New Casino Sites 2024

New Casino Sites 2024

The UK is what we call a mature market.  Not only are there hundreds of UK licensed online casinos to choose from, most players already have an account at at least one of them.  Nevertheless, many players are constantly on the lookout for new places to play and if that’s you, you’ve come to the right place!

1. What’s the difference between a slot site and an online casino?
2. Beware unregulated casinos
3. New online casinos for UK players
4. What’s happening with new casino sites in 2025?

What’s the difference between a slot site and an online casino?

The name

While one might be inclined to think that a site with “casino” in the name is definitely a casino, that is most definitely not the case! Dove Casino and Dove Slots, for example, are both Jumpman Gaming sites with exactly the same games and promotions and so is Dove Bingo.  And XL Casino has no table games of any description and is most definitely a Dragonfish slot site rather than a casino.

Conversely there are sites such as Grand Ivy which DON’T have casino in the name but are very clearly casinos.

The look and feel of the site

This can be surprisingly important.  Heart Bingo for example has all of the same games as BetVictor including an extremely comprehensive range of live casino games, but the name of the site, its design and the way it’s presented are not at all casino-like.

The nature of the welcome offer

Brands which want to be taken seriously as a casino tend to have a welcome offer that works as well for larger deposits as it does for small ones i.e. a percentage based bonus rather than a fixed number of slot spins. For example:

• Deposit £10+ get 50 spins – you only get 50 spins no matter how much you deposit
• Deposit £10+ get 100% slot bonus (up to £100) – you get £10 bonus if you deposit £10, but £100 bonus if you deposit £100

The games

Slot sites and online casinos may have largely the same games but there is a big difference in emphasis.

It’s kind of like the difference between an adult gaming centre (as you might see on the High Street) and a proper casino.  Both have slot machines, but adult gaming centres are presented more as an entertainment venue (with slot machines as the main attraction) whereas when you go to a casino, you’ll find that most people are there to gamble more seriously and the stakes are generally higher.

In this bricks and mortar example the proper casino also has many games that aren’t slot machines, and so it is with online casinos; one very important thing that they have to offer players is live casino.  And by live casino, we mean a proper selection of live casino games, not just half a dozen roulette and blackjack games and a couple of game shows.

Live casino itself is enjoying a huge boom.  Just a few years ago Evolution had cornered the market in live casino games but now, newcomers such as Ezugi and On Air Entertainment have arrived on the scene and big providers Playtech and Pragmatic Play have also gone large on live casino.  The best new casino sites have live casino games from several different providers, not just one.

The promotions

At a slot site, the promotions tend to be rather more, shall we say, frivolous than at an online casino.  It’s more about the fun of participating than about the size of the prizes.  For example, there’s the free daily tournament at Vegas Moose where you get to play 100 spins on one of their proprietary games with the chance of winning a few 10p spins (yes, there is a notional top prize of £1 million but we have not heard of it ever being won).  And at Jumpman sites, there’s the Rewards Reel which you can spin twice a day, again for the chance to win a few 10p spins.

Most online casino enthusiasts are not the slightest bit interested in a few 10p spins and won’t want to spend the time needed to participate in this sort of promotion.  So at a new online casino, the promotions are much more likely to be substantial bonuses and/or regular cashback.

Beware unregulated casinos

Under the Gambling Act 2005, it’s illegal to advertise online casinos that do not have a UK Gambling Comission licence to UK players. Nevertheless, there are many unscruplous websites that promote unregulated casinos and it may not be immediately obvious to the consumer that these casinos are not legit.

While it is not illegal to play at an unregulated casino (it’s the operator that is breaking the law rather than the players) you will have ZERO consumer protection if you do so and there is nothing to stop them serving you fake games and/or taking your money and never paying out winnings.

Luckily, there is a very simple way to check whether a casino is legit.  Simply look at the bottom of the casino’s home page for a Gambling Commission logo.  Touch or click the logo to be taken to the operator’s public register entry on the Gambling Commission website where you should find the casino listed under “Domain names”, along with all other UK facing casinos on the same licence.

Needless to say, we only feature UK regulated casinos on our website.  All of our casino listings include the name of the licence holder for quick reference, and all of our casino reviews contain further licence details including a link to the register entry, so you can check directly from our review without having to find the link on the casino website.

New online casinos for UK players

Broadly speaking, there’s two types of new online casinos that are legal to promote in the UK

New casino site on an existing licence

The advantage of signing up at this type of new online casino is that if you’ve played somewhere else on the same licence, you already know pretty much what you’re going to get in terms of lobby design, promotions, range of games, customer service etc.  This applies whether it’s a new white label casino on a well known platform such as Progress Play e.g Casinomite, or an operator like Gamesys launching a new casino on their own platform e.g. Bally Casino.

