How we rank casinos under an Anjouan licence
The ranking is built from what each operator publishes and what the Anjouan register returns for its domain: terms, payment pages, licence entries and support answers we quoted. Affiliate payments do not move a placing, and neither does the size of a headline bonus taken on its own.
Bonuses and the terms behind them
Wagering at or below 35 times the bonus, a stated maximum bet and a game-weighting table on the terms page raise a placing. A requirement above 40 times, or a cap on winnings buried in the general terms, lowers one, because an Anjouan licence gives you nowhere independent to contest them.
Withdrawals, KYC and payout windows
A published payout window of 24 to 72 hours and a KYC list stated before the first deposit raise a placing. Document requests that appear only at the first withdrawal, or monthly withdrawal caps below the stated table limits, lower it.
Game providers and certification
Games from studios that publish RTP figures and hold their own testing certificates raise a placing. A library of unbranded titles with no RTP shown inside the game, or no named testing laboratory anywhere on the site, lowers it.
Mobile access and account controls
We weigh this criterion on what the operator states about its browser site and account tools, not on any session of our own. A placing goes up where deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion sit inside the mobile account menu and take effect at once. It goes down where those controls require an email to support, or where a limit increase applies immediately while a decrease waits.
Licence record and its status
This criterion carries the most weight here. A placing rises only when the domain the reader lands on appears in the Anjouan register as active, B2C and under the company named in the terms. A seal that opens a mere image, or a licence number registered to another domain, removes the casino from the list rather than lowering it.
Customer support and complaint handling
A written complaints procedure with a stated response deadline, and a named route to the licensing body once that procedure is exhausted, raise a placing. Live chat that cannot answer a question about the licence number, or a complaints page that ends at the operator’s own inbox, lowers it, since with no Irish regulator for casino games that inbox is often where the matter stops.
What an Anjouan gaming licence actually is
Anjouan is one of the islands of the Union of the Comoros, and its internet gaming licences are issued in the name of the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority. Since June 2023 the day-to-day administration, due diligence and compliance work for those licences has been handled by a private company, Anjouan Licensing Services Inc., which runs the portal at anjouangaming.com.
That arrangement matters more than the logo in a casino footer. When you read “licensed in Anjouan”, the body that vetted the operator is a licensing agent working under the island authority, not a national regulator with its own published case law or a statutory compensation scheme behind it.
The register has grown quickly.
One independent data set put it at 1,252 licence numbers covering 3,467 casino brands, and another verification guide counted more than 1,500 active holders when it last pulled the list, which tells you two things at once: the licence is common among sites that accept Irish players, and a single licence number frequently sits behind many brands. Those figures come from third parties rather than the authority itself, and we have not been able to confirm a current official total.
There is also a question the register cannot answer. An entry proves that Anjouan Gaming issued a licence; it does not prove that the Comoros state recognises that licence, and no national regulator stands behind it.
Where Irish law stands on online casinos
The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 set up the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, but the Act has been brought into force by commencement orders in stages, and the stage that matters for casinos has not arrived. S.I. No. 31/2026 commenced a large body of provisions on 5 February 2026, including those allowing the GRAI to grant licences and the civil and criminal enforcement framework.
The GRAI opened its portal for B2C betting applications on 9 February 2026, and the first remote betting licences took effect on 1 July 2026, the same day the old Revenue Commissioners remote bookmaker licences expired. In-person betting operators move across on 1 December 2026.
Casino games sit outside all of that. Remote gaming licences, which would cover online slots, roulette, blackjack and live dealer tables, are phased by the GRAI for 2027 to 2028, and we found no commencement order opening applications for them, nor any gaming licence on the GRAI register.
What is already in force for licensees
Some obligations bite only on those who hold a GRAI licence. From 1 July 2026, a remote gambling licensee has to verify a person’s identity and age before allowing them to register, and the complaints procedure under Part 7 of the Act, with its procedural steps set out in S.I. No. 170/2026, applies to licensees and their relevant obligations. An Anjouan casino holds no GRAI licence, so neither of those protections reaches you through it.
Until remote gaming licences are actually issued, every online casino open to Irish players runs on a licence granted somewhere else.
Why an Anjouan licence is not an Irish one
The most persistent misreading on this subject is that any licence is a licence. A foreign permit means the operator is supervised by that jurisdiction’s body under that jurisdiction’s rules, and an Anjouan permit means supervision by a licensing agent on a small island whose decisions an Irish court, the GRAI and the Irish Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman have no role in.
