Online Casinos Antigua and Barbuda 2025
In our search for the best venues for online gambling in Antigua and Barbuda, we take a variety of criteria into consideration. They include factors like the game selection, bonuses for new and regular players, live-dealer platform, mobile-friendliness, legality, ease of use and many more. There are very few venues out there that can pass all our tests with flying colours, but the ones that do can be found in the table down below. Take a close look at them, as these are your very best bets if you want to enjoy playing at casino sites in Antigua and Barbuda!
Online Casinos Antigua and Barbuda 2025 with a FRESH bonuses!
About Online Casinos Antigua and Barbuda 2025 with a HUGE bonuses!
Governing Body
Licences in Antigua were originally granted under the Free Trade & Processing Act and managed by the Financial Services Regulatory Commission’s Division of Gaming (FSRC). A new licensing body, the Directorate of Offshore Gaming, was established in 1999 to licence the rising industry of online casinos. Those companies granted licences are handed the ‘Preferential Seal’ of the Directorate, meaning they have passed rigorous checks, meet fair play standards, and have a physical presence and primary gaming server on the island.
The Directorate of Offshore Gaming offers two types of licence covered by the Interactive Gaming and Interactive Wagering Regulations, which were amended in 2007, with each licence lasting exactly one year.
Interactive Gaming Licence – allows the online casino to offer casino games, with a charge of $100,000 per licence plus an additional $15,000 application fee.
Interactive Wagering Licence - allows the online bookmaker to offer take bets on sports and other events, with a charge of $75,000 per licence, plus an additional $15,000 application fee.
Once each of these licences has expired, it can be renewed for a fee of $5,000.
History as a Licensing Agent
The small Caribbean island of Antigua, along with its twin island Barbuda, was one of the first countries to react to the world of online gaming, granting licences as far back as 1994.
Antigua has run into loggerheads with American gambling legislation on occasion. According to American legislators, Antigua is prohibited from providing all online gaming services to the USA through a key law known as the Federal Wire Act. It is estimated that Antigua’s share of online gaming traffic fell from 59% in 2001 to just 7% in 2007, largely due to America’s zealous prosecutions of online gaming firms. However, Antigua had been aware of this decline, and has taken actions to counter the US stranglehold.
In what could be seen as a David vs Goliath battle, Antigua challenged America by starting a dispute resolution process with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In 2004, the WTO found in favour of the small island, declaring that “the US restrictions against online gambling violated international treaties.” America launched an unsuccessful appeal and, even after this defeat, chose not to comply with the WTO ruling. After years of objections to the WTO about America’s inaction, it handed Antigua a dangerous gift: the authorisation to suspend payments for intellectual property rights to American copyrights and trademarks, as they are protected under the WTO IP right agreement. Although this was authorised by the WTO in January 2013, Antigua have not yet used it to sanction the US and offer what opponents have dubbed “legal piracy”.
Much of Antigua’s online gaming history has been marred with its ongoing dispute with America. However, there are signs that this decade old stalemate may be drawing to a close. The Antigua and Barbuda Minister for International Trade and Foreign Affairs, Charles Fernandez, had a meeting in July 2015 with his US counterpart, Assistant US Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere John Melle. The meeting was arranged to try and pave the way towards a resolution between the two countries over the WTO case. In an official press release, the US Government described the meeting as “productive and useful.” Should a resolution be reached, Antigua may yet see its slice of the global online gaming industry rise again.
Reliability
Antigua, part of the former British colony of Antigua and Barbuda, is on the UK’s white-list of gambling jurisdictions, meaning that its licensees are permitted to advertise their services in Britain.
The Directorate takes its social responsibilities very seriously, and lists four main objectives in its commitment to keeping high standards in this area:
- To strengthen the industry’s commitment to responsible gaming and social responsibility.
- To enhance the capacity for operators to conduct business in a manner which promotes responsible gaming and the jurisdictions social responsibility commitment objectives.
- To protect consumers gaming with a site licenced in our jurisdiction that they are gaming with an operator who adheres to our regulatory and licensing objectives.
- To hold operators accountable to incorporate industry best practises with respect to responsible gaming and the delivery of gaming services in socially responsible environment.
Top betting sites for Antigua Barbuda
The Antigua Barbuda licensing body is whitelisted by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, which means operators boasting this seal, are allowed to market their services to punters in the United Kingdom. This shows how far the best betting sites have come since the early days of the Antigua and Barbuda gambling licenses regime, if the top gambling regulator in the world — the UKGC — allows its players to play with their sites.
The best online bookmakers for Antigua and Barbuda will have thousands of daily markets on a myriad of different sports, including all the ones, like the — NBA, EPL, NFL and various other leagues — that are popular in the East Caribbean. You will be able to bet on these sports, and many more, before the events start and also after they are in-play, with these in-the-running bets some of the most popular.
As a general rule at Antigua betting sites you will be able to also bet on horse racing, with these markets coming from places like the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Hong Kong. Popular bet types that you can place at horse racing betting sites include win bets, win and place, trifectas, quinellas and many more.
Another great perk of betting online from Barbuda or Antigua, is that you can do it from your mobile phone or tablet, with most online bookmakers now having downloadable apps (including those for iOS and Android), plus responsive mobile sites. Many of the bigger betting sites have told BettingPlanet.com that in trends are showing more than 50% of all bets placed are coming from mobile devices.
Antigua and Barbuda gambling laws
The two Caribbean islands Antigua and Barbuda, comprising as one country, were relatively unknown to the world, until making headlines in 2020 when Hurricane Irma devastated infrastructure. But Antigua and Barbuda are the headquarters for many online gambling operators, and the country became one of the very first jurisdictions to issue betting site licenses. While the islands have launched operators into success, we take a look at what’s available back home for the residents, plus reveal why the US owes Antigua and Barbuda millions over gambling.