RichAds advertising network team prepared a detailed guide to countries that allow online Gambling in 2026 as well as those that have partially regulated or completely banned online gambling.
The online gambling industry continues to evolve day in day out, with the increasing usage of smartphones and the availability of high-speed internet opening up new opportunities for operators to reach a vast customer base globally.
But, can the operators reach customers in every country? We are about to find that out in a few. In this article, we break down the countries where online gambling is legal, partially regulated, unregulated or illegal.
In this guide we’ll explore:
- Legal and regulated countries: Operators are allowed to obtain local licenses, while residents can legally play. Information about each contry in such regions as North America, LATAM, Europe, Oceania, Asia are included.
- Partially regulated countries: Existence of monopolies (local licensing but with restrictions), limited online gambling vertical coverage or legal frameworks are in transition.
- Grey zones (unregulated countries): Enforcement is ambiguous or minimal, a formal licensing regime for online gambling doesn’t exist and therefore operators often serve through offshore licenses.
- Countries where online gambling is illegal/banned: Online gambling is entirely prohibited (no licensing system, and operators are not allowed to legally offer online gambling services).
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Main regulatory models in online Gambling in 2026
Most countries use one of three models. For affiliates, this choice decides what is safe to promote and how stable your funnel will be.
- Ban model. A ban means online casinos and betting are illegal. Demand does not stop. It moves to offshore sites and local gray schemes. You can still see traffic in these countries, but the risk is high. You can lose domains, ad accounts, and payments fast. Refund rates and complaints are usually worse because there is no real player protection.
- Monopoly model. Means the state, or one approved company, is the only legal operator. Enforcement is usually strict. The market is simple to understand. But you get limited choice of fewer brands and fewer promo options. Products can feel outdated because there is less competition.
- Licensing model. Licensing lets private operators work if they follow local rules. This model is common because it brings taxes and control without killing competition. It is usually the best long term option for affiliates. Some markets also require local payments or local legal entities. The Malta Gaming Authority is one of the most common licensing bodies for international operators, and it focuses on governance and ongoing audits. The Gibraltar Gambling Commission licenses a smaller group of operators and is known for close oversight.
One rule helps in almost every geo. When a country is called legal, check if it is legal only for locally licensed operators. Many teams miss this and run an offshore brand in a market that looks legal on paper. That mistake gets expensive.
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North America: where Gambling is legal?
A report by Grand View Research highlights that the online gambling market in North America is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% from 2025 to 2030, with factors such as increased legalization of online gaming in different states across Canada and the United States driving this growth.
One thing though that is essential to mention is that the online gambling law in North America is fragmented. For instance, in the United States, each state sets its own online gambling rules, a structure that emerged after the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018 to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which transferred regulatory responsibility to individual states. This means that there are states such as Pennsylvania that allow full licensing for verticals like betting, poker and online casinos, while some only allow betting and others like Utah completely prohibit online gambling/iGaming.
Canada, on the other hand, has different regulations across provinces. For example, in Ontario, private operators are licensed and can serve local players, while other provinces are predominated by monopoly or state provider models.
Gambling regulations in North American countries [table]
Below is an overview to help you understand which countries in North America fully allow or restrict online gambling in 2026:
| Status | Countries/Territories/Jurisdications in: North America (U.S & Canada) |
| Legal and Regulated | New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Ontario, Quebec (accessible through Espacejeux, the government’s operated website), British Columbia, Alberta |
| Partially Regulated | Arizona, Florida, Colorado, New York, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Vermont, Washington, DC.(permits sports betting while poker and online casino status varies by state and may lack full licensing), Maine, Massachusetts(sports betting is legal but not online casinos), Illinois, Lowa, Kansas, Oregon, Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire |
| Unregulated | Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, Saskatchewan |
| Government Monopoly | Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick |
| Illegal/Banned | Wyoming, Oklahoma, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, Missouri, Idaho, Hawaii, Minnesota, Alabama, California, Alaska, Georgia, Montana, South Carolina |
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LATAM: where Gambling is legal?
Further, we have Latin America, whose fastest-growing segment in online gambling is sports betting, driven largely by Brazil, which is expected to register the highest CAGR from 2025 to 2030.
Brazil’s Law No. 14,790/2023 put the online fixed odds market under the Ministry of Finance and its SPA, so operators need formal authorization and must meet strict compliance rules, including AML controls and player identity checks.
Looking at the figures, the online gambling market in Latin America might record a revenue of $10,407.1 million by 2030 and while a number of countries in the region seem to have legalized online gambling, others are still navigating partial legalization and complex regulatory environments.
Colombia is still the most predictable LATAM setup because Coljuegos licenses and supervises online gambling under clear national rules.
