Preface

Two months ago, the UAE officially issued its first lottery license, marking a significant step towards the legalization of gambling in the UAE and Islamic countries.

The UAE Gaming and Lottery Authority (GCGRA) stated that a company named The Game LLC will operate under UAE Lottery. The Game LLC is a "commercial gambling operator specializing in gambling development, lottery operations, and related content."

The GCGRA has not yet specified when or in what form the lottery may start, leaving more speculation for the market.

PASA has researched many national gambling markets, and those familiar with gambling culture should know that in countries where Islamic law is the primary legislative basis, gambling is prohibited.

In the past, gambling activities in the UAE were also prohibited by Islamic law. However, the UAE has rapidly established federal agencies to regulate the gambling industry over the past year, also giving many operators a glimpse of entering the Islamic market.

According to local media reports, by 2027, gambling revenue in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to double from 2021, reaching $6 billion.

In the foreseeable future, as international operators flood in, the UAE may soon fully open up gambling. At that time, the surrounding seven emirates will also decide whether to allow the legalization of gambling.

By this opportunity, PASA will evaluate the most popular online gambling platforms for players in the United Arab Emirates.

To meet the needs of users in this special country, these platforms are eager to provide an incredible seamless and user-friendly experience, using all their tricks.

Some online casinos ensure unparalleled accessibility for players in the region by offering extreme localization, such as betting in local currency Dirham and providing Arabic customer support.

Below, PASA evaluates eight of the hottest online gambling sites in the UAE, hoping to provide all the information needed for global operators to enter the exciting UAE online casino market in this comprehensive guide.

Top Eight UAE Online Casino Platforms

1.BetOnline

BetOnline is an online casino highly esteemed by UAE players, thriving since its establishment in 2004. As one of the oldest and most popular online casinos in the United Arab Emirates, it has attracted a large number of players over the years.

BetOnline features a stylish modern design and a user-friendly interface, dazzling players with a range of engaging games and enticing promotions, ensuring a top-notch gaming experience.

Its acclaim comes first from offering a wide variety of games to cater to different gaming preferences.

As the most widely followed and largest betting type, sports betting is prominently displayed on the homepage.

However, in addition to this, live dealer games, as well as a variety of slot machines and specialty games, are the most competitive parts of the platform.

Most importantly, BetOnline has a dedicated live and video poker section, making it an all-around choice for casino enthusiasts. The importance of live video poker for players in the Arab region is partly based on the region's idol worship.

We know that Saudi Arabia has recently invested heavily in the football league, bringing famous stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar to the league, among whom Neymar is a seasoned Texas Hold'em player.

In the months he was injured, he participated in an online Texas Hold'em tournament and won the runner-up.

The Arab region's enthusiasm for football and the deepening love for Texas Hold'em make BetOnline the hottest gambling game platform locally.

Apart from the variety of games, what sets BetOnline apart from its competitors is its range of outstanding special offers.

Players can enjoy many promotional activities, such as return bonuses, cashback, VIP programs, etc., which are innovative parts of the platform's welcome plan. After all, many players are not loyal to any platform; as long as they find a more favorable game option, they will flock to the platform.

And in fact, BetOnline's stacked promotions, as long as the proportions are controlled properly, do not affect its profitability.

2.Bovada

Bovada is a platform designed for sports betting. The company was launched in 2011, headquartered in Costa Rica, and operates under the license of the Curacao Gaming Control Board.

This online casino focuses on providing a large selection of sports betting options, including traditional sports and esports. The esports section is also very popular in the Arab region.

Just two months ago, Saudi Arabia hosted the world's first E-sports World Cup EWC, attracting many local and global viewers.In recent years, the Middle East's investment in the esports industry has exceeded tens of billions of dollars, showing that esports is very popular locally.

Moreover, due to the global nature of sports betting, there are matches happening all around the world at all times, so Bovada, to better solve user pain points, provides round-the-clock customer service support for platform users, also making Bovada the first choice for enthusiastic players.

However, in terms of bonuses and promotions, Bovada only offers cryptocurrency sports bonuses, which may be lower than some competitors. However, it compensates for this with an impressive 5x turnover requirement, while the industry average is 10x.

Assuming a player receives a $100 bonus from a casino or betting platform, a 5x turnover means the player must bet at least $500 (100 x 5) on the platform to withdraw this $100 bonus and any earnings obtained through the bonus as cash.

This is a mechanism used by gambling sites to prevent users from only claiming bonuses without engaging in long-term betting, with the industry average at ten times, Bovada's ability to achieve 5 times proves its strong competitiveness.

3.Lucky Block

Lucky Block is an emerging online casino that first appeared in 2022. Although it does not have a long history, PASA believes it can be listed among the hottest online casinos in the UAE.

Lucky Block's platform optimization is excellent, and seamless navigation allows players to enjoy a variety of captivating games.

Lucky Block's user-friendly and intuitive interface is suitable for both novice users and experienced players, and the site also has a live casino and live entertainment venue, which is the biggest attraction for regions where casinos are closed.

It offers almost all casino games: live games such as blackjack, baccarat, and roulette, as well as a range of impressive slot machines from providers like Play n GO, Hacksaw, and Evolution.

In addition, what makes Lucky Block unique is its commitment to being a cryptocurrency-focused casino.

It not only accepts a variety of popular cryptocurrencies, including mainstream coins and altcoins like Bitcoin, but also allows the direct purchase of Bitcoin using credit or debit cards on the platform!

One significant advantage of a cryptocurrency casino like Lucky Block is the absence of deposit and withdrawal processes, allowing players to quickly receive winnings. This is very friendly for regions with closed gambling, as it has privacy advantages and convenient transactions.

