No Guyanese authority publishes a list of who holds a gambling licence. That goes for the Gaming Authority, which licenses casinos, and for the Guyana Revenue Authority, which licenses betting shops. So there is nothing official to check a site or a shop against.
Here is the answer by product:
- Online casino — unregulated. No law in force mentions online play, and no licence exists for it.
- Online poker — unregulated, for the same reason.
- Sports betting — licensed. Each betting shop needs a yearly licence from the Revenue Authority[6].
- Land-based casinos — licensed by the Gaming Authority, but only inside large new hotels[1].
- Lottery — a state monopoly, run under the Government Lotteries Act[3].
Map status
Scored on online casino, and Guyana has not answered.
The law in force is the Gambling Prevention Act of 1902. It punishes keeping a common gaming house and running a public lottery, and since 2007 it has licensed casinos in large new hotels[1]. It never mentions the internet. No licence exists for an online casino.
We mark that unregulated rather than prohibited. No law in force bans online play by name. The government itself says betting has moved onto phone apps, helped by what it calls a very liberal licensing and taxation policy[7].
The answer is the same from both sides:
- For a player in Guyana, there is no Guyanese licence to look for. The 1902 offences are written about places, and we found no court decision applying them to a website.
- For an operator based in Guyana, there is nothing to apply for, whether it serves players at home or abroad. Running a casino without a casino licence carries a fine of G$1 million to G$20 million and 6 months to 2 years in prison[1]. Nobody has said whether that reaches a website.
That may change. A Gaming Authority Bill published in July 2026 would license remote gaming and make offering it without a licence an offence[4]. It was not law when we checked.
The detail, section by section
The Gaming Authority was set up in 2008 under the Gambling Prevention Act. Its regulations make it responsible for issuing licences and monitoring casino operations[1]. Its board was last appointed for a year from 15 February 2026[5]. We found no website for it.
A casino licence can go only to a new hotel or resort with at least 150 rooms. Each of Guyana's 10 regions may have at most 3[1]. Only staff, hotel guests and people allowed by regulations may go in.
Betting shops sit outside the Authority. The Tax Act requires a yearly licence for every premises used for betting[2]. The Revenue Authority now charges G$2,500,000 for it[6]. The consolidated text of the Act still says G$2,000,000.
The lottery belongs to the state. The Government Lotteries Act lets a government committee run lotteries whatever any other law says[3]. The Auditor General reports that the National Lottery's proceeds go to a Lotteries Commission and are paid out as Cabinet approves[9].
The Gambling Prevention Act dates from 1902. It punishes keeping a common gaming house, playing in one and running a public lottery[1]. A common gaming house is a place: a house, a room, a building, even a boat. The words internet, online and remote do not appear in the Act.
The government says the market has moved on without it. In October 2025 the Vice President called it gambling on demand, run through phone apps[7]. He spoke of 400 or 500 outlets and blamed a very liberal licensing and taxation policy.
One old rule does touch money leaving the country. The Tax Act stops anyone but a licensed pool-betting business sending a stake for a pool bet out of Guyana[2]. That section says nothing about other kinds of bet.
On 27 July 2026 the Official Gazette published the Gaming Authority Bill 2026, ahead of its introduction in the National Assembly[4]. It would repeal the 1902 Act. Its main changes:
- A new Gaming Authority of Guyana, licensing casinos, gaming lounges, betting shops and remote gaming.
- An offence to offer remote gaming to people in Guyana without a Remote Gaming Operator Licence. Its application fee and yearly fee are G$250,000,000 each.
- Rules that also cover gaming offered from abroad to people in Guyana.
- A 30% fee, taken by banks and payment firms, on deposits to and winnings from unlicensed foreign sites.
- A fine of G$2 million to G$10 million for knowingly playing on an unlicensed site.
The government said the Bill was expected to go to a Special Select Committee[8]. When we searched the Official Gazette on 5 November 2026, it held no Act of that name. Until there is one, with a start date, none of this applies.
