Live Casino UK: Licensed Operators, Rules and Player Protection

The United Kingdom runs one of the most tightly supervised gambling markets on earth, and nowhere is that supervision more visible than at the live dealer table. A live casino UK player sits at a real roulette wheel or a real blackjack shoe, streamed in high definition from a studio in Riga, Sofia or Salford, while the Gambling Commission watches the operator behind the glass. That arrangement creates a very specific product: interactive, transparent, and legally accountable in a way offshore sites simply are not.

Since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force in September 2007, every operator taking wagers from a British resident needs a licence. The regime has been rewritten repeatedly, most sharply in April 2020 when affordability and source-of-funds checks became enforceable, and again in October 2025 when the new Gambling Act came into law. For anyone comparing a UK-licensed live casino with an unlicensed alternative, the difference is not marketing copy. It is enforceable law.

This guide sets out how the live casino market in Britain actually works: which regulators hold which powers, what a licensed operator must do differently from an offshore one, how complaints are resolved, and which brands currently operate at the top of the market. Numbers, dates and licence references are given wherever they can be verified.

Who Regulates Live Casino in the UK

What does the Gambling Commission actually control?

The Gambling Commission (GC) is the single regulator for all commercial gambling in Great Britain, operating under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It issues operating licences, sets licence conditions, conducts compliance assessments and can suspend or revoke a licence. In the year to March 2025 the Commission held roughly 3,000 licence holders across all gambling sectors, with remote casino licences forming one of the largest groups.

Its powers are concrete. Under section 120 of the Gambling Act 2005 the GC can impose financial penalties of up to £25,000 per contravention for lower-tier breaches, and unlimited penalties for serious ones through the First-tier Tribunal. Between 2022 and 2025 the Commission issued fines totalling over £60 million, with individual penalties reaching £19.1 million against one operator in October 2023 for social responsibility and anti-money-laundering failures.

Live casino studios themselves do not need a separate licence, but the operator broadcasting them does. Every table you see on a British-licensed site runs under a remote casino operating licence, and the licence number must appear in the site footer with a working link to the public register.

Why does the licence number matter at a live table?

The licence number is the player's verification tool. A UK-licensed live casino displays its licence reference, usually something like 000-039xxx-R-319xxx, in the footer of every page. Clicking it opens the Gambling Commission public register, which shows licence status, conditions, and any enforcement history. An unlicensed site either omits the number entirely or prints a fabricated one that resolves nowhere.

Checking takes about fifteen seconds. Open the register, type the number, confirm the status reads "Operating — Remote Casino". If the number does not resolve, or the register shows a different company name than the one on the site, you are not dealing with a supervised operator. That single check separates a regulated experience from an unregulated one more reliably than any review site.

British-licensed brands such as bet365 casino, William Hill casino, Sky Bet casino and Ladbrokes casino all publish verifiable licence references. Offshore brands operating under Curaçao or Anjouan licences do not appear in the GC register at all, because they are not required to.

Which bodies sit alongside the Gambling Commission?

Three other organisations shape the live casino landscape in Britain. The Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) acts as an alternative dispute resolution body for betting disputes, while eCOGRA handles disputes for casino and poker operators. Both are approved by the GC under the licence condition requiring operators to offer free, independent ADR.

Then there is the industry's own standards body, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), which publishes a Code of Practice covering advertising, safer gambling and customer fairness. BGC membership is voluntary, and not every licensed operator joins; offshore sites have no access to it either way. The Commission can enforce its own licence conditions regardless of BGC membership.

National Helpline: GamCare 0808 8020 133 (free, 24/7). Self-exclusion register: GamStop (gamstop.co.uk). Legal gambling age in the UK: 18+.

How does the Commission monitor a live casino day to day?

Monitoring runs on three tracks. First, the operator files regulatory returns every quarter detailing gross gambling yield, customer counts and responsible gambling indicators. Second, the GC's compliance teams conduct routine assessments, typically on a cycle set by the operator's risk rating, with higher-risk operators reviewed more frequently.

Third, the Commission runs targeted interventions. In 2024 it wrote to every remote operator reminding them of expectations on affordability checks following a review of customer interactions. Live casino is scrutinised closely because the format allows rapid stake escalation: a roulette player can place a new bet every 30 seconds, roughly 120 decisions per hour, which is far faster than most slot sessions.