Because no Irish casino licence exists yet, the GRAI cannot currently act on a complaint about a casino site’s casino games, whichever licence that site holds. The difference with Anjouan lies in what is on the other side: a Malta Gaming Authority licensee is subject to an EU member state regulator, while an Anjouan licensee answers to the agent that sold it the permit.
The comparison below sets an Anjouan licence against the GRAI licence that betting operators hold today and that casino operators will need once gaming licences commence. It is a comparison of frameworks, not of individual casinos.
Anjouan internet gaming licence | GRAI licence under the 2024 Act |
|---|---|
| Issued by a private licensing agent acting for the island authority | Issued by a statutory Irish regulator |
| Public register searchable by domain, company or licence number | Public register of licensees on grai.ie |
| Complaint policy run by the licensing body itself | Statutory complaints route under Part 7 of the Act |
| No Irish age and identity check required at registration | Identity and age verified before registration |
| Available to casino operators now | Remote gaming licences not yet open for casinos |
| Recognition by the Comoros state not established by the register | Backed by Irish statute and criminal enforcement |
Withdrawals, KYC and source-of-funds requests
Most disputes with offshore casinos do not start at the deposit; they start when a player asks for money back and the operator asks for documents. Anti-money-laundering checks are legitimate, and any operator worth its licence will ask for photo identification and proof of address before releasing a sizeable withdrawal.
What separates a fair process from an unfair one is timing. Where the KYC list is published before the first deposit, you can complete it while nothing is at stake; where it surfaces only after a large win, the request can widen into a source-of-funds demand for payslips or bank statements, and the account stays frozen while it runs.
Read the withdrawal section of the terms before you register, and look for three things written in numbers: the processing window, the per-transaction and monthly caps, and any clause allowing the operator to void winnings for a breach of bonus rules. With an Anjouan casino, those written terms are close to the whole of your protection, because no Irish body can be asked to interpret them.
Card payments deserve their own note.
The 2024 Act bans the use of credit cards for gambling with Irish licensees, but that obligation attaches to GRAI licence holders, so an Anjouan casino accepting a credit card is not breaking an Irish licence condition it does not hold, and the debt you run up is still yours.
How to check an Anjouan licence yourself
A logo costs nothing to copy, and many casinos display Anjouan seals without holding any licence at all. The check takes a few minutes and is worth doing before a first deposit rather than after a first problem.
The Anjouan register can be searched by licence number, company name or operational domain, and a genuine result shows the holder’s registered name, the licence number, the licence type (B2C or B2B) and its status, which is one of active, suspended, revoked or expired. The domain field is where most counterfeits fail, because a borrowed licence number belongs to someone else’s site.
Keep in mind the authority’s own caveat: verification does not constitute an endorsement of the licence holder’s services, products or business practices, and register data is updated periodically rather than live.
Five steps to verify an Anjouan casino licence
The order of these steps matters, because the commonest counterfeit works by sending you to a convincing copy of the register through a link the casino controls.
- Step 1
Note the body and licence number
Read the casino footer and terms, and write down the exact licensing body named, the licence number and the company that operates the site. Anjouan Gaming and Gaming Control Anjouan are separate names, so record which one appears. - Step 2
Open the register by typing it
Go to the register by typing the regulator's address yourself rather than clicking the seal or a QR code. Some lookalike domains exist only to make forged certificates appear genuine. - Step 3
Search by domain, not brand name
Enter the domain you are actually using. Brand names are shared across many sites, while the domain field shows whether this particular site is covered by the licence. - Step 4
Match company, type and status
Confirm the status reads active, the type is B2C, and the company name matches the one in the casino's terms. A near match or a different company is reason to stop. - Step 5
Compare the seal with the register
Only now click the casino's seal. It has to open the same register entry you found yourself; an image, a different body or a page on the casino's own domain is a warning sign.
Where a complaint can go, and where it cannot
Start with the operator’s own complaints procedure, in writing, and keep every reply. Most licensing bodies, Anjouan included, expect that internal route to be exhausted before they will look at anything.
After that, the Anjouan licensing body publishes a complaint policy, and it is the only regulatory door an Anjouan casino has. It is not a statutory ombudsman, it does not publish a body of decided cases that you could use to judge your chances, and it cannot compel a payment the way an Irish court order could; how it handles individual cases is something we have not been able to confirm from published outcomes.
The GRAI is no help here for now.