No rule in force deals with advertising online gambling. The 1902 Act makes it an offence to publish any announcement about a public lottery. It is also an offence to announce that a place is a common gaming house, or to invite anyone to play in one[1]. The fine is G$195,000 or 12 months in prison.
Both offences are written about lotteries and places. Neither names a website, and we found no case applying them to one. Whether they reach a publisher outside Guyana is untested, as far as we could find.
We found no advertising code for casinos or betting shops either.
The Bill would change this. It bars anyone without a licence from advertising a gaming activity, with a fine of G$20 million to G$100 million[4]. Because it also covers gaming offered from abroad, promoting an unlicensed site to players in Guyana would become an offence.
Promotion rules are unclear
Guyana's two neighbours on the map have both answered the online question, in opposite ways:
- Venezuela licenses online casino, sports betting and land-based casinos, and keeps the lottery a state monopoly. Promoting gambling there is an offence that reaches operators abroad.
- Brazil prohibits online casino, sports betting and land-based casinos, and keeps the lottery a state monopoly.
The closer match is further away. Ireland has Guyana's present shape: sports betting and land-based gambling licensed, the lottery a state monopoly, online casino unregulated.
If a site says it holds a Guyanese licence, ask which one. The only licences that exist are for hotel casinos and betting shops, beside the state's own lottery.
We found no public list of licence holders, no blocklist, no self-exclusion scheme and no complaints route for gambling.
Watch the Gaming Authority Bill. If it becomes law as published, playing on a site without a Guyanese remote licence would itself be an offence.
Gaming Authority - the body corporate set up in 2008 under the Gambling Prevention Act to issue casino licences and monitor casino operations. Its board is appointed within the tourism, industry and commerce sector. Betting shops are licensed separately by the Guyana Revenue Authority under the Tax Act, and the Government lottery runs under the Government Lotteries Act.
- [1]The law Chapter 009:02 Gambling Prevention Act - the consolidated text on the Laws of Guyana page ↗
The Act in force for gambling. Keeping or playing in a common gaming house and running a public lottery are offences, and so is announcing either. Since 2007 it licenses casinos, only in new hotels or resorts of at least 150 rooms and at most three per region. It carries the 2008 regulations that set up the Gaming Authority and fix casino fees. It says nothing about online play, betting shops or the state lottery.
A 35-page PDF linked as chapter 9:02 from the Ministry of Legal Affairs' Laws of Guyana page, with a real text layer, so it can be searched. It is the consolidation authorised in 2012 and shows no later change. The list on that page runs to 52 pages of chapters, so the quickest route is your browser's find for 9:02 or Gambling.
- [2]The law Chapter 080:01 Tax Act - the consolidated text on the Laws of Guyana page ↗
The tax statute under which betting shops are licensed. Section 9 requires a yearly licence for every premises used for a betting business, section 8 licenses pool-betting premises and stops anyone else sending stakes abroad, and section 10 taxes bets placed at a betting shop. It does not regulate how a shop is run, and it says nothing about online betting.
A 99-page PDF on the Laws of Guyana page, with a text layer. It is the consolidation authorised in 2012, and some figures in it are out of date: it gives the betting premises licence as two million dollars, while the Revenue Authority now charges two and a half million. Check current fees and tax rates with the Revenue Authority.
- [3]The law Chapter 080:07 Government Lotteries Act - the consolidated text on the Laws of Guyana page ↗
The lottery statute. A committee appointed by the Minister responsible for finance may organise and run Government lotteries whatever any other law says, and the ticket money goes into a Government Lotteries Account. It also carries draw regulations first made in 1964. It does not say who runs the lottery today, and it publishes no results or sellers.
A 19-page PDF on the Laws of Guyana page, with a text layer, in the consolidation authorised in 2012. Government papers now call the body that handles lottery money by other names, the Lotteries Commission or the Lottery Control Commission, so do not expect the Act's committee name to match.