Unlicensed operators face none of this. No quarterly returns, no risk-based assessments, no obligation to report suspicious transactions to the National Crime Agency. The absence of monitoring is not a feature; it is the reason complaints against offshore sites so often go unresolved.

Licensed vs Unlicensed: What Changes at the Table

Do licensed live casinos use different games?

The studios and suppliers are largely the same. Evolution, Pragmatic Play Live, Playtech and NetEnt power tables for both British-licensed and offshore operators, and the same Lightning Roulette or Crazy Time wheel appears on both types of site. What differs is the wrapper: stake limits, session limits, reality checks and the speed at which the operator must respond when something goes wrong.

Licensed UK sites must publish return-to-player percentages for each live game and keep them consistent with the tested version. The GC requires that game outcomes come from certified random number generators where applicable, and that live streams meet technical standards set out in the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), specifically condition 14.1 on technical standards and 14.2 on information requirements.

Offshore sites carrying the same Evolution title may run it with modified stake ceilings, altered side-bet rules or a different maximum payout, none of which is disclosed in a form a British player can verify.

What are the actual stake and speed differences?

UK-licensed live casinos commonly cap roulette stakes at £500 per spin on standard tables and £2,000 on VIP variants, with blackjack tables ranging from £1 to £5,000 depending on the room. These ceilings are not imposed by the regulator; they are set by the operator, but the operator must enforce them consistently and cannot raise them mid-session without showing the new limit to the player.

Speed matters more than people expect. A licensed UK live blackjack table runs at roughly 40 to 60 hands per hour with a 15-second betting window. Some offshore rooms shorten that window to 8 seconds, which doubles the number of decisions a player makes per hour and, in practice, doubles the rate at which money leaves the balance.

Where does the money actually sit?

LCCP condition 5.1 requires licensed operators to keep customer funds in a segregated account or a designated trust account, and to disclose in their terms whether those funds are protected if the company becomes insolvent. This is the single most consequential difference between a licensed and an unlicensed live casino: if the operator fails, segregated funds are returned to customers ahead of general creditors.

Offshore operators are under no such obligation. Player balances sit in the same account as operating capital, which means a business failure, a licence suspension or a simple decision to stop paying can leave deposits unrecoverable. In practice, British players who deposit to unlicensed sites and later dispute a withdrawal have no statutory route to compel payment.

Ask the question directly of any operator: are customer funds segregated, and is that stated in the terms? A licensed UK brand answers in writing within its published policy. An unlicensed brand usually does not answer at all.

How do verification rules compare?

Under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and GC licence condition 3, a UK-licensed live casino must verify a customer's age and identity before allowing gambling, not after. In practice this means uploading photo ID and proof of address, with checks completed through an electronic identity provider usually within minutes. Since April 2020, additional affordability checks kick in when deposits cross set thresholds, with the Commission's guidance requiring enhanced due diligence at levels the operator has declared.

Unlicensed sites often allow instant play with only an email address. That speed feels convenient until the first withdrawal, when documentation requests appear with no fixed timeline and no external body to escalate to. Verification friction at deposit is the price of verification protection at withdrawal.

The trade-off is real, but asymmetric: a five-minute identity check protects the balance you later want to withdraw, while skipping it protects nothing.

What happens to bonuses on each type of site?

Since the GC's November 2025 implementation of the new rules on bonus terms, licensed operators must display key conditions prominently, including wagering requirements, maximum convertible amounts and time limits. A typical UK live casino welcome offer in 2026 runs at 100% up to £100 with 30x wagering, sometimes weighted so that live blackjack contributes only 10% toward the requirement.

Offshore sites still advertise 200% or 300% matches with 50x or 60x wagering buried in the terms, often with maximum cashout caps of 10x the bonus. The headline looks larger. The expected value, once the maths is done, usually is not.

PlayOJO casino took a different route in the UK market by removing wagering requirements entirely on its offers, a model that only works when the operator is confident in its long-term margin rather than relying on bonus forfeiture.

How Player Complaints Are Handled

What is the first step when a live bet goes wrong?

Start with the operator. Every UK-licensed site must publish a complaints procedure with defined response times, typically an acknowledgement within 24 hours and a full response within 8 business days. If the complaint concerns a disputed live hand or wheel result, the operator can pull the studio recording and review it, because licensed studios retain session footage for a set period.

