What is a bookmaker under Kenyan law?

Bookmaker: under Kenyan law, a person who carries on the business of receiving and negotiating bets. Section 2 of the Gambling Control Act, 2025 adds that the business may be occasional or regular, and run on the person's own account or as a servant or agent of someone else. The licence that goes with the role is covered in what a BK licence is and what the number means.

What the definition covers and leaves out

A bet, also defined in section 2, is a wager or stake of money, money's worth or another valuable thing on a horse race, fight, game, sport, lottery or any other event or contingency. Two groups sit outside the bookmaker definition. One is a person who runs, or is employed to operate, a licensed totalisator; the other is a person employed in a business wholly concerned with a licensed pool betting scheme.

The same section defines an online bookmaker as a person who carries on betting by remote communications, including virtual games and virtual sports. Section 58 lets the Gambling Regulatory Authority issue four kinds of bookmaker's licence: on the course, off the course, both together, and an online bookmakers licence.

One example

You stake money on the result of a football match through a phone app. The company that accepts the stake, records the terms and settles the bet when the match ends is acting as a bookmaker. Because it takes the bet by remote communication, section 67(1) requires it to apply to the Authority for an online bookmakers licence.

How a bookmaker differs from a casino and a lottery

Section 2 describes a casino as a designated premise, or an approved virtual or online platform or site, where people take part in games approved by the Authority. Section 28(2)(a) ties that category to table games and slot machines. A bookmaker, by contrast, receives bets on races, matches and other events.

A lottery, in section 2, includes a sweepstake, a raffle and any scheme that hands out property by lot or chance, such as drawn tickets or numbers. The player buys a chance in a draw. Bookmaking, casinos and lotteries each appear as separate licensed activities in section 28(2).

The regulator's published list keeps these categories in separate columns. The column headed BK carries bookmaker licence numbers, although the page does not spell out the abbreviation. You can read those lines on the licensed bookmakers page and follow the steps in how to check if a betting site is licensed in Kenya.