Online gambling in Kazakhstan: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Kazakhstan?

Under the Law on Gambling Business of 2007, casinos and slot halls may operate only in designated zones in the Almaty and Akmola regions, while bookmakers and totalizators are licensed nationwide for ten years and may accept bets through electronic cash desks on .KZ or .ҚАЗ domains. Internet casinos and electronic casinos are prohibited, and foreign bookmaker sites without a Kazakh licence are unlawful and blocked. Every bet and payout must pass through the Unified Accounting System run by a state-owned operator, players must be 21 and identified, and since 2024 and 2025 betting advertising is limited to gambling zones, operators' own sites, sports venues and sports media. Operators pay a fixed gambling tax per electronic cash desk, corporate income tax and, since 27 March 2026, a 3.3% deduction from every stake.

Partially regulated: Some verticals are licensed (usually betting); others are prohibited or unaddressed.

Who regulates gambling in Kazakhstan?

• Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MTS) — Authorized body for gambling: issues ten-year licences, maintains the list of persons restricted from gambling, monitors internet resources for unlicensed casinos and bookmakers and refers domains for blocking
• Unified Accounting System Operator (state-owned LLP) (ESU) — Runs the Unified Accounting System through which all bets, payments and payouts of bookmakers and totalizators must be processed and which screens restricted persons

Kazakhstan gambling licence: how it works

Law No. 219-III of 12 January 2007 On Gambling Business divides the market into gambling establishments, meaning casinos and slot halls that may operate only in zones designated by the Government, and betting, meaning bookmakers and totalizators licensed for ten years by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. A bookmaker licence covers retail and electronic cash desks, so online betting is legal for a Kazakh licensee whose site is registered on a .KZ or .ҚАЗ domain and placed on tax registration. The hardware and software complex must run in a fiscal regime with its server in Kazakhstan, register and identify every bettor before a bet is accepted, and process all payments only through the Unified Accounting System. Applicants must hold mandatory reserves per licence expressed in monthly calculation indices, and persons with unspent convictions may not own or control an operator. There is no licence for internet casinos, electronic casinos or online poker.

What an applicant needs

• Kazakh legal entity licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for bookmaking or totalizator activity, ten years per licence
• Mandatory reserves for each licence, set in monthly calculation indices, as security for payouts
• Electronic cash desk registered on a .KZ or .ҚАЗ domain and placed on tax registration; server of the hardware-software complex in Kazakhstan in fiscal mode
• Integration with the Unified Accounting System for all bets, payments and payouts, with contracts with the ESU operator and a payment organization
• Registration and identification of every bettor before accepting bets, with checks against the restricted-persons list and the Unified Register of Debtors
• Owners and managers free of unspent convictions; no ownership by prohibited persons under Article 12 of the law

Gambling taxes in Kazakhstan

• Operators: Gambling business tax per object per month: 3,000 monthly calculation indices for a bookmaker's electronic cash desk, 4,000 for a totalizator's electronic cash desk, 300 per retail cash desk, 1,660 per casino table and 60 per slot machine, plus corporate income tax; since 27 March 2026 bookmakers and totalizators also transfer 3.3% of every accepted stake to a single operator for sport, the National Olympic Committee fund, the Qazaqstan Halqyna fund and the Unified Accounting System (2026).
• Players: Winnings are income of the individual and subject to individual income tax withheld at source by the operator as tax agent under the Tax Code.
• Also: The 3.3% stake deduction is split 45% to sport development, 21% to the National Olympic Committee, 21% to the Qazaqstan Halqyna public fund and 13% to running the Unified Accounting System. Tax rates are recalculated from the monthly calculation index in force on the first day of each quarter.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Since the 2024 amendments betting advertising is restricted in most media, and the law signed in April 2025 bans it on online platforms and by messages to mobile devices. Advertising is allowed only within gambling zones, on the operator's official website, inside sports facilities during sporting events and in sports-themed media, and may contain only the operator's name, trademark elements, address, website and licence details.

Responsible gaming

Participation is prohibited for anyone under 21, for persons on the list of those restricted from gambling (self-restriction from six months to ten years via the authorized body, or on a court decision on legal incapacity), for debtors in the Unified Register of Debtors and, since 2025, for persons sentenced to restriction of freedom or given suspended sentences. Restrictions also apply to civil servants and military personnel. Rules and addiction warnings must be displayed on premises and websites.

Identity and age verification

Bettors are registered and identified through the hardware-software complex before any bet, and the Unified Accounting System must refuse payments to or from restricted persons; casinos in certain zones admit only foreign citizens and staff. Operators are subject to the AML law.