Record the details immediately: game name, table number, exact time, stake and the dealer's name if visible. Live streams move fast and a vague description ("roulette around nine o'clock") is much harder to resolve than a precise one. Licensed operators can match your account log against the studio feed within minutes.

If the first response is unsatisfactory, escalate in writing and ask for a final response letter. That letter is the document IBAS or eCOGRA will need.

When can a player go to IBAS or eCOGRA?

IBAS handles disputes where the operator is a member, which covers most British betting and casino brands including bet365 casino, William Hill casino, Ladbrokes casino and Coral casino. eCOGRA covers a different set, notably operators using its dispute service as their approved ADR. Both are free, both are independent of the operator, and both require the player to have a final response letter first.

Typical timelines: IBAS aims to adjudicate within 14 days of receiving a complete case, and its decisions are binding on the operator but not on the player. eCOGRA works to a similar schedule. Neither body can force an unlicensed operator to participate, which is precisely why an offshore dispute usually ends where it began.

The asymmetry is stark. A British player with a £400 dispute at a licensed casino has two independent bodies willing to review it. The same player at an offshore site has an email address.

What powers does the Gambling Commission have over player complaints?

The Commission does not adjudicate individual disputes; that role sits with approved ADR providers. What it does is enforce the licence condition requiring operators to handle complaints fairly and to treat ADR referrals as mandatory. Failure to engage with ADR is itself a breach, and the GC has issued formal warnings on this point.

Where a complaint reveals a systemic problem, the Commission can open a regulatory review. In 2023 and 2024 several reviews were opened following patterns in customer complaints about withdrawal delays and identity checks, resulting in licence conditions being tightened for the operators concerned. Individual players rarely see this process, but the outcome reaches them as faster payouts and clearer terms.

Offshore regulators, by contrast, generally operate on a complaint-by-complaint basis with no public enforcement record. Curaçao's Gaming Authority has been reforming its framework since March 2024, but coverage of British players remains limited and enforcement outcomes are not published in a searchable register.

How long does a typical dispute take to resolve?

Operator stage: 8 business days is the standard ceiling under most UK terms, though straightforward cases often close in 2 to 3 days. ADR stage: 14 days for IBAS once the file is complete, stretching to 28 days where the studio footage needs to be requested from a third-party studio in another jurisdiction.

Overall, a disputed live roulette result at a licensed UK casino realistically resolves within 3 weeks from first contact. Add the studio review and it can reach 4 weeks. Offshore disputes have no comparable timeline because there is no stage two.

Keep every communication. Screenshots of the live table, chat transcripts with the dealer, and the operator's own emails all strengthen an ADR file, and both IBAS and eCOGRA will ask for them.

What if the operator simply stops responding?

Under LCCP, going silent is a breach in itself. A licensed operator that fails to respond to a final response request can be reported directly to the Gambling Commission through its reporting form, and the Commission has used complaints as intelligence for compliance work. Reporting is not a substitute for ADR, but it puts the pattern on the regulator's desk.

For financial disputes above the small claims threshold in England and Wales (£10,000 as of 2025), legal action remains an option against a licensed operator, whose registered address and company details are on the public register. Against an offshore entity incorporated in a jurisdiction with no enforcement treaty with the UK, that option effectively disappears.

The lesson is not that licensed operators never make mistakes. They do. The lesson is that a licensed operator can be compelled to fix them.

Top Licensed Live Casino Operators in the UK

Which brands hold the largest live casino footprints?

The British market concentrates around a handful of operators that run dedicated live lobbies with dozens of tables. bet365 casino operates one of the widest selections, with roulette, blackjack, baccarat and game-show formats running around the clock, backed by a licence first issued in 2001 and continuously held since. William Hill casino and Ladbrokes casino, both with high-street histories stretching back to 1934 and 1886 respectively, bring comparable depth online.

Sky Bet casino and Sky Vegas casino sit under the same corporate group and share a live product built on Evolution tables, while Paddy Power casino and Betfair casino operate under a shared licence structure following their merger. Coral casino and Gala Bingo round out the traditional bookmaker cluster, each with dedicated live rooms.

