Kahnawake is the name of a geographical region in Canada, and it means “rapid place” in the Mohawk language. As you probably know, Indians in the USA and Canada have their own lands, which are autonomous jurisdictions. Indians can apply their own laws on these lands, and this is exactly what they do: Gambling may be prohibited in the US, for example, but on Indian lands, it is still legal. In fact, the term “Indian casinos” refers to brick-and-mortar casinos in the US where gambling is entirely legal. The same thing applies to online gambling: Indians living in the Kahnawake region decided to give out licenses to online casinos a long time ago, and they have been doing this for the last 19 years. In this review, we will talk about Kahnawake Gaming Commission casinos and explain this license in detail.
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Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) is the oldest licensing agency in the world. The commission was established in 1996 and first issued land-based casino licenses. In 1999, it started to issue online gambling licenses too. Note that the first online casino in the world opened in 1999 and it was using a KGC license. This was mandatory because there were no other licensing agencies back in those days.
Kahnawake Gaming Commission issues two types of licenses, one for the land-based casinos and the other for online gambling operators. KGC casinos can accept members from Canada. Until 2016, they were able to accept members from the US too, but this is not the case anymore: The commission lost a lawsuit against New Jersey Gambling Commission and stopped serving US customers. Today, there are around 250 online casinos that use this license.
Applying for a Kahnawake Gaming Commission license has a fixed fee of 125.000 USD. This fee includes multiple authorizations and, for example, if you don’t want to offer live casino services, you can pay 30.000 USD less. You do not need a company in Kahnawake, or you are not expected to host your servers there. Kahnawake is a small region, approximately 20 square miles. The total population is 8.000 Mohawks. In other words, the region does not have enough space and/or the infrastructure for gambling companies anyway.
The annual fees of a KGC license are pretty low. You need to pay 60.000 USD annually and once more, it is possible to lower this figure if you do not plan to offer specific services, such as live dealer games. You also need to renew the license every 5 years, which costs 17.500 USD. If we make a general assessment, KGC license is one of the most inexpensive licenses out there. However, it is losing its popularity due to the loss of the lawsuit we mentioned above. Today, Kahnawake Gaming Commission casinos can accept members only from Canada and a couple of South America countries. European players are not covered by this license.
As a casino owner, KGC license probably offers the best price/performance ratio out there. It costs low but still offers enough reliability and access to a big potential customer base. Remember that you are not expected to host your servers and company in Kahnawake: You can set up shop in another country and still offer your services. And in terms of taxation… Let’s say Indians are not interested in collecting taxes: There are almost zero income taxes in Kahnawake.
As a player, Kahnawake Gaming Commission is the oldest regulatory agency in the world, so it offers a certain level of reliability. If you are a gambler from Canada, Kahnawake Gaming Commission casinos are your best bet for a safe and secure gambling experience. The agency protects the players: For example, in 2009, it ordered Ultimate Bet website to refund 22 million USD to members and issued a fine of 1.500.000 USD.
If we examine these topics separately:
Player Protection
Kahnawake Gaming Commission casinos must work with an approved agent to ensure game fairness. eCOGRA, Technical Systems Testing, and iTech Labs are approved agents of the commission. This is actually a pretty big advantage in terms of player protection: Game fairness must be guaranteed by an independent organization in order to get a KGC license. There are many online casinos out there with no information about their RTP rates. A Kahnawake Gaming Commission casino, on the other hand, must provide these rates to an independent auditor.
In addition, the commission has individual agents, who become members of the casinos in secret and test all of the features in detail. KGC is the only agency that does this, and it ensures a certain level of ease of mind. However, note that there are many complaints out there that say the commission is not doing any of these checks for a couple years.
Lastly, players with a complaint can directly apply to the commission. The application can be made online, and the applicant will be informed about the decision of the commission. This decision is final, and there are no legal authorities you can appeal: Mohawks do not have courts.
Responsible Gaming
Kahnawake Gaming Commission does not force its casinos to comply with responsible gaming practices. In fact, the commission is not interested at all if a casino offers self-exclusion services or not. Note that this is not abnormal: Self-exclusion is a practice used mostly in European casinos. It seems Indians think that people must be able to control themselves without the need for a regulatory body. This may also be a cultural difference too. In any case, Kahnawake Gaming Commission casinos are not required to comply with responsible gaming practices.
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