Gaming Curaçao - Master License 365/JAZ Review
By Alex Smith Mar 26, 2024
Casinomeister's Verdict
This is one of better of the four Curacao master licenses. Some of their casinos are actually pretty good and are a recommended place to play. While Curacao master license holders tend to turn a blind eye to a Casino’s actions, the 365/JAZ Master License has a higher standard of enforcement.
Actually not too shaby.
Pros
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One of the better master license holders in Curacao
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Do seem to take action against rogue operators
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Claim to perform yearly audits of all of their license holders
Cons
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Don’t have a dedicated player complaint process
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Website is simple, and doesn’t appear to be updated
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It’s unclear how responsive (if at all) they will be with players
Gaming Curaçao is one of four master license holders in Curaçao, and their license is known as the Master License 365/JAZ. Unlike some of the other master license holders, Gaming Curacao have been shown to show some effort when it comes to ensuring their licensees are operating under the law – and while they’re not by any means perfect, they are substantially more involved than some of the other, more rogue master license holders.
In this review, we’re going to be taking a look at how the license holder operates, what some of their terms are, and whether or not they’re a reliable enforced in the eGaming world. Let’s begin by taking a look at a brief background.
About Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ)
All master license holders in Curacao (there are 4) have their licenses issued by the Minister of Justice – the government body responsible for regulating gambling – and as we mentioned in the introduction above, Gaming Curacao is one of the more reputable master license holders, as they’ve actually shown to take occasional action against rogue operators.
Gaming Curacao has been around since 1998 – and, in their own words:
“Curacao has long been recognized as one of the preferred locations for eGaming operators to base their operations. This success has been due to a combination of factors, such as a progressive legislative system, political stability, first rate telecommunications facilities, and a well established financial services industry.
Gaming Curacao has been a leading provider of a comprehensive range of services to the online gaming industry, with a history dating back to 1998.”
Gaming Curacao is able to issue operators with a license, allowing companies to legally conduct their eGaming activities from within the Island Territory of Curacao.
Unlike some licensing jurisdictions around the world, Gaming Curacao also offers operators a number of hosting solutions, enabling casinos to launch their platforms quickly – and they say:
“Curacao offers a number of reliable and established providers of hosting services, specifically geared towards the intricate needs of the eGaming industry. Offering the latest technology, the fastest internet connections and a guaranteed uptime of practically 100%, eGaming operators can rest assured that their gaming servers are located in ideal facilities.
Whether you intend to source and set up your servers locally or ship them to Curacao already set up, Gaming Curacao will be pleased to introduce you to suitable hosting companies.”
Gaming Curaçao also offers a number of corporate/fiduciary services, and this can help operators move legally into operating from Curacao.
Provisions Of a License
They are pretty open when it comes to their license application process, and all operators who wish to apply for a license must begin by emailing them. Once this happens, operators undergo a thorough assessment, and this ensures that licenses are only awarded to operators who are “able to demonstrate such a financial standing and integrity as to preserve the international reputation of Curaçao as a preferred eGaming hub.”
Unfortunately, terms of licenses are a lot looser than you’d see from more reputable license operators like the MGA or the UKGC, and this can mean aspects like responsible gambling and anti money-laundering checks are nowhere near as thorough.
Still, once licenses have been issued, Gaming Curacao promise that they monitor the license holders, and take necessary action to protect players against rogue or unethical operators.
Yearly audits are supposedly undertaken by Gaming Curacao to ensure that license holders are meeting their obligations, although it should be noted that it’s not clear as to whether or not these audits are actually carried out, and if they are, to what level they are.
Master Online Gaming License Holders Explained
Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ), as the name suggests, operates under what is known as a Master License. We often get questions from players about what this actually means – and in fairness, it’s actually pretty confusing. It doesn’t help that the whole gambling industry in Curacao is steeped in mystery – but we’ll do our best to explain it.
