Licensing How to spot and verify a new Curaçao license

topics specifically related to Curaçao casino licenses, past and future.

maxd

Head of Complaints (PABs), Senior Forum Moderator
Staff member
So, as many readers will know, Curaçao is undergoing some major licensing changes. To replace the old licensing scheme where a small group of Master License holders issued sub-licenses to individual casinos or casino groups the new licensing scheme is being run by the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB). The significance is that it's now the government of Curaçao issuing licenses as opposed to a small group of privately held companies doing it.

In our work with players through the Player Arbitration (PAB) service we offer here at Casinomeister we are now seeing some of the new licenses coming into use. The purpose of this post is to shown what those new licenses look like -- meaning how to spot one -- and how to tell it's the real thing as opposed to a fake licensing claim that rogue and pirate casinos have always been happy to make in an attempt to appear legitimate.

Hopefully every player now knows that you need to check a casino's license before you even consider giving them your money, not to mention all your personal details that could be sold off to any number of scammer groups who will do their evilness with your identity. Typically you would do this by scrolling to the footer of the casino's front page and see what the license footer says.

Here's what a new GCB license footer looks like:

curacao-gcb-license_footer.png

The "Small House B.V." stuff here is just one particular casino parent company's name, that'll obviously change for different casinos. It's the "licensed and regulated by the Gaming Control Board" bit that we are interested in.

So, how do we know that this is a legit license and not some bogus claim? Anyone can say "licensed and regulated by" and Curaçao -- like every decent licensing body -- knows that you'll need to be able to verify that claim. That's where the green GCB badge comes in: it's a license verification link. Click it and you should see one of these:

curacao-gcb-license_page.png

The first key point to note here is where the license verification is coming from (as given in the address bar). The page URL must be "cert.gcb.cw/certificate". If it isn't the certificate is probably fake and then you're dealing with a rogue casino willing to lie in order to get their hands on your money.

The second item of note is the "current status" bit at the bottom of the text. It should say "good standing". If it says anything else then that's not good and you should probably not proceed with this casino until it does say "good standing".

And that's pretty much it. Check the footer, check the verification badge. All good? You're clear to proceed, assuming you're happy with playing at a legitimate Curaçao casino.

One last word regarding current, valid Curaçao licenses: the old Master License guys still exist even though they are no longer issuing new sub-licenses, so don't be freaked out if that's what you see in the casino's footer. It just means they've been around a while and still hold their old sub-license which Curaçao has extended the validity of until sometime in 2025 (or so, pending review).

Max Drayman
Head of Dispute Arbitration & Player Complaints (PABs)
 
If this is sublicenced I mean has orange seal then?
 

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If this is sublicenced I mean has orange seal then?
Some of the active seals are still showing up as orange, they are in the official pdf of active licensees so they are active. In this example they should be green but orange just means their application is in progress and usually there is also a certificate of operation as a stopgap.
1732914721374.png
 
Better World N.V. is a real and active licensee.

The licence you showed is on their own website url rather than the GCB certificate one. I thought this might be them just using an i-frame but after having a look it appears to not be the case. I only noticed the url discrepancy after opening the image just now.

BiyBay was not in my list of sites for better world BUT i only have the ones that were indexed on google search results. So whilst there are some red flags it might still be real but I'll have to do a bit more digging.

Also with regards to the "sub-licence" bit, that language is used by the GCB to describe companies that were previously sub licensees of the old master licence system.

EDIT:
I have had a further look, the site has very very very little footprint, the actual website itself is essentially the only proper result relating to the search of biybay. The other sites that are definitely with Better World have all turned green. When a certificate is still showing orange despite being active it is usually on all the certificates. This is also the first time I've ever seen someone show a licence that doesn't link to the certified url. The modus operandi is not present in this casino and it looks completely different.

It could still be legit (but weird), however I'm leaning towards fake/impersonation. Avoid playing there If i were you.
 
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Better World N.V. is a real and active licensee.

The licence you showed is on their own website url rather than the GCB certificate one. I thought this might be them just using an i-frame but after having a look it appears to not be the case. I only noticed the url discrepancy after opening the image just now.

BiyBay was not in my list of sites for better world BUT i only have the ones that were indexed on google search results. So whilst there are some red flags it might still be real but I'll have to do a bit more digging.

Also with regards to the "sub-licence" bit, that language is used by the GCB to describe companies that were previously sub licensees of the old master licence system.

EDIT:
I have had a further look, the site has very very very little footprint, the actual website itself is essentially the only proper result relating to the search of biybay. The other sites that are definitely with Better World have all turned green. When a certificate is still showing orange despite being active it is usually on all the certificates. This is also the first time I've ever seen someone show a licence that doesn't link to the certified url. The modus operandi is not present in this casino and it looks completely different.

It could still be legit (but weird), however I'm leaning towards fake/impersonation. Avoid playing there If i were you.
Ok dig more.
 
It contains well known providers like pragmatic play, net ent, ka gaming, gamomat, isoftbet, play technology, aristocrat, casino technology, green tube, sky wind group, wasdan, net game and ca9
 
Clear terms and conditions
And good banking options like ramp, transak, moonpay, BANXA, sardline and crypto deposit
It contains well known providers like pragmatic play, net ent, ka gaming, gamomat, isoftbet, play technology, aristocrat, casino technology, green tube, sky wind group, wasdan, net game and ca9
your posts read like promotional material
 
And good banking options like ramp, transak, moonpay, BANXA, sardline and crypto deposit
And I wouldn't use any of them to deposit there, nor any other method. Just don't. The licensing body is flaccid in any incarnation, reformed or not. The casino looks like a scam to me.
 
Dollars according to the image. Take the location with a pinch of salt.
Good point. If it was supposed to be dollars bit of an odd way to shill, atleast show like 20 grand or something realistic 😂.

Just signed up to have a look around, to verify your account you have to deposit $380. Definitely getting that back 🥸
 
Ok one last question let's tell me if an online casino is newly registered on25-9-2024 then casino shows a orange seal of license on their website with active license application in official PDF of active licenses
Then let's tell me you are saying that all casinos of better world nv changed to green seal in on July 2024 but biybay is newly registered on 25-9-24 then ( this is main point) let's tell according to changes in Curacao gaming board is there license is legit
 

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