The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA) is a reputable organization. There are lots of casinos registered by this regulator, despite the fact Gibraltar has high requirements for the applicants that wish to get its license. The casino should demonstrate financial fairness and viability. Moreover, only respectable casinos are able to be liсensed.
The southernmost tip of Europe is home to one of the most recognized and reputable gaming regulators in the industry. The territory of Gibraltar sits just to the north of Morocco and to the south of Spain. It’s considered a financial center due to its tax laws, and many high-class and rich Europeans call it home.
When the U.K. announced the 2005 Gambling Act, Gibraltar became part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and was officially a part of the union. This opened the doors to legitimate online gambling operations to call Gibraltar home.
They are widely considered to be one of the best regulators of online gambling and hold jurisdiction over some of the top names in the industry. Bwin, Ladbrokes, 888 Mansion Casino are just a few of the well-known names that hold a license from the GRA (Gibraltar Regulatory Authority).
Their duties include overseeing operations of any online gaming site that holds a GRA license. Thorough screening is done before any license is issued. Unlike some territories that seemingly hand them out on the corner, the GRA only allows reputable and legitimate businesses within their borders.
They also make sure all games are fair and tested to be 100% legit. More importantly, they require all who hold a Gibraltar license to have players’ funds held separate and be available at all times. We all remember the Full Tilt fiasco where players’ funds were being spent on who knows what. There is a list of rules and standards that each site must abide by and are not taken lightly.
Gaming regulators like GRA
You can go to any e-gaming regulators website and find a list of rules that are supposedly enforced, but the GRA actually follows through on them and has a strong track record of doing so. To prove their reputation, they were one of only a handful of regulators that made it on the U.K.’s “White List”. This list allows any casino that holds a license from one of their approved regulators to operate inside the U.K.
My only small complaint about the GRA is from the players perspective as they have a license term that allow their licensed operators to confiscate winnings if the player is deemed to be a bonus abuser and not be playing with “the spirit of the bonus” in mind. What this means is that should a player be clearly signing up to take advantage of a bonus with the clear intent of cashing it out and also have no intention of going on to become a bona fide customer then the operator is within their right to hold back any winnings. This should not worry any genuine player as it should never affect them but nevertheless I do not particularly agree with operators having this right as they all protect themselves from bonus abusers with playthrough requirements and in my opinion this extra right is not required.
Although the GRA has only officially been recognized as a regulator in the gaming industry since 2005, they have been doing so since 1998. To do so with no major problems further solidifies their stance on fair and safe online gaming.
At this time we would give the GRA an A for their services. Many of the top online casinos and books hold a license from the Government of Gibraltar and show it with pride. Finding a site with a license from the GRA is a safe bet.