What distinguishes these operators is not the number of tables but the depth of the responsible gambling tooling wrapped around them: deposit limits, loss limits, session timers and cool-off periods all exposed in the account menu rather than buried in settings.

How do the newer entrants compare?

The past four years brought a wave of operators into Britain, several with live casino as a central product. betmgm casino launched in the UK in 2023 and runs a substantial Evolution-powered lobby. LiveScore Bet, talkSPORT BET and Kwiff all entered between 2021 and 2023 with live sections attached to sports-led products. MrQ casino and Midnite casino took different routes, the former with a slots-first approach and the latter targeting a younger, mobile-native audience.

Grosvenor Casinos brings its physical estate online, streaming from its own UK studios alongside third-party suppliers, which gives players a recognisable brand on both sides of the screen. Genting Casino follows a similar model. Both operate under licences issued before 2015, meaning their compliance history is publicly traceable across more than a decade.

Newer does not mean worse. It means shorter track records, which is exactly what the public register lets you check in under a minute.

What should a player check before depositing?

Four things, in order. Licence status on the public register. The complaints procedure and which ADR the operator uses. The live game contribution toward any bonus wagering. And the published withdrawal times, which for licensed UK casinos typically run from instant with PayPal to 3 business days for bank transfer.

Beyond those, look at the stake range on the specific tables you plan to play. A roulette table capped at £100 per spin is a different experience from one capped at £500, and both exist under the same licence. Virgin Games casino and 888 Casino publish their table limits openly; several smaller operators do not.

Providers matter too. Evolution tables dominate the British market, but Pragmatic Play Live, Playtech and Hacksaw's newer live formats appear on sites like Mr Vegas casino, Pub Casino and talkSPORT BET. Check which lobby you are entering before you fund the account.

Do UK live casinos offer exclusive tables?

Yes, and they are worth knowing about. Several large operators commission branded tables from Evolution or Playtech: dedicated roulette wheels with the operator's name on the layout, private blackjack rooms with higher limits, and studio areas reserved for a single brand's customers. bet365 casino and William Hill casino both run branded live suites, and Grosvenor Casinos streams from its own UK-based studios.

Exclusive tables usually carry higher minimum stakes, often £5 to £25 per hand rather than the £1 found on shared tables, and they attract fewer players per shoe, which means a slower, more conversational game. For a player who values pace over company, that trade is worth making.

Offshore sites can license the same technology, but the branded-table relationship is a commercial contract tied to a regulated market, which is why it rarely appears on unlicensed platforms.

Which operators handle withdrawals fastest?

British-licensed casinos publish withdrawal times and are held to them. E-wallet withdrawals at bet365 casino, Sky Bet casino and Ladbrokes casino are commonly processed within hours, with funds reaching PayPal or Skrill the same day. Debit card withdrawals take 1 to 3 business days under the operator's stated policy. Bank transfers add another 1 to 2 days depending on the receiving bank.

First withdrawals take longer because verification runs at that point, and the operator must confirm identity before releasing funds. Once verified, subsequent withdrawals follow the published timeline. Offshore sites frequently quote "up to 72 hours for processing" before any payment provider time is added, and that processing window is where disputes usually start.

Speed here is a regulated promise, not a marketing claim. That distinction is the whole argument.

Live Casino Games and Studios in the UK Market

What games dominate British live lobbies?

Roulette leads by a clear margin. Lightning Roulette from Evolution, with its multiplied straight-up payouts, appears on nearly every UK-licensed site, as do European and Auto Roulette variants. Blackjack follows, with Infinite Blackjack and Power Blackjack allowing unlimited players at a single seat. Baccarat holds third, driven largely by Speed Baccarat rounds that complete in about 25 seconds.

Game shows occupy the remaining share. Crazy Time, Monopoly Live and Funky Time run continuously and appeal to players who want a slower, more social format. Pragmatic Play Live's Sweet Bonanza CandyLand competes in the same space and appears on sites including Mr Vegas casino and Pub Casino.

Each of these titles must pass technical testing by a UKAS-accredited test house before a licensed operator can offer it in Britain, a step offshore sites are not required to take.

Where are the studios actually located?

The main European hubs are Riga in Latvia, Sofia in Bulgaria, Bucharest in Romania, Tbilisi in Georgia and Salford in England. Evolution runs large facilities in Riga and Tallinn, Playtech operates from Riga and Bucharest, and Pragmatic Play Live has studios in Bucharest and Malta. Grosvenor Casinos streams from its own UK venues, giving British players a domestic option.

