casino's License
To know how to know if a casino is licensed by the Gaming Control Board, we first need to talk a little bit about how this agency provides licenses.
The Curacao Gaming Control Board can issue two types of online gaming licenses. These are the Master License and the Sub-Licence. Both licenses cover all forms of gambling, including casino games, sports betting, bingo, poker rooms, and so on.
There are only four companies with Master Licenses. These are Curacao Interactive Licensing N.V, Gaming Curacao, Curacao and Antillephone NV. Operators who want to launch new sportsbooks or online casinos need to apply for a sub-licence. Now, this is where it gets tricky.
Master License holders are allowed to issue sub-licences to operators. With the sub-licences, these operators are allowed to run their businesses independently.
Therefore, if players want to verify the authenticity of a casino's license, they will need to learn how each Master License Holders works as well as how to determine the authenticity of each license.
Fortunately, we also have full articles about each of these licenses here on Casinomentor for players to easily learn.
How to Submit a Complaint
There is currently no specific way to submit a complaint directly to the Curacao Gaming Control Board because the agency has also made it quite clear on the main website that they are still not accepting complaints directly from players. The Gaming Control Board has the regulations mentioned above to ensure that their licensed operators have adequate complaint resolution procedures in place, so players should only contact them directly when they discover suspicious behavior that violates the above rules or has been unable to resolve the issue with the operators.
In that case players can follow these steps to contact and explain the problem to Curacao Gaming Control Board:
Step 1: Visit the website: gamingcontrolcuracao.org
Step 2: Above, select "Contact"
Step 3: Fill in all relevant information and problems that the player is encountering
Step 4: Click "Send"
Contact Information
Some contact information for this agency can be found here such as:
- Address: Emancipatie Boulevard, Dominico F. “Don” Martina 23, Willemstad, Curaçao
- Tel: +(599 9) 737-2299
- Email: [email protected]
Curacao is constantly updating its laws regarding online gambling. The Gaming Control Board itself also promises to launch its own complaint handling process this year, so players can fully hope for changes that will benefit their own safety and confidence. Play at licensed casinos in Curacao. Please wait for Casinomentor's continuous updates for the latest information.
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