Betting rules: legal age, minimum bet, credit and adverts
Gambling Control Act, 2025; Gambling Regulatory Authority · sources read 2 Oct 2026
You must be 18 or older to bet: betting with a child is an offence, and operators must check proof of age before registering you and before paying out a prize. The minimum online bet is KSh 20, operators may not give you credit to bet, and if your account has no activity for 3 months the operator must send the balance back to you.
- Deadline
- 14 days from the date of the dispute to appeal to the Gambling Appeals Tribunal (online gambling).
- Deadline
- A claim for an uncollected prize lapses 6 months after the winnings were declared.
- Where
- Your betting operator first; then the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA); the Gambling Appeals Tribunal for online betting disputes
Steps
- If you win money online, the operator must put it in your account within 2 days. Raise it with the operator first if it doesn't.
- Complain to the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA). It receives and decides complaints from the public about games of chance.
- For a dispute over an online bet, you can appeal to the Gambling Appeals Tribunal within 14 days of the dispute.
- If no transaction has been recorded on your account for 3 months, the operator must send the balance back to you.
- If the operator can't trace you for 5 years, your balance goes to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority, where you can claim it.
Watch out
- Operators may not give you credit to bet or act as an agent for a lender to give you credit.
- Free bets and bonus bets offered in the ordinary course of business are still allowed.
- Gambling adverts may not run on TV or radio between 6am and 10pm, except during a live sporting event, or on billboards close to a school or college.
Who this covers
- Children, meaning anyone under 18, are protected by these rules.
- Betting with a child, taking a bet through a child or sending a child betting adverts or messages is an offence.
- Operators must ask for proof that you are 18 or older before registering you.
- Online players: the smallest bet allowed is KSh 20.
Official sources (2)
- The Gambling Control Act, 2025 (No. 14 of 2025), Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 141 gra.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026
- Children Act, No. 29 of 2022 childrenservices.go.ke · read 2 Oct 2026