Licenses and supervision

01Two different worlds

There are two types of game offerings a Danish player can encounter. One is licensed by Spillemyndigheden, pays Danish gambling tax, markets under Danish rules and is connected to ROFUS. The other operates under an international licence issued outside Denmark and is not subject to Danish supervision.

The casinos mentioned here generally belong to the other group. We say that plainly because the difference has practical consequences that won't be apparent from a nice front-page banner.

02The licences you most often encounter

Curaçao is the most widespread. It is relatively easy to obtain, covers a wide game selection and imposes requirements such as anti-money laundering controls and player verification – but the supervision is lighter than what you know from the larger European regimes.

Anjouan is a newer licence that some operators have started to use. Tobique is also appearing increasingly. Malta sits at the other end of the scale: more extensive requirements for the operator, more documentation, and supervision with real sanctioning powers. If you encounter a Maltese licence, the requirements placed on the operator are generally stricter than with a Curaçao licence.

We only state which licence an operator claims to have, and we never reproduce a licence number we couldn't find on the operator's own site. If the licence is not stated, we write that it is not stated — that in itself is information enough to be cautious.

03The most important caveat: ROFUS does not apply

If you have excluded yourself in ROFUS, that exclusion stops you at Danish licence holders. It does not stop you at an internationally licensed casino, because they are not connected to the registry and do not check it.

This is not a technical detail. It means that whatever tool you may have started using to keep yourself away from gambling does not work here. If you are registered in ROFUS, the recommendation is clear: stay away from these pages and instead use blocking software on your own device. Help is described on our responsible gambling page.

04What you can check yourself in five minutes

Scroll to the bottom of the casino's front page. It should state who the operator is and which license is being used. Click the license badge — with reputable providers it leads to a verification page at the licensing authority where the status can be checked. If the badge goes nowhere, it's a bad sign.

Then read the terms for withdrawal and verification, not the bonus text. That's where conflicts arise. Check where disputes must be brought, whether there is a payout cap per week or month, and what documentation is required before funds are sent out.

05What we don't claim

We do not claim that an international licence makes a casino unsafe, nor do we claim that it makes it safe. The licence sets out which minimum rules the operator has committed to and who you can complain to. The rest is decided by how the operator actually behaves when a payout becomes large.

We don't invent company names, addresses or registration numbers to make a review look more reputable. If nothing is stated, nothing is stated.