Geography matters for latency. A player in Manchester connecting to a Salford studio sees lower delay than one connecting to Tbilisi, and that difference affects how quickly a bet registers after the betting window closes. Licensed operators publish minimum connection requirements, typically 5 Mbps for HD streaming and 1.5 Mbps for standard definition.

Offshore operators use the same studios. The physical feed is identical; the accountability around it is not.

How fast does a live round actually complete?

European roulette runs a new round roughly every 30 seconds, which works out at about 120 rounds per hour. Speed Roulette compresses that to 25 seconds. Blackjack deals at about 40 to 60 hands per hour with a 15-second betting window, while Speed Blackjack cuts the window to 8 seconds and pushes the rate above 70 hands.

Baccarat is fastest: Speed Baccarat completes in 25 seconds, and some variants run under 20. At that pace a player can place close to 180 bets per hour, which is why licensed operators attach session timers and reality checks to live play specifically, not just to the account in general.

Pace is the quiet variable in bankroll management. Same game, twice the speed, half the playing time for the same stake.

Do mobile live casinos work as well as desktop?

In 2026 the answer is yes for most UK-licensed operators. Evolution and Pragmatic Play both build mobile-first live interfaces where the betting grid occupies the lower half of the screen and the video feed sits above it, which works cleanly on screens from 5.5 inches upward. Landscape orientation gives the best view of the table; portrait mode prioritises the betting controls.

Data usage runs at roughly 1 GB per hour for HD streaming and about 300 MB for standard definition, so a player on a limited mobile plan should check the quality setting before a long session. Licensed apps published through the Apple App Store and Google Play must meet the platform's own review requirements in addition to GC conditions.

Offshore sites distribute Android apps as APK files outside the stores, which bypasses both platform review and any British oversight of the app's behaviour.

Responsible Gambling Tools at Live Tables

What tools must a UK-licensed live casino provide?

Since the LCCP updates, licensed operators must offer deposit limits, loss limits, session time limits, reality checks, cool-off periods and self-exclusion, all accessible from the account area without contacting support. Reality checks appear as pop-up alerts at intervals the player chooses, defaulting to 60 minutes on most platforms, showing time elapsed and net position.

GamStop integration is mandatory. A player who self-excludes through GamStop is blocked from every participating British-licensed operator for the chosen period, which can be 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. Over 450,000 people had registered with GamStop as of its 2024 report, and the scheme covers the overwhelming majority of licensed remote operators.

Offshore sites sit outside GamStop entirely, which is why they are sometimes marketed to self-excluded players. That marketing is itself a red flag about how the operator treats British regulation.

How do affordability checks work in practice?

Since April 2020, licensed operators must conduct checks when cumulative deposits cross thresholds the operator has set, and the Commission's guidance requires meaningful intervention rather than a tick-box. In practice a player depositing more than £1,000 in a rolling 30-day period will often be asked for income evidence, with the request delivered in-app.

The new Gambling Act, which received Royal Assent and began phased implementation through 2025 and 2026, introduces a statutory definition of affordability and gives the Commission power to set a single national threshold. Details continue to be finalised by secondary legislation, so operators are already building the infrastructure ahead of the formal requirement.

An unlicensed operator asks no such questions. For a player managing their spending, that absence is not a benefit.

What is the legal age and how is it enforced?

18 is the legal minimum for all gambling in Great Britain, including lottery products and online casinos. Age verification at a licensed live casino happens before any deposit, through electronic checks against electoral roll, credit reference and document data. If electronic checks fail, the operator requests photo ID and proof of address before the account can be used.

Since December 2020, operators must also verify age before a customer can access free-to-play games, closing a loophole that previously let under-18s register and browse. Offshore sites frequently set 18 as the stated minimum while running no verification at registration, which makes the stated age little more than a line of text.

Enforcement cuts both ways: an operator found allowing under-18s faces licence review, and a player misrepresenting their age forfeits any winnings.

Where can a British player get help immediately?

GamCare operates the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, free and open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with live chat and WhatsApp options through gamblingtherapy.org. GambleAware funds treatment services across England, Scotland and Wales, and the NHS Northern Gambling Service covers the north of England for severe cases.