- [4]The law Extraordinary Gazette, 27 July 2026 - BILL No. 12 of 2026 – The Gaming Authority Act 2026 - Official E-Gazette of Guyana ↗ open the document ↗
The Gaming Authority Bill 2026 as published before its introduction: a new Gaming Authority of Guyana, licences for casinos, gaming lounges, betting shops, remote gaming and race simulcasts, a ban on advertising gaming without a licence, an offence for players who use unlicensed sites, a 30 per cent fee on payments to unlicensed foreign sites, and repeal of the 1902 Act. It is a Bill, not law.
The PDF is 89 pages and 6.9 MB, and the gazette's own page says 87 of them are scanned images. Those pages have no text layer, so they cannot be searched or copied, and we quote none of them. The Bill would start only on a date the Minister sets by order. The landing page gives gazette reference 320/2026/2885.
- [5]The regulator Extraordinary Gazette, 5 February 2026 - Government Notice – Appointment of Board of Directors within the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Sector (Gaming Authority) - Official E-Gazette of Guyana ↗ open the document ↗
The latest published appointment of the Gaming Authority's board: a chairman and four directors, approved by Cabinet on the proposal of the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce for a year from 15 February 2026. It shows the Authority still exists and which ministry proposes its board. It is not a register and lists no licences.
A 2-page PDF. The notice itself is a scanned page with no text layer, so only the gazette's contents line can be searched. We found no website or contact page for the Gaming Authority, so this notice is the most recent official trace of it. The gazette page above the file gives the publication date and the reference 52/2026/423.
- [6]The regulator Auctioneer & Betting Shop – Guyana Revenue Authority ↗
How to get or renew a betting shop licence from the Guyana Revenue Authority: the documents needed, including an approved plan of the premises signed by the planning authority and the fire service and a recent police clearance, and the cost of two and a half million Guyana dollars a year. It shares the page with the auctioneer licence and does not list who holds a licence.
An ordinary page with no login. The application form is a fillable PDF, and the page says to open it in Adobe Reader on a computer, not in a browser or on a phone. There is no online application, and the licence is for a premises, not for a website or an app.
- [7]The regulator Tougher laws coming to curb negative effects of gambling in communities- Jagdeo – Department of Public Information, Guyana ↗
A government news report of 16 October 2025 on the Vice President's remarks: gambling has spread from hotel casinos to hundreds of outlets and phone apps, licensing and taxation have been too liberal, and tougher laws and taxes are coming. It is the government's own account of the market and a statement of policy, not law.
An ordinary news page on the Department of Public Information's site, with no login. It reports a press conference and quotes it directly. The reforms it promises took the form of the Gaming Authority Bill 2026, which was not in force when we checked.
- [8]The regulator Gov’t tables Gaming Authority Bill following calls from religious community for stronger gambling controls – Department of Public Information, Guyana ↗
A government news report of 27 July 2026 that the Gaming Authority Bill was tabled in the National Assembly, aimed at the spread of betting shops and mobile apps, and expected to go to a Special Select Committee for detailed examination. It does not report what happened to the Bill afterwards.
An ordinary news page with no login. The National Assembly's own bill-status pages listed nothing later than 2025 when we looked, so this page and the Official Gazette were the only public record of the Bill we could find. The report is dated the same day the Bill appeared in the Gazette.
- [9]The regulator REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENT/REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 ↗ open the document ↗
The Auditor General's report on the 2024 public accounts. Its Ministry of Finance chapter describes the Government lottery set up under the Government Lotteries Act, run by a private company that pays the state a licence fee of 24 per cent of gross revenue, and the commission that spends the proceeds as Cabinet approves. It is not a gambling register.
A 615-page PDF of about 17 MB, reached from the View Report button on the Audit Office home page. It has a text layer. The lottery paragraphs are numbered 90 and 91, on printed page 49, and a search for Lotteries finds them. The covering letter shows the report went to the Speaker of the National Assembly on 25 September 2025.
