Home > Business > Licences and permits > Gaming in licensed premises
Gaming machines in licensed premises
Exempt gaming in licensed premises
Premises such as pubs that are licensed under the Licensing Act 2003 for sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, are automatically allowed to provide up to two category C or D gaming machines under the Gambling Act 2005.
Information on the different categories of gaming machine are provided on the Gambling Commission's website.
In order to benefit from this automatic entitlement, the holder of the relevant premises licence must tell us in writing that they intend to provide the machines and pay the a fee of £50.
If you are the holder of the alcohol premises licence and you want to make available more than two category C or D machines you must apply for an alcohol licensed premises gaming machine permit.
If you are making gaming machines available in licensed premises, you are required to comply with a code of practice, which has been drawn up by the Gambling Commission on the location and operation of machines.
Code of practice for gaming machines in clubs and licensed premises (pdf, 38 KB)
Gaming machines in licensed premises - application form (doc, 85 KB)
Gaming machines in licensed premises - guidance notes (doc, 1.1 MB)
Premises licence fees (doc, 64 KB)
For more information on permits visit the Gambling Commission website.
Exempt gaming is equal chance gaming which is generally allowed in any club or alcohol licensed premises. Such gaming should be ancillary to the purposes of the premises. Such premises are automatically allowed to provide this type of gaming, as long as certain Government rules relating to stakes and prize limits are followed.
Equal chance gaming is gaming that does not involve staking against a bank and the chances of winning are equally favourable to all participants. It includes games such as backgammon, mah-jong, rummy, kalooki, dominoes, cribbage, bingo and poker.
The Government has set both daily and weekly prize limits for exempt gaming in alcohol licensed premises, which are set out in the Gambling Commission's advice on gaming in clubs and alcohol licensed premises.
If you are allowing exempt gaming in your premises, this should be supervised by a nominated gaming supervisor and you must comply with the code of practice issued by the Gambling Commission, which can be downloaded below.
Advice on gaming in clubs and alcohol licensed premises (pdf, 60 KB)
Advice on poker in pubs (pdf, 727 KB)
Code of practice for equal chance gaming in clubs and licensed premises (pdf, 46 KB)