Gambling Laws in Kenya

Gambling in Kenya is legal in all of its variety. Within the Kenyan gambling legislation, the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act from 1966 and its revised version from 2018 are considered to be the main regulatory acts of all gambling activities in the country. Thus, according to this act all forms of land-based gambling are legal in Kenya. Online gambling is also considered to be legal. The regulatory body of the land-based activities in the country is Betting Control and Licensing Board. The legal functioning of the online gambling sector is also supervised by the same body. Beside its function as supervisor, the Betting Control and Licensing Board is the official body which grants licenses to all Kenyan casinos, sportsbooks, or other types of gambling providers, brick and mortar as well as online.  According to Kenyan gambling laws minors, under 18 years of age are prohibited to participate in gambling activities.

Is Online Gambling Legal in Kenya? Yes, most forms of online gambling are legal in Kenya.

Online Casinos in Kenya

There are several licensed land-based casino operators in Kenya, as of November 2018, but none of them has launched an  online casino in Kenya, licensed under the laws of this country. Casino Flamingo and Casino Finix operate two of the biggest casinos in the country, regularly featuring various casino tournaments. The online casino sector is currently not very developed with online sportsbooks being the main actors in the field by offering special casino sections within their sports betting portals. One such online casino is the Supabets Casino, considered to be among the most popular internet casino sites in Kenya.

Online Poker in Kenya

Poker in Kenya is a very popular pastime, with most of the casinos regularly offering attractive poker tournaments. Regarding online poker, however, there are no specific Kenyan online poker laws. Consequently, there are no specialized, licensed, online poker sites in Kenya, as of November 2018. However, online poker can still be played on some of the foreign online casino sites accessible from the country.

Online lottery in Kenya

The Kenyan online lottery laws, are mainly derived from the articles of the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act from 2016. According to this act all lotto and online lotto games are legal in Kenya. The Pambazuka National Lottery, is one of the most popular charity lotteries organized in Kenya. However, lotto tickets for their games can only be bough through their land-based agents, as online lottery in Kenya is still missing. Another possibility to play lotto in Kenya is to participate in the SportPesa Pambazuka Lottery ran by Bradley Ltd. This lottery has opportunity to be play through an SMS too.

Online bingo in Kenya

There are no specific Kenyan online bingo laws. Therefore, bingo is considered to be rather unregulated in the country. Thus, as of November 2018, there are no specialized sites for online bingo in Kenya. Bingo rooms, licensed elsewhere, can easily be accessed from the country.

Online sports betting in Kenya

Online sportsbook sites in Kenya are legal and highly popular. The regulation of the betting sector in the country is also supervised by the Betting Control and Licensing Board. Any supplier of online betting opportunities on the Kenyan market must obtain a proper license by the Board. SportPesa, Betway and Supabets, sportsbooks which operates in several African countries, are considered to offer some of the most prestigious internet sportsbook sites in the country as well as on the continent. The sites provides a wide variety of possibilities for betting such as fixed odd betting, live betting, totalizator games etc. Beside the possibility to access the site through personal computers, a special app is provided for betting on mobile devices too. Foreign internet sportsbook sites are actively being blocked by the authorities.

Online daily fantasy sports in Kenya

Online DFS sites in Kenya do not have a legally regulated status. There is an ongoing debate on the status of this type of game, but considering the legality of online sports betting in the country it is very probable that internet Daily Fantasy Sports would soon receive a legal status in Kenya.