Argentina is not one market, it is many markets, because regulation is provincial, and even license terms differ a lot, such as five years in the City of Buenos Aires with a possible five year extension, and 15 years in Buenos Aires Province and Córdoba.
Gambling regulations in LATAM countries [table]
| Status | Countries/Territories/Jurisdications |
| Legal and Regulated | Colombia, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua, Mexico, Belize, Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Venezuela, French Guiana, Curacao, Dominican Republic |
| Partially Regulated | Puerto Rico (Permits sports betting and some online formats and operators can serve residents under local rules), Uruguay |
| Unregulated | Bermuda, Grenada, The Bahamas, Costa Rica, Barbados, Guatemala, Haiti, Saint Martin, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Falk Islands, Paraguay |
| Government Monopoly | Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick |
| Illegal/Banned | Cuba, Martinique, Turks and Caicos Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, Chile |
Europe: where Gambling is legal?
Research shows that online gambling is estimated to account for at least 45% of Europe’s overall gambling market share by 2029. While most EU/EEA states operate licensing frameworks that allow private operators to obtain local licenses and serve residents, the scope of “legal” varies by vertical.
Countries like the United Kingdom allow major verticals like poker, sports betting and online casinos (all licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and can therefore be provided in the country by operators licensed by the commission) following the enactment of the Gambling Act 2005.
Others like France, ban online casinos but license poker and sports betting under the ANJ (the independent authority in charge of overseeing online gambling in France).
Let us have a look at what countries allow online gambling in Europe and where is gambling illegal:
Gambling regulations in Europe countries [table]
| Status | Countries/Territories/Jurisdictions |
| Legal and Regulated | United Kingdom (available UKGC licences; operators can serve local players but must adhere to the strict advertising rules), Malta (operators can obtain MGA licences to serve local and international players with presence of a strong compliance regime), Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Croatia, Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Switzerland, Moldova, Romania, Spain, Macedonia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, Portugal, Belgium (tight advertising restrictions but licences are available), Bosnia, Ireland (online operators must hold local licences), Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Herzegovina |
| Partially Regulated | Austria (monopoly control; private operators are limited), France (sports betting and poker are licensed while online casinos are prohibited), Poland (poker and casinos under state monopoly while sports betting is licensed), Turkey (restricts online gambling but allows state run betting platform-IDDAA), Cypru (permits only online betting, not online gambling in general), Finland, Liechtenstein, Norway (state monopoly) |
| Unregulated | Andorra, Kosovo, Monaco, San Marino, the Faroe Islands |
| Illegal/Banned | Albania, Iceland, Russia |
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Oceania: where Gambling is legal?
Oceania comprises various countries like New Zealand, Australia and Pacific islands such as Samoa and Fiji, among others, each with a varied legal approach surrounding online gambling. Some establish explicit online gambling rules, others maintain little law (are considered grey zones) and some enforce outright bans.
Australia: is Gambling legal or not?
Let’s take an example of Australia, where there is a strict federal ban on online casinos as per the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, making it illegal for operators to offer poker, online casino games or interactive gambling services to the residents without a license.
Additionally, the Australian Communications and Media Authority ensures that offshore gambling sites that target Australian residents without a license are actively blocked. Sports betting on the other hand, is legal but only when done via a bookmaker licensed by an Australian territory or state, while online in-play sports betting is not allowed.
New Zealand: is Gambling legal or not?
Moving on, most forms of online gambling in New Zealand are prohibited under the Gambling Act 2003. According to the New Zealand Gambling Guide Law, only the National TAB could offer certain online betting services. The residents though, are permitted to use offshore sites/ participate in gambling over the internet if the website is based overseas, since the prohibition is on remote interactive gambling and not gambling done overseas.
However, the online gambling licensing system in New Zealand looks like it might change soon, given that the government is in the last stages of implementing a licensing system for online casino gambling with a legislation titled “The Online Casino Gambling Act” expected to pass very soon. 15 licences are to be allocated by auction and providers will be able to offer online casino games including table games, poker, slot machines, virtual sports betting, blackjack and baccarat. As a result, the existing grey market in New Zealand will end as only providers who’ve applied for a licence will be allowed to conduct online casino gambling, marking a major regulatory shift.
Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia: is Gambling legal or not?
Other countries across Oceania (outside New Zealand and Australia) show a wide variety of regulatory clarity.
For instance, Fiji permits online gambling even though it must be licensed by Fijian authorities for operators looking to offer online gambling services within the jurisdiction.
Vanuatu has legislated for online gambling through the Interactive Gaming Act 2000, hence creating one of the most permissive regulatory frameworks in Oceania.
All this is to show you that online gambling in Oceania varies significantly from country to country and is therefore just as nuanced as in other regions such as Asia and Europe.
