[bitcasino.io]

There's been some bitcoin casinos that claim to have licenses and this thread is investigating each claim. See below:

bitcasino.io
License Status: verified (sublicense)
Registrant Organization: mbet solutions NV
Physical Address: CMS Trust N.V., Wilhelminalaan 13, Willemstad, Curaçao
Lucense number: 8048/JAZ2013-008*
Server Location: Ireland
Other domains: mbet.io/coingaming.io/mbitcasino.com
Yet another casino that claims to be the first licensed Bitcoin casino. And they actually give license number, except it's not valid for their main domain bitcasino.io, only mbet.io/coingaming.io.
* The license number is supposedly confirmed by "gaminglicenses.com", which appears to be authorized by curacao-egaming.com as per the terms of mbet.io. However it appears curacao-egaming.com is more of a service for setting up mailbox companies than a government entity. The Curacao Internet Gaming Association does NOT list mbet solution NV or any of its domains as members. Clarification from mbet solutions on their license would be appreciated.
Clarification from bitcoincasino.io:

Antillephone N.V., holder of a Master Gaming License #8048/JAZ of the Central Government of the Netherlands Antilles, which is entitled to issue sub-licenses, certifies that mBet Solutions N.V. holds a sub-license under License #8048/JAZ 2014-008 for use as of 20 May, 2013.

My comment: Antillephone N.V. is indeed listed as a real license holder on the actual Curacao Internet Gaming Association website so this explanation appears to be plausible. http://www.ciga.an/policy.htm does not seem to mention sub-licensing and has not been updated since 2002, so the actual regulation if any is still unclear. I give my props to bitcasino.io for going for the license and being communicative about it.

verajohn.com
License Status: verified
Registrant Organization: Plain Support S.A.
Physical Address: Northfields, Apartment 2, Suite 6, Independence Avenue, Mosta, Malta.
License number: LGA/CLl/552/2009
Server Location: Malta

This site claims to be the first licensed online casino that takes Bitcoin with license LGA/CLl/552/2009 issued by the Maltese Lottery & Gaming Authority.

I tried to look this up and the parenting company Dumarca Gaming Ltd is listed on http://www.lga.org.mt/content.aspx?id=86975

They are licensed as "Class 1 on 4":

Class 1 - a remote gaming licence (eg. - casino type games, online lotteries) whereby operators manage their own risk on repetitive games. It is also possible to have a Class 1 on 4 licence whereby the Class 1 licensee operates its games on the software and in certain cases through the equipment of a Class 4 licensee;

Class 4 - a licence to host and manage remote gaming operators, excluding the licensee itself, whereby software vendors provide management and hosting facilities on their platform.  In essence this is a business to business (B2B) gaming licence.

There's a Malta Lotteries & Gaming Authority FAQ at http://www.lga.org.mt/content.aspx?id=247518
My comment: Appears to have a proper license and operates a real money casino with Bitcoin just being one of the deposit/withdraw methods.

coinbet.cc
License Status: not verifiable
Registrant Organization: Domains By Proxy, LLC
Physical Address: N/A
License number: N/A
Server Location: Costa Rica

Coinbet also claims to be the first licensed Bitcoin casino.

"CoinBet Interactive Gaming S.A." appears to be a real Panama registered company, but a quick search gives no results from independent sources that it exists.

While looking up the supposed Costa Rica gaming license of CoinBet, I was also unable to find anything. In fact, it appears any Costa Rica company may operate casino business without a license:

Costa Rica is a popular place to establish online gaming business. Although there is no specific gambling license for gaming activities, corporation may execute online gambling or online casino activities under a “data processing license”. To obtain this license the corporation must have a physical location in Costa Rica.

CoinBet does NOT give out a physical address on their about page:

Where is CoinBet Interactive Gaming S.A. located?
CoinBet maintains its legal formation in Panama, holds its gaming licenses and permits in Costa Rica, and currently has eleven offices on three different continents.

CoinBet claims that it can offer games to U.S. players because Bitcoin is not considered legal tender:

Wagering laws may vary from country-to-country and state-to-state. Offering real money online gambling for U.S. residents is a huge and disruptive move from CoinBet , but since the ever popular cryptocurrency; bitcoin is not considered “legal tender” and isn’t recognized as a legitimate form of currency by the U.S. government, that also means that in legal terms- online gambling with Bitcoin is not an illegal event under the Wire Act or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

But Calvin Ayre points out that CoinBet advertise for the U.S. market but still claims in their terms that they don't take USA players.

We do not accept deposits or wagers from the USA

BetVIP.com
License Status: not verifiable
Registrant Organization: Domains By Proxy, LLC
Physical Address: Level G, Quantum House, 75, Abate Rigord Street, Ta’ Xbiex, XBX1120, Malta
License number: Is NOT listed by the Curacao Internet Gaming Association
Server Location: United Kingdom

This site claims to be licensed on Curacao, but are not listed on the website of the Curacao Internet Gaming Association. They list a physical address on Malta, but no phone number available and no business entity name is provided.

ball2win.com
License Status: not verifiable
Registrant Organization: Domains By Proxy, LLC
Physical Address: KIYU PTE LTD   2, Ayios Pavlos & Kadmos Street, Wisdom Tower, 3rd Floor, Nicosia 1105, Cyprus
Lucense number: N/A
Server Location: Singapore
Registered address in Cyprus and sever in Singapore and Singaporean phone support number. No license number or other information is possible to find.

bcourtcasino.com
License Status: not verifiable
Registrant Organization: Domains By Proxy, LLC
Physical Address: E-commerce Park Vredenberg, Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
License number: N/A
Server Location: Germany
Claims to be Bcourt Group N.V. registered in Curacao. Not listed by the Curacao Internet Gaming Association and no gaming license number available.