Online gambling in Egypt: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Egypt?

Egyptian law treats gambling as prohibited for Egyptians: the Penal Code criminalizes it, the Civil Code of 1948 voids gambling and betting contracts (Articles 739–740), and Article 24 of Law No. 8 of 2022 on hotel and tourism establishments allows gambling only by non-Egyptians in establishments designated by the competent minister, who sets a royalty of up to half of gambling revenue. Lotteries need a licence from the Ministry of Social Solidarity under Law No. 93 of 1973. Online gambling has no licensing regime and no lawful operator, and in 2026 the state moved from tolerance to enforcement: the head of parliament's communications committee announced in February that the telecoms regulator and the media council were blocking most betting applications, and in May the government said it was preparing Cybercrime Law amendments that name electronic gambling as an offense with penalties up to life imprisonment for organized networks.

Prohibited: Online gambling is illegal for operators and players and is enforced.

Who regulates gambling in Egypt?

• Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) — Designates the hotel casinos in which non-Egyptians may gamble, sets their conditions and royalties under Law No. 8 of 2022
• National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) — Telecoms regulator implementing the 2026 blocking of online betting websites and applications
• Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) — Licenses lotteries and charitable draws under Law No. 93 of 1973

Egypt gambling licence: how it works

There is no Egypt online gambling licence. The only licensed gambling is land-based: the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities designates hotel casinos that may admit non-Egyptian passport holders, and Law No. 8 of 2022 punishes gambling in breach of Article 24 with fines of EGP 50,000–500,000, doubled with imprisonment of six months to a year for repeat offenses, plus administrative closure. Lotteries and raffles need a Ministry of Social Solidarity licence under Law No. 93 of 1973. Nothing authorizes sports betting, online casino or poker for residents, and parliament's direction since 2025 has been toward explicit criminalization rather than licensing: a private member's bill in January 2025 proposed prison terms and fines for agents, operators and payment aggregators, and the government's own Cybercrime Law amendments announced in May 2026 would go further. A foreign operator has no application to make and no lawful basis to accept Egyptian residents.

What an applicant needs

• Hotel casinos need designation by the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities and may admit non-Egyptians only (Law No. 8 of 2022, Article 24)
• Casino royalties are set by ministerial decision at up to one-half of gambling revenue
• Lotteries and raffles need a Ministry of Social Solidarity licence under Law No. 93 of 1973
• No authority licenses online gambling, sports betting or poker for residents

Gambling taxes in Egypt

• Operators: Hotel casinos pay a royalty of up to one-half of gambling revenue set by the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, plus ordinary corporate taxes; no tax regime exists for online operators because none may operate.
• Players: None published for the foreigner-only casinos; Egyptians may not gamble.
• Also: The January 2025 private member's bill proposed fines of EGP 1–5 million for agents and EGP 5–10 million for operators of online betting; the government has said it is preparing its own text rather than adopting that bill.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

No lawful advertising of online gambling exists. Betting apps have been removed from app stores at the committee's request since September 2024, and the proposed Cybercrime Law amendments target sponsors, promoters and agents of betting platforms.

Responsible gaming

Not applicable outside the foreigner-only casinos, which operate under ministerial conditions; the 2026 legislative push cites gambling addiction and household losses as its rationale.

Identity and age verification

Casinos verify a foreign passport at entry. Banks apply Central Bank of Egypt AML rules, and lawmakers have said the new framework will address the payment channels that fund online betting.

Payments

No payment provider may lawfully process online gambling transactions for residents. Casinos operate for foreign visitors; card schemes and mobile wallets decline gambling merchant codes and the proposed law would penalize payment aggregators serving betting platforms.

Notable restrictions

• Egyptian citizens may not gamble; casinos admit non-Egyptians only (Law No. 8 of 2022, Article 24)
• Gambling in breach of Article 24: fine of EGP 50,000–500,000, with six months to a year in prison and double fines for recidivism
• Gambling and betting contracts are void under Civil Code Articles 739–740; losses can be reclaimed within three years
• Unlicensed lotteries are prohibited under Law No. 93 of 1973
• Online betting websites and apps have been blocked by the NTRA and the Supreme Council for Media Regulation since February 2026

Egypt iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate. Lawmakers said in 2026 that foreign companies dominate online betting in Egypt but published no figures; hotel casino revenue is not disclosed by the ministry.

Egypt's online betting problem is app-led, which is why the 2026 enforcement began with app-store removals and NTRA blocking rather than venue raids.

Some twenty hotel casinos serve foreign visitors under Ministry of Tourism designation; no licensed online operator exists and foreign sites are being blocked.

Timeline: how Egypt got here

1. 1948Civil Code Articles 739–740 void gambling and betting contracts, excepting authorized lotteries
2. 1973Law No. 93 of 1973 requires a Ministry of Social Affairs licence for any lottery
3. 2022Law No. 8 of 2022 on hotel and tourism establishments confines casino gambling to non-Egyptians (Article 24)
4. 2024-09A major betting app is removed from Egyptian app stores at the request of parliament's communications committee
5. 2025-01Private member's bill proposes prison terms and multi-million-pound fines for online betting operators, agents and payment aggregators
6. 2026-02Committee chair announces NTRA and media council blocking of most online betting applications
7. 2026-05Government says it is preparing Cybercrime Law amendments that explicitly criminalize online betting, with life sentences for organized networks

Outlook

The Cybercrime Law amendments had not been scheduled for parliamentary debate as of late June 2026; if enacted in the form described by the committee chair, Egypt would have one of the region's toughest online betting regimes, with liability for operators, local agents, promoters and payment facilitators alongside the existing blocking campaign. Requirements for platforms to appoint a local legal representative are also planned. No proposal to license online gambling exists.

GameBridge and Egypt

Not served by GameBridge. Egypt prohibits gambling for its citizens, licenses only foreigner-only hotel casinos, has no online licence and is criminalizing online betting explicitly, so GameBridge brands exclude Egypt by default; this page exists so compliance teams can verify the position quickly.

Egypt is on the default exclusion list of every GameBridge brand: geo-controls block Egyptian IP ranges and registrations, Egyptian identity documents are rejected at onboarding, and the Egyptian pound is not offered as a wallet currency. The Arabic site language remains available for brands in other markets where the operator's counsel has confirmed that residents may be served. Compliance teams can use this page to track the 2026 blocking campaign and the pending Cybercrime Law amendments. GameBridge offers no configuration that targets players in Egypt.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Law No. 8 of 2022 Regarding Hotel and Tourism Establishments (English translation), Article 24 — Andersen Egypt, accessed 2026-09-11
• Gambling laws in Egypt — CMS Expert Guide to gambling laws in Africa — CMS, accessed 2026-09-11
• قانون رقم 93 لسنة 1973 بنظام اليانصيب (Law No. 93 of 1973 on lotteries) — Lawyer Egypt, accessed 2026-09-11
• Egypt to shut down online gambling apps: MP — Egypt Independent, accessed 2026-09-11
• Egypt parliament moves to criminalise online betting — iGB, accessed 2026-09-11
• Egypt set to strengthen action on gambling offences — iGaming Expert, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.