Gambling regulations in Oceania countries [table]
| Status | Countries/Territories/Jurisdictions |
| Legal and Regulated | Fiji, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, French Polynesia |
| Unregulated | Tonga, Nauru, Palau, Kiribati, East Timor, Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Samoa (partial) |
| Illegal/Banned | Australia, Tuvalu, Samoa (certain legal limitations apply) |
Asia: where Gambling is legal?
The change of customer preferences and increased availability of online gaming platforms have contributed to the significant growth of the online gambling market in Asia and local regulations have been influential in the development of online gambling in Asian countries. For example, while online gambling is legal in the Philippines, it comes with heavy restrictions with only PAGCOR-licensed operators allowed to offer online gambling services to the residents under strict monitoring and compliance.
Other factors that have influenced the growth of online gambling in Asia include increased disposable income, increased rate of internet penetration in the region and the rising middle-class population in many Asian countries, leading to a growing demand for online gambling services.
However, while the online gambling market continues to experience a consistent growth in Asia, with its value expected to surge to $72.81 billion by 2030, some forms of online gambling, including poker, appear to be a gray area in some countries like Hong Kong while other countries like China and Vietnam have completely banned online gambling.
Areas like Thailand largely prohibit online gambling (with online sources showing that the government started an operation to crack down on large-scale networks of illegal online gambling). However, residents still find ways to gamble on legal and licensed websites in other countries like the UK and the Philippines.
In addition, online gambling is prohibited in Japan under the Japanese Penal Code. The Anti-Gambling Act, amended in September 2025, now prohibits presenting websites that offer access to illegal online gambling, including online casinos to the general public (unspecified persons in Japan).
Gambling regulations in Asia countries [table]
| Status | Countries/Territories/Jurisdictions |
| Legal and Regulated | India, The Philippines (operating licenses are granted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation which also oversees the regulation of the online gambling sector serving offshore markets), Georgia (licenses can be linked to land-based operations; all servers and IT infrastructure must be based within Georgia), Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan |
| Unregulated | Mongolia |
| Illegal/Banned | China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, South Korea, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Japan, Israel, Laos, the Maldives, Qatar, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Yemen, Tajikistan, Oman, North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan |
Conclusion
It is 2026 and more countries are gradually aligning their online gambling laws hence boosting the market growth, but even so, it’s important to note that the laws are nuanced across regions. Some countries operate fully licensed frameworks for online poker, casinos and betting, while others entirely prohibit operators offering online gambling services. Thus, understanding where online gambling is legal in 2026 is vital, especially if you are a media buyer, an operator or an affiliate.
The experts at RichAds ad network carefully compiled the following list of countries where gambling is legal, unregulated, illegal and partially regulated in 2026. RichAds is an advertising network widely used by media buyers as well as affiliates targeting different markets and a platform that mostly supports innovative placements such as Telegram mini app ads and flexible Push, Pop ad formats.
What is RichAds?
Ad network for telegram ads,
high quality push and popunder ads,
domain redirect, native and display traffic source,
buy push ads at $0.005 (CPC), pop ads at $0.5 (CPM),
domain ads costs start from $1.5 (CPM), native ads — from $0.001 (CPC),
ad network offers large volumes of traffic in more than 200 geos from Tier 3 to Tier 1.
FAQ
Where is online gambling illegal?
Online gambling is illegal in countries like Australia, Japan, China, Albania, Russia, Vietnam, Singapore, Syria, Yemen, Indonesia, Cuba, and Utah, among others, where no licensing framework exists. At RichAds advertising network, we ensure affiliates get compliant traffic solutions while avoiding targeting the restricted markets.
What are the main regulations for legal online gambling?
Legal online gambling requires operator licensing, customer protection measures, advertising compliance, responsible gambling systems and AML/KYC procedures. RichAds advertising network tracks these rules across markets and helps affiliates align targeting and creatives with the compliance basics before a Gambling ads campaign goes live.
Can affiliates run campaigns in all legal markets?
No, affiliates may not always run campaigns in all legal markets because even in the regulated markets, the advertising conditions can vary significantly. RichAds advertising network team helps affiliates choose compliant GEOs and ad formats so they do not waste traffic on markets that look legal but have tight ad restrictions. For example, online sports betting is legal in Australia, but online gambling advertising is heavily restricted.
How to check if online gambling is legal in a country?
Look online for the official gambling legislation of that country/check the country’s online gambling laws either via the national parliament website, official government gazette or even the ministry of justice or follow regulatory updates via industry-focused traffic platforms such as RichAds advertising network which works closely with licensed operators. You can also identify or consult the country’s official gambling regulator (examples include MGA, UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), KSA and ANJ).
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