4.BC.GAME

BC.Game can be said to be an impressive online casino and sports betting company, established in 2017.

In PASA's past articles evaluating many platforms, BC.Game's presence is not lacking, saying it is a model in the industry of online gambling platforms is not an exaggeration.

In just a few years of development, BC.Game already has the most gambling games and betting types in the world, with incomplete statistics, the platform now has more than 8,000 games and offers betting in over 80 sports markets.

BC.Game is a cutting-edge online casino that perfectly integrates technology with entertainment, and one of its standout features is its forward-looking approach to cryptocurrencies.

BC.Game can accept the most types of coin payments worldwide, including deposits in over 150 popular crypto tokens and its own native token BCD, making it the most comprehensive platform in the world.

So it's not hard to see why this platform is favored by players worldwide.

5.MyBookie

MyBookie, also established in 2017, is a trustworthy online sports betting company, authorized by the Curacao Gaming Control Board, headquartered in Costa Rica.

PASA's evaluation of this platform is: excellent and extensive, but not precise.

This platform offers an immersive gambling experience, equipped with a range of colorful IP-based gambling games, as well as generous bonuses.

MyBookie supports multiple payment methods, including credit cards, Person2Person transfers, and popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin, among 10 others.

MyBookie's dedicated customer support team is available around the clock via live chat and email. However, users must create an account to access the site, making it not user-friendly for browsing.

6.El Royale

El Royale's most prominent feature is its "bonus" section, with the platform having over 30 promotional activities. Most promotions have low wagering requirements, and cryptocurrency players can use El Royale Casino bonus codes to get generous welcome packages and many discounts.

Besides, El Royale has no maximum deposit limit for Bitcoin users. However, it is worth noting some minor drawbacks, such as encountering a low maximum withdrawal limit for Bitcoin when you withdraw winnings.

Moreover, there are no exclusive blackjack or roulette tournaments in the platform games.

This platform focuses on marketing incentives for deposits and does not put much effort into platform game products. Of course, this can bring many new players to the platform, but whether these players will continue to play on the platform, PASA believes this is doubtful.

7.BUSR

As early as 2014, BUSR began its development journey as a horse racing betting company, eventually evolving into the sports betting platform we know today.

BUSR is the destination of choice for sports enthusiasts, combining online sports live streaming with the excitement of sports betting to create an exhilarating one-stop shop for all sports betting needs.

BUSR offers a range of payment options, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and credit cards. Additionally, the platform's minimum deposit amount is only $20, qualifying for betting and bonus opportunities.

It is worth noting that BUSR has a strong referral program with multi-tier rewards, which is also a more innovative part of this platform's marketing.

8.Wild Casino

Wild Casino is a conglomerate of slot games, where players can find any type, a variety of exotic games.

In fact, Wild Casino and BetOnline are owned by the same team, in a sense, Wild Casino is like their casino brother.

The platform has over 430 casino games to choose from, most of which are slot machines, and everyone can find a game that suits them. But if you don't like slot machines, there are also various blackjack, table games, specialty games, and even live dealer games for you to explore.

However, the downside is that the platform does not have real-time customer service.

II. Five Key Insights for Global Operators

Having seen these eight hottest online gambling platforms in the UAE, I believe everyone has their own unique summary of successful gambling platforms.

Casino games have always been a form of entertainment for people, and the same is true in the UAE. Moreover, Arab countries' obsession with sports, especially football and esports, can be said to be among the top globally.

Currently, the UAE has many offshore online casinos, but not every one of them can be successful. Therefore, if we, as operators, want to enter the Arab market, we must consider the following key factors:

1. Game variety is the first aspect to consider when setting up an online casino in the UAE.

Although platforms can rely on many special features and promotional activities to attract users, betting on gambling games is the main target. Most UAE online casinos offer hundreds of options, the most important two being sports and esports betting, in addition to live dealer poker games.

2. Deposit promotions and offers, wise and innovative promotional methods are ways platforms can quickly acquire customers.

Of course, the focus cannot only be here; if not paired with excellent casino games, the acquired customers will gradually be lost.

3. Payment options, the more payment options an online platform offers, the better.

Since each user has different preferences for deposit and withdrawal methods, offering more payment options can reflect the platform's competitiveness.

Ensure more users' preferred options (such as Bitcoin payments) are supported and provide reasonable deposit and withdrawal processing times and fair transaction fees.

Like BC.GAME, it has achieved the first in game variety and payment options, thus also achieving success.

4. The last two points we'll discuss together - user experience and loyalty programs.

The intuitiveness of online casinos varies from person to person. Some users may give up on the platform because they can't get customer service to handle their issues, some may worry about identity privacy leaks, or the platform cannot provide mobile version functions, etc.

Therefore, aspects such as website layout, loading speed, stability, and overall user experience need to be comfortable for users. In addition, ongoing promotions such as reload bonuses and deposit bonuses as an important part of retaining users are also essential.

Conclusion

I believe that after reading this article, operators have already grasped a lot of basic information needed to set up online casinos in the UAE and Arab regions.

All that remains is to choose the track, build the platform, use various forms of customer acquisition, and achieve the path to riches in the UAE market!

In the future, PASA will continue to update you with more including marketing techniques in the Arab region and ways to avoid regulatory blockages. If the legal policies in the Islamic region change and gambling is opened up, PASA will also bring you the latest news on license applications and other methods as soon as possible.

We look forward to discussing more unique insights about UAE online gambling platforms with our readers and invite you to follow the global iGaming leader's outbound information platform PASA for more industry-rich information.

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