Self-exclusion beyond GamStop includes individual operator schemes and the multi-operator self-exclusion tool offered by some groups. Blocking software such as Gamban and NetNanny can be installed on devices, and several licensed operators will refund deposits made during a self-exclusion period if the exclusion was requested before the deposits occurred.

None of these routes exist for an offshore account, which is the practical cost of choosing an unlicensed site.

FAQ: Live Casino UK

Is live casino legal in the UK?

Yes. Live casino is legal in Great Britain for players aged 18 and over, provided the operator holds a remote casino licence from the Gambling Commission. The licence must be verifiable in the public register, and the operator must display its licence number on the site. Playing at an unlicensed site is not itself illegal for the player, but it removes every consumer protection the law provides.

How do I know a live casino site is licensed?

Check the footer for a licence number, then search that number on the Gambling Commission public register at gamblingcommission.gov.uk. The register shows the operating company, licence status and any enforcement history. If the number does not resolve or the company name differs from the one on the site, treat the operator as unlicensed regardless of what its terms claim.

Which live casino games are most popular in the UK?

Roulette leads, followed by blackjack and baccarat, with game shows such as Crazy Time and Monopoly Live taking a growing share. European Roulette and Lightning Roulette appear on nearly every licensed lobby, while Infinite Blackjack suits players who prefer unlimited seats. Speed variants compress each round to 20 to 25 seconds, which suits short sessions but raises the number of decisions per hour.

What is the minimum deposit at a UK live casino?

Most licensed operators set a minimum deposit of £10, with some accepting £5 for e-wallets. Withdrawal minimums typically match, though a few brands set £20. Deposit limits can be lowered instantly from the account menu and take 24 hours to raise, a cooling-off rule designed to prevent impulsive increases during a session.

Can I play live casino on my phone in the UK?

Yes. Every major licensed operator supports mobile play through a browser or a dedicated app, with Evolution and Pragmatic Play streaming optimised for screens from 5.5 inches upward. Expect roughly 1 GB of data per hour in HD. Licensed apps are distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play, where they pass platform review in addition to regulatory checks.

What should I do if a live casino refuses to pay?

Request a final response letter from the operator, then escalate to the approved ADR provider named in its terms, usually IBAS or eCOGRA. Both are free and independent. If the operator stops responding entirely, report it to the Gambling Commission through the public reporting form. Keep screenshots, chat logs and the exact time of the disputed round.

Are live casino bonuses worth claiming?

Only after reading the contribution table. Many UK welcome offers exclude live blackjack entirely or count it at 10% toward wagering, while roulette often counts at 20% to 50%. A £100 bonus at 30x wagering with 10% live contribution means £30,000 of live blackjack turnover before withdrawal, which is a very different proposition from the headline suggests.

Do UK live casinos publish RTP figures?

Licensed operators must publish return-to-player percentages for each live game, usually in the game's information panel or the site's game rules section. Typical figures are 97.30% for European Roulette, 99.28% for blackjack played with basic strategy, and 98.94% for baccarat banker bets. Offshore sites are not required to publish these and frequently omit them.

How fast are withdrawals from a UK live casino?

E-wallet withdrawals are commonly processed within hours and reach the account the same day. Debit card withdrawals take 1 to 3 business days, bank transfers 2 to 5 days including the receiving bank's processing. First withdrawals take longer because identity verification runs at that point. Offshore operators quote longer processing windows with no external body to escalate to if they are missed.

What is GamStop and does it cover live casino?

GamStop is the national self-exclusion scheme for British-licensed operators. Registering blocks access to every participating site, including live casino lobbies, for 6 months, 1 year or 5 years. It does not cover offshore sites, which is one reason those sites attract self-excluded players. Complementary tools include Gamban device blocking and the GamCare helpline on 0808 8020 133.

Final Word

A live casino UK account sits at the intersection of entertainment and regulation, and the regulation is not decoration. Verified licences, segregated funds, published RTP figures, mandatory ADR routes and GamStop coverage are structural features that an unlicensed operator cannot replicate without submitting to the same supervision. Check the register, read the complaints procedure, set a deposit limit before the first hand, and treat any site that will not show its licence number as exactly what it is: outside the system that protects you.