Essentially, the Ministry of Justice in Curacao has issued four Master Licenses; Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) is one of these four master licenses. Each master license is then able to sublicense these licenses out to online casinos and other online gambling websites – but there’s a number of problems. First of all there’s a huge lack of transparency. For example, no one actually knows who oversees the master license holders themselves – and things got so bad that even the Dutch government started discussing it a few years ago to try and clear things up.
What’s more, the master license holders have shown that, with rare exceptions, they don’t really care about ensuring fairness and integrity in the online casino industry. For example, pretty much all rogue online casinos are licensed in Curacao – and this is because the master license holders simply don’t tend to take action against rogue operators unless it’s really clearly criminal (and even then, they don’t always act.)
For example, many players will join a casino – licensed by the Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) or the Curacao Internet gaming association – only to find that the casino refuses to pay them their winnings. When they go and make a complaint to the license holder – in this case the Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) – they’re simply given the ‘talk to the hand’ treatment – and it doesn’t matter whether it’s online poker, online casino games, bingo halls – there’s so many Curacao-licensed casinos it’s become a really toxic industry.
Of course, not all online casinos with a Curacao gaming license are bad – but it has to be said that most rogue online casinos are licensed in Curacao, and Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) isn’t one of the best online gambling regulators.
Disputes and Player Complaints
Unfortunately, as is the case with all Curacao master license holders, disputes and complaints is where players can find themselves in trouble if they have problems with a casino/operator, and Gaming Curacao doesn’t specify whether or not they actually take player complaints directly or not.
There are contact details on their main webpage, so if players experience any problems with a license holder, it’s definitely worth getting in touch, but there are certainly no guarantees that Gaming Curacao will respond, or take action against rogue operators.
For this reason, it’s incredibly important that you choose to play at a casino that has a solid reputation – and, if at all possible, you should generally avoid Curacao-licensed sites altogether, unless they have a proven track record, and offer 3rd-party dispute services.
FAQs
Can you validate a Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) license?
Yes; the Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) provides a validation portal that allows you to independently verify whether or not the seal in an online casino’s footer section is real or not. You simply need to click the seal (one of the terms and conditions of a Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) license is that operators must display the license information in their footer) and you’ll then be taken directly to the Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) website where you can verify the license through a validation page.
How much does it cost to get a Curacao gambling license?
A Curacao gaming license can cost as little as $5,000.
Why are so many websites in the online gambling industry licensed in Curacao?
Firstly, there’s the cost; as we just saw, a Curacao gaming license can be acquired for as little as $5,000 – and this pales in comparison to the $25,000+ fees that many online casinos have to pay in the online gambling industry. What’s more, Curacao offers online gambling operators very favorable tax laws – and this means that it’s become somewhat of a haven for online gambling companies.
Another reason why so many companies in the online gaming industry apply for a Curacao gaming license is the fact that they tend to be issued quite quickly; many online gambling license providers can take months or even years to even process an application – but with Curacao, it’s often completed within a matter of weeks or even days.
Should I play at a Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) casino?
While it’s fair to say that not all casinos that hold a gaming license from Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ), it’s a sad reality that many online casinos holding a license from them do act unethically – and the biggest problem is that if you do run into problems, Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ) are very unlikely to provide you with any help or support.
Because of this we’d generally recommend steering clear of online casinos licensed by Gaming Curacao (Master License 365/JAZ), unless you’re absolutely positive that the site is legit and safe to play at.
Where can I find safe casinos to play at?
Here at Casinomeister we pride ourselves on offering our readers with a huge variety of choice when it comes to online casinos – and unlike many other casino review websites we can’t be influenced by money; this means that when we say a casino is good, it’s good, and when we say a casino is bad, it’s bad.
Our team of online gambling experts work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to continually seek out new casinos, review them – and monitor existing recommendations on our site – and if you head to our “Accredited Casino” section you’ll find a list of sites that have proven themselves to operate fairly.
If you see a casino you like (or see bonuses and promotions that you want to claim) simply hit the ‘play now’ button and you’ll be directly straight to the online casino’s sign-up page where you can create an account and claim your welcome bonus right away!
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