Club permits

Under the Gambling Act 2005, clubs providing gaming or gambling machines in their premises must have a permit.

Types of permit

If a club wants to provide gaming machines for use on their premises, they must have either of the following two permits:

Club machine permit (CMP)

A club machine permit is available to members' clubs, miners' welfare institutes and commercial clubs. It allows the club to offer:

• Equal-chance gaming such as poker and bingo
• Up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D but, by agreement, only one machine can be of category B3A (B3A not permitted for commercial clubs). 

Restrictions on the gaming are:

• Limit on stakes and prizes for bingo is £2,000 in any seven-day period.
• Limit on stakes for poker - £10 per person per game, within a premises limit of £250 in stakes per day and £1,000 per week.
• Limit on prizes for poker - £250 per game.
• Limit on participation fees per person per day - £18 for bridge/whist (if played on a day on which no facilities of any kind of gaming (other than bridge or whist) are provided by the relevant club on that day), £1 for other gaming (including poker), £3 where it's a commercial club. 

Club gaming permit (CGP)

A club gaming permit is available to members' clubs or miners' welfare institutes but not commercial clubs. It allows the club to offer:

• Equal-chance gaming such as poker and bingo
• Games of chance (pontoon and chemin de fer only)
• Up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D but, by agreement, only one machine can be of category B3A. 

Restrictions on the gaming are:

• No limits on stakes and prizes, except bingo where there is a stakes and prizes limit of £2,000 in any seven-day period
• Limit on participation fees per person per day - £20 for bridge and or whist (if played on a day on which no facilities of any kinds of gaming (other than bridge or whist) are provided by the relevant club on that day), £3 for other gaming (including poker) in any other circumstances. 

How to apply

To apply for a licence you will need to complete the application form (PDF, 277 KB)(opens new window) and return it to us with the relevant fee (payable by card over the phone).