What is a public gaming licence (PG) in Kenya?

A public gaming licence is the licence for casino-type gambling: table games and slot machines. On the regulator's list of licensed gaming companies its number sits in the PG column, next to BK (bookmaker) and PL (public lottery).

By Online Casino Kenya Editorial (prepared with AI tools under our editorial policy) · Last updated 2026-10-04

Where the term appears

The Gambling Regulatory Authority's list for the 2025/26 trading period has three licence columns headed BK, PG and PL. PG stands for public gaming. A seven-digit number in that column means the list records a public gaming licence for the company on that line, and "Nil" means it records none.

How the 2025 Act words it

The Gambling Control Act, 2025 does not use the phrase "public gaming". Section 28(2)(a) lists a licence for "a public gambling for conducting a table game and operating a slot machine". Regulation 4 of the Licensing Regulations, 2026 uses the same words, and the licence form in the First Schedule is headed "Public gambling licence (casino)".

Section 2 of the Act defines a casino as any designated premise, or approved virtual or online platform or site, where a person may participate in a game approved by the Authority. So the same idea covers a hall with tables and a website with slots.

What it does not tell you

A PG number alone does not show that the company offers casino games online. Many lines with a PG number list no domain at all. The table of PG licence holders that list a domain narrows the list to those that do, and the guide to reading the GRA list of licensed operators explains the other columns.