What counts as online gambling under the Gambling Control Act, 2025

Online gambling, in Kenyan law, is gambling you join through remote communication and the internet. Section 2 of the Gambling Control Act, 2025 defines it as "any form of gambling in which persons participate by the use of remote communication and on the internet". An app bet, a casino game on a website and an online lottery entry all fall inside it, and each needs one of the three online gambling licences.

The words the definition rests on

Gambling itself means "the playing of a game of chance for prize winning", in the same section 2. That definition expressly includes lottery betting, prize competitions and media promotions with prizes.

A game of chance, section 2 adds, includes a game of chance and skill combined but not an athletic game or sport. Wagers on a sport are caught instead by the definition of a bet, which covers a stake on any sport, game, race or other event.

Betting, casino and lottery online

Section 67(1) names the three online products: an online bookmakers licence, an online lottery licence and an online casino licence. An online bookmaker, under section 2, carries on betting by remote communications "including virtual games, virtual sports". A casino can be an "approved virtual or online platform or a site".

The Act also deals with mobile play. Section 68(7) requires a holder of a mobile online gambling, lottery or betting licence to give the Authority details of network connectivity with two links to mobile operators. Under section 69, an online gambling transaction begins when a player deposits money into a gaming account and ends when the player withdraws it.

One example

A bettor in Kisumu opens a licensed operator's app and places KES 50 on a football match. The bet travels by remote communication over the internet, so section 2 treats it as online gambling. The online minimum in section 71(1), the account rule in section 72(1) and the identity, location and age checks in regulation 82 of the 2026 Conduct of Gambling Operations Regulations all apply to it.

Why the label matters

Section 28(1) bars anyone from offering a gambling activity that is not licensed under the Act. Section 36(3) requires an online licensee to display its licence on its platform, and regulation 41(c) requires geolocation technology that blocks access from prohibited locations, the check described in why a betting site asks for your location.

What the definition means for you as a bettor, licensed or not, is set out in whether online betting is legal in Kenya. The structure of the whole statute is in the Gambling Control Act, 2025 explained for bettors.