The disadvantage of signing up at a site on an existing licence is that any issues you’ve had with other sites on that licence will still be present, and you may not even be able to claim the welcome offer.  Progress Play, for example, limit you to 5 registration bonuses, 5 casino welcome bonuses and 1 sports welcome bonus across their network, and were recently in trouble with the ASA for not making that clear enough to new players.

New casino site on a new licence

A new casino site on a new licence avoids all of these issues but can be a bit of an unknown quantity.

• It’s unlikely to have as big a range of games as a site on a previously existing licence as they’ll probably be working with just a handful of games studios to start with.
• There may not be much in the way of progressive jackpots.
• It’s not unusual for new operators to exit the UK market after just a few months.

Perhaps the best compromise is to look for new casino sites on an existing licence that doesn’t have a lot of market penetration.  Spin Casino, for example, is managed by Betway along with just a few other sites and the UK version of Betano is managed by BetVictor, again with just a few other sites.  With these brands, you’re getting the reassurance of playing on a tried and tested platform that may nevertheless be new to you.

What’s happening with new casino sites in 2025?

We confidently predict that live casino is going to get even bigger in 2025, with more suppliers entering the UK market and even more new and innovative games whether they be live casino game shows or fresh twists on blackjack, roulette and other traditional casino games.  We expect crash games to continue to grow in popularity, as well, and many new titles of this type to be launched to the UK market.

There are also a few regulatory changes coming up in 2025 that will affect UK casino players and may have an impact on the number of new casino sites that are launched.

Affordability Checks

For the last few years, affordability checks have varied wildly from operator to operator, with some players being asked to supply copies of bank statements and payslips etc which they have been understandably reluctant to do. This is because while the Gambling Commission has expected operators to take action to ensure players are not gambling with money they can’t afford to lose, there has not been any detailed guidance on how to do this.  Now, we finally have some clarity.

“Light touch vulnerability checks” have come in already, starting in August 2024 and applying to players with a net deposit (i.e. loss) of £500+ in a month.  It’s similar to the sort of background check you would have to undergo if you applied for a loan, using information from credit agencies etc.  If you have a well established credit history you will not find this type of check at all intrusive and indeed, the idea is that they should be “frictionless”.  From February 2025, the threshold is going to be lowered from £500 to £150.

“Enhanced financial risk assessments” for bigger spenders are being trialled with a few operators and the idea was that these should be frictionless too, but it’s all gone very quiet on that front.

Stake Limits

Stake limits on slot games were due to start in September 2024 but because of the change in government they have been postponed and are expected to come into effect on an as yet unspecified date in 2025.  If you’re under 25, your maximum spin value will be £2.  Otherwise it will be £5 – unless you’re playing at a casino where they haven’t managed to out robust age gating in place in which case everyone will be restricted to £2.

What’s not entirely clear is exactly which games will and won’t fall under the definition of “slot game”.  We know that Slingo is going to be included and it’s possible some live casino game shows may be caught in the net as well.

Game Design Changes

It all started back in 2019 when the Gambling Commission wrote to UK licensed games providers asking them to remove the buy the bonus round feature from all UK slot games on the grounds that it encouraged potentially risky behaviour by players.

Following that, a number of game design changes on slot games were voluntarily introduced in stages by members of the industry standards body the Betting & Gaming Council (i.e. the big operators).  First came a minimum game cycle speed of 2.5 seconds and a ban on playing more than one slot game at a time in different windows at the same casino.  Then came a ban on celebration of wins that are less than stake size.

In 2021, the Gambling Commission wrote these voluntary standards into the UK licence requirements, making them compulsory and adding some further provisos, and these were the ones that players really noticed:

• No autoplay allowed
• A display showing session duration and net position

Now, these game design changes are going to be rolled out to all online casino games, taking effect in January 2025, and while slots will retain their 2.5 second minimum speed, it’s going to be 5 seconds for all other casino games.  And yes, autoplay will be banned on all online gaming products, even bingo.

Taxes

It was rumoured that the new UK government would more than double the tax on gambling transactions in the 2024 Budget, but this didn’t happen (instead, it was private jets and multimillionaire farm owners that were on the receiving end of a huge tax hike).  However, there is to be a consultation during 2025 on harmonising and consolidating tax rates for online gambling. As iGaming currently has a 21% tax rate as opposed to 15% for betting and pool betting, casino players may escape any impact.

Last updated: December 03, 2024

Sue Dawson

Creating iGaming content since 2013

Sue Dawson has been writing about (and playing) online bingo and slots since 2013, putting her unique spin on everything.  She has written pieces for iGaming industry news sites, appeared on panels at industry events and on podcasts, helped to judge industry awards and is a member of iGB Executive, an industry think tank.  In her spare time she enjoys gaming, hiking, dancing, watching motorsport and reading science fiction.

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