Each statement below is what the official source says, with the date we last opened it.
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The regulations that set up the Gaming Authority in 2008 make it responsible for issuing licences under the Act and for monitoring casino operations. Nothing in them mentions betting shops, lotteries or online play.
Gambling Prevention Act, Chapter 9:02 - Gambling Prevention (Establishment of Gaming Authority) Regulations, regulation 3 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
(i) the issuance of licences under section 32 of the Act; (ii) the monitoring of casino operations in Guyana; (iii) the administration of regulations made under the Act;
Gambling Prevention Act, Chapter 9:02 - Gambling Prevention (Establishment of Gaming Authority) Regulations, regulation 3 · English -
Promoting a lottery or a gaming house has been an offence since 1902. Anyone who publishes an announcement about a public lottery, or announces that a place is a common gaming house, commits an offence under section 4.
Gambling Prevention Act, Chapter 9:02, section 4 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
(f) writes, prints, or publishes, or causes to be written, printed or published, any lottery ticket, or list of prizes, or any announcement of the result of a public lottery, or any announcement relating to a public lottery; or (g) announces or publishes, or causes to be announced or published, either orally or by means of any print, writing, design, sign, or otherwise, that any place is opened, kept, or used as a common gaming house
Gambling Prevention Act, Chapter 9:02, section 4 · English -
The Gaming Authority's board was reappointed by a government notice in the Official Gazette of 5 February 2026, which places the Authority within the tourism, industry and commerce sector.
Extraordinary Gazette, 5 February 2026 - Government Notice – Appointment of Board of Directors within the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Sector (Gaming Authority) ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
Government Notice – Appointment of Board of Directors within the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Sector (Gaming Authority)
Extraordinary Gazette, 5 February 2026 - Government Notice – Appointment of Board of Directors within the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Sector (Gaming Authority) · English -
The government's own account is that casino licences were meant to support the hotel trade and went only to hotels with at least 150 rooms. It says the market has since grown into hundreds of small outlets, many taking bets through apps.
Tougher laws coming to curb negative effects of gambling in communities- Jagdeo ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
Initially, gambling was introduced to support the hotel industry by providing an additional stream of revenue. In fact, casino licences were issued under strict conditions, requiring hotels to have at least 150 rooms and meet high service standards. However, this model has since evolved into hundreds of small gambling outlets across the country, many of which are operating through apps that allow round-the-clock betting.
Tougher laws coming to curb negative effects of gambling in communities- Jagdeo · English -
In October 2025 the Vice President called the result gambling on demand, in every home through an app, and said a very liberal licensing and taxation policy had made it worse.
Tougher laws coming to curb negative effects of gambling in communities- Jagdeo ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
“What we have now is gambling on demand. It’s in every home, it’s an app,” he said, adding that the problem is worsened by “a very liberal licensing and taxation policy.”
Tougher laws coming to curb negative effects of gambling in communities- Jagdeo · English -
Every premises used for a betting business needs its own yearly licence under section 9 of the Tax Act. The consolidated text published by the Ministry of Legal Affairs still gives the fee as two million dollars.
Tax Act, Chapter 80:01, section 9 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
(2) Subject to subsection (3), every person who occupies any set of premises or part of a set of premises for the purposes of a business involving any betting transactions shall take out an annual licence for the set of premises or part thereof so occupied and shall pay for the licence the sum of two million dollars.
Tax Act, Chapter 80:01, section 9 · English -
The Guyana Revenue Authority, which issues betting shop licences, now charges two and a half million Guyana dollars for a new or renewed one, and the licence has to be renewed every year.
Auctioneer & Betting Shop – Guyana Revenue Authority ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
The cost for a new or renewed Betting Shop Licence is Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Guyana Dollars (G$2,500,000.00) . This Licence must be renewed on an annual basis.