Its Part 7 complaints function covers alleged contraventions by licensees, and an Anjouan casino is not one, so a complaint about its casino games has nowhere to land in Ireland. Your bank or card provider is a separate route for disputed transactions, and it does not depend on the casino’s licence at all.
Licence bodies seen on Irish-facing casinos
Casino sites accepting Irish players most often show a licence from Malta, Curaçao, Kahnawake or Anjouan. The table sets out who issues each one and where a player complaint goes, taken from each body’s published role rather than from any individual casino.
| Licence | Issuing body | Complaint goes to |
|---|---|---|
| Anjouan | Licensing agent for the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority | Licensing body's complaint policy |
| Malta | Malta Gaming Authority | MGA player support |
| Curaçao | Curaçao Gaming Authority | Curaçao Gaming Authority |
| Kahnawake | Kahnawake Gaming Commission | Kahnawake Gaming Commission |
When this list would change
The ranking above reflects the position while Ireland licenses betting but not casino games, and two events would reorder it.
The first is the opening of GRAI remote gaming licences. Once a casino operator can hold one, offering casino games to Irish players without it becomes a matter of Irish law rather than of preference, and a list built on Anjouan licences would need to be rebuilt around the GRAI register instead of being refreshed.
The second is a change on the Anjouan side, such as a licence moving to suspended or revoked status, or a public statement from the Comoros authorities on whether they recognise the island’s licences. Either would remove casinos from this page faster than any change in their bonuses or games, which is why the licence record carries the most weight in how we rank.
Keeping control at an offshore casino
An Anjouan casino is not bound by the Irish rules on limits and self-exclusion that apply to GRAI licensees, so the controls you get are whatever the operator chooses to offer. Set a deposit limit in the account before you play, and check whether lowering it takes effect at once while raising it waits; that asymmetry is the sign of a tool built to protect you.
Self-exclusion at one offshore brand does not carry across to its sister sites, even where they share a licence number, so exclude from each one separately or use blocking software on your devices. If gambling has stopped being something you choose, the support organisations listed below offer free and confidential help.
Before you deposit at an Anjouan casino
The figure worth carrying away from this page is not a bonus or a payout window but the date gaming licences open at the GRAI, because until then no Irish body hears casino complaints. The licence entries behind this list were last verified on 27 October 2026, and register status can change between checks. So run your own search by domain before a first deposit, read the withdrawal clause next, and only then look at the offer.
Questions about Anjouan licensed casinos in Ireland
Is it legal for me to play at an Anjouan licensed casino from Ireland?
Ireland has not yet issued any remote gaming licences, so no online casino holds an Irish licence for casino games. Betting is different: since 1 July 2026 taking online bets from Irish customers requires a GRAI licence. An Anjouan casino’s sportsbook therefore needs a GRAI betting licence, and its casino section sits outside Irish licensing entirely.
Who actually issues an Anjouan gaming licence?
Licences are issued in the name of the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority. Since June 2023, Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. has handled administration, due diligence and ongoing compliance for internet gaming licences, through the portal at anjouangaming.com.
Can the GRAI help if an Anjouan casino refuses to pay?
Not for casino games. The GRAI’s complaints function under Part 7 of the 2024 Act covers its own licensees, and no casino holds a GRAI gaming licence yet. You would rely on the operator’s complaints procedure, then the Anjouan licensing body’s complaint policy.
How do I tell whether an Anjouan licence is genuine?
Type the register’s address yourself, search by the domain you are using, and confirm the entry shows an active B2C licence under the same company named in the casino’s terms. Then check that the footer seal opens that same entry rather than an image.
Does one Anjouan licence cover several casino brands?
Often it does. Third-party counts of the register have found far more brands than licence numbers, so the brand name tells you little. The domain list attached to the licence entry is what shows whether the site in front of you is covered.
Why did an Anjouan casino ask for my bank statements?
That is a source-of-funds request, part of anti-money-laundering checks, and it usually follows a large deposit or withdrawal. It is lawful in principle. What you can judge is whether the terms disclosed it in advance and set a time limit for reviewing your documents.
Is an Anjouan licence the same as a Curaçao one?
No. They are separate jurisdictions with separate issuing bodies and registers. Curaçao licences are issued by the Curaçao Gaming Authority, while Anjouan licences come through an agent acting for the island authority. Neither gives you an Irish complaints route for casino games.
More about online casinos
When comparing these, look first at whether the domain in your browser is the one named on the register entry. A shared licence number tells you less than it seems.