Payments

All cash and cashless payments between bettors and bookmakers or totalizators, including electronic money, and all payouts must pass through the Unified Accounting System, whose operator is registered with the National Bank or holds a banking licence and keeps its servers in Kazakhstan. Cards, bank transfers and mobile payments are used in practice; crypto is not a permitted payment method.

Notable restrictions

• Internet casinos and electronic casinos are prohibited
• Land-based casinos and slot halls only in the designated gambling zones in the Almaty and Akmola regions
• Online betting only on .KZ or .ҚАЗ domains through the Unified Accounting System
• Foreign bookmaker sites without a Kazakh licence are unlawful and referred for blocking
• Minimum age 21; bans for self-restricted persons, debtors and persons under suspended sentences
• Betting advertising banned online and on mobile devices; allowed only in zones, on operators' sites, at sports venues and in sports media

Kazakhstan iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate; the Ministry does not publish GGR. The Government's 2026 decision to earmark 3.3% of every stake for sport indicates a betting handle large enough to fund national programs.

Betting is predominantly mobile through bookmakers' apps, all of which settle through the Unified Accounting System.

Olimpbet is the largest domestic bookmaker; other licensed brands include the Kazakh subsidiaries of international groups operating on .KZ domains. Casino operators are concentrated in the Konaev and Burabay zones.

Timeline: how Kazakhstan got here

1. 2007-01Law No. 219-III On Gambling Business adopted; casinos and slot halls confined to designated zones
2. 2020-07Law 356-VI introduces the Unified Accounting System, the .KZ domain rule for electronic cash desks and the age limit of 21
3. 2024-07Law 116-VIII restricts betting advertising, creates the self-restriction list and bans debtors from gambling
4. 2025-01Government creates the state-owned Unified Accounting System Operator LLP under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports
5. 2025-04President signs amendments banning betting advertising online and on mobile devices and barring persons under suspended sentences
6. 2026-01New Tax Code (No. 214-VIII of 18 July 2025) in force with per-object gambling tax rates
7. 2026-03Government Resolution No. 167 sets a 3.3% deduction from every stake, effective 27 March 2026

Outlook

Policy is moving toward tighter control rather than liberalization: the state now owns the settlement layer, advertising is confined to sports venues and operators' own sites, and the 3.3% stake deduction adds to fixed taxes. Proposals to raise the betting age or to license online casinos have not progressed. Operators should expect data-driven enforcement through the Unified Accounting System and continued blocking of unlicensed domains.

Launching in Kazakhstan with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). Only a Kazakh licensee may take bets from residents, and only through the state Unified Accounting System, so the operator's Kazakh company holds the bookmaker licence and runs a sportsbook-only brand on GameBridge; GameBridge holds no Kazakh licence and casino content cannot be offered to Kazakhstan.

A Kazakh brand on GameBridge is a sportsbook-first deployment on the operator's .KZ domain with Kazakh and Russian as site languages, a KZT wallet and geo-controls that admit only identified residents aged 21 or over who clear the restricted-persons and debtor checks. Casino, live casino and poker content is switched off for Kazakhstan. The wallet routes every deposit, stake and payout through the operator's Unified Accounting System connection and payment organization, records the 3.3% stake deduction and withholds individual income tax on winnings. The hardware-software complex is hosted at the operator's premises in Kazakhstan in fiscal mode, and the promotions and advertising tooling is restricted to the operator's own site.

• Sportsbook-only configuration with casino and poker content disabled
• Kazakh and Russian site languages with a KZT wallet
• Age-21 identification with restricted-persons and debtor-register checks
• Unified Accounting System settlement integration on request
• Automated 3.3% stake deduction accounting and winnings-tax withholding
• Server deployment in Kazakhstan in fiscal mode
• Advertising and promotions limited to the operator's own website

Football, live and esports betting make up the licensed online product; GameBridge's sportsbook covers the Kazakh Premier League and the international schedule, while slots, live casino and GameBridge Studios titles remain excluded for Kazakhstan.

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 of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Gambling Business No. 219-III (unofficial translation, as amended) — Adilet legal information system, accessed 2026-09-11
• Закон Республики Казахстан «Об игорном бизнесе» (с изменениями по состоянию на 12.08.2026) — Paragraf, accessed 2026-09-11
• Постановление Правительства РК от 12 марта 2026 года № 167 об отчислениях от ставок — Paragraf, accessed 2026-09-11
• Налоговый кодекс РК, статья 607 – Ставки налога на игорный бизнес — Kodeksy-kz, accessed 2026-09-11
• Tokayev signs amendments to law on bookmakers — Tengrinews, accessed 2026-09-11
• Kazakhstan Launches the Unified Accounting System Operator for the Gambling Industry — SBC Eurasia, 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.