Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA)

Why this is a Tier 3 — Caution licence

We rank Curaçao as caution tier — meaning "licensed, but verify everything." Historically a Curaçao licence was cheap, fast to obtain, and issued through a chain of master-licence holders that sublicensed operators with very light oversight, which gave players little practical recourse when things went wrong. The 2024 reform under the LOK (Landsverordening op de Kansspelen) is a genuine step up: the Curaçao Gaming Authority now licenses operators directly and issues a verifiable per-domain certificate with a digital seal. But the new regime is young and its enforcement track record is still thin compared with tier-1 regulators. So a valid Curaçao seal proves the domain is registered with the CGA — not that the operator will pay fairly or resolve a dispute the way a UKGC or MGA operator must.

How it operates

Under the LOK, the CGA licenses operators directly and issues per-domain certificates carrying a verifiable digital seal — the cert.cga.cw / cert.gcb.cw links you can open from our individual licence-check pages. This replaces the older master/sublicence model, where a handful of master licensees passed licences down a chain. The Authority sets conditions and is building out its supervision and complaints function as the new framework beds in.

What protection does this licence give players?

If something goes wrong

Start by complaining to the casino in writing and keeping every record. Verify the domain's certificate using the seal link on our licence-check page for that casino — if the seal doesn't validate, that is itself a serious red flag. Under the reformed framework you can raise a complaint with the CGA, but because the regime is new, do not rely on it the way you would on UK or Maltese dispute resolution. For caution-tier sites, our own review and blacklist are often the most practical guide to whether an operator actually pays.