Auctioneer & Betting Shop – Guyana Revenue Authority · English -
Betting businesses account for the tax on bets in a monthly Tax on Betting Return to the Guyana Revenue Authority. It is due by the 14th of each month and is handed in at a Revenue Authority office or sent by post.
Tax on Betting Return – Guyana Revenue Authority ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
The due date for submitting this return is 14 th of every month (or the next business day if the 14 th is a holiday). Nevertheless, you are encouraged to file as early as possible. This return must be submitted to the Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority at one of GRA’s offices or sites or P.O. Box 10406.
Tax on Betting Return – Guyana Revenue Authority · English -
Section 8 of the Tax Act, which deals with pool betting, forbids anyone except a business on licensed pool-betting premises to send money or coupons out of Guyana to make a bet.
Tax Act, Chapter 80:01, section 8 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
(8) No person, other than a person carrying on business on premises licensed under this section, shall send out of Guyana (whether by post or otherwise) any money or money’s worth, or any coupon or other printed or written document, in connection with, or for the purpose of making, a bet.
Tax Act, Chapter 80:01, section 8 · English -
The Government Lotteries Act makes it lawful, whatever any other Act says, for a government committee to organise and run a Government lottery with the Minister's approval.
Government Lotteries Act, Chapter 80:07, section 3 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
The provision of any other Act to the contrary notwithstanding it shall be lawful for the Government Lotteries Control Committee as hereinafter constituted, (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) with the approval of the Minister, to organise and conduct from time to time a Government lottery
Government Lotteries Act, Chapter 80:07, section 3 · English -
The Auditor General's report on the 2024 accounts shows the National Lottery running: its proceeds go to the Lotteries Commission and are spent on payments approved by Cabinet.
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENT/REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
The Lotteries Commission continued to receive proceeds from the National Lottery which were used to make payments approved by Cabinet.
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL ON THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS OF GUYANA AND ON THE ACCOUNTS OF MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENT/REGIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 · English -
Lottery money has a government body of its own. The Official Gazette of 23 October 2025 published the appointment of a board for the Lottery Control Commission, a name the Government Lotteries Act itself does not use.
Extraordinary Gazette, 23 October 2025 - Government Notice - Appointment of the Board of Directors of the Lottery Control Commission ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
Appointment of the Board of Directors of the Lottery Control Commission
Extraordinary Gazette, 23 October 2025 - Government Notice - Appointment of the Board of Directors of the Lottery Control Commission · English -
A new Gaming Authority Bill, Bill No. 12 of 2026, was published in the Official Gazette on 27 July 2026, ahead of its introduction in the National Assembly.
Extraordinary Gazette, 27 July 2026 - BILL No. 12 of 2026 – The Gaming Authority Act 2026 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
The following Bill which will be introduced in the National Assembly is published for general information.
Extraordinary Gazette, 27 July 2026 - BILL No. 12 of 2026 – The Gaming Authority Act 2026 · English -
The Bill would repeal the Gambling Prevention Act and license remote gaming. Offering remote gaming to people in Guyana without a Remote Gaming Operator Licence would be an offence, and payment firms would take a 30 per cent fee on money sent to or received from unlicensed foreign sites.
Gaming Authority Bill 2026, clauses 65, 86 and 89 ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
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The Bill was tabled in the National Assembly in July 2026 and was expected to go to a Special Select Committee for detailed examination.
Gov’t tables Gaming Authority Bill following calls from religious community for stronger gambling controls ↗ (English) checked Nov 5, 2026
The bill is expected to be referred to a Special Select Committee at the next sitting of Parliament, which will allow for a detailed examination of its provisions and provide an opportunity for further consideration of measures aimed at strengthening the regulatory framework governing the gaming industry.
Gov’t tables Gaming Authority Bill following calls from religious community for stronger gambling controls · English
Oldest source check on this page: Nov 5, 2026