Pakistan online casinos for Real Money

First up, we need to know what sources of gambling are legal in the Asian country and the fifth most populous nation on the planet. Since 1912, gambling in some forms has been legal in Pakistan. Today that is limited to betting on horse races and cricket, lotteries and so-called “prize bonds”. As you can see, there is no mention of casino gambling anywhere.

Technically, the Prevention of Gambling Act, coupled with the Penal Code of Pakistan, form the two principal gambling laws in the country. The 1991 Shariah Act makes Islamic Sharia Law the deciding factor, so legal gambling on casino games is out of the question. Pakistan does play fast and loose with its own interpretation of that law, though, as you can tell by some of the legalised gambling options. This is based on the 1932 Sunan Abi Dawud and is also in practice in a few other Muslim states, notably the United Arab Emirates. What it effectively says is that horse racing (and so on) are games of skill, not games of chance and, therefore, aren’t gambling.

Now, here’s the kicker – that interpretation doesn’t seem to apply to genuine games of skill like poker. Therefore, casino games are banned. Officially, there is a fine of several hundred rupees up to a five-year prison sentence for being caught gambling illegally. However, those penalties seem to only be applied to operators, not players.

Neither the penal code nor the gambling act makes any mention of gambling online in any form. We can assume that this means that online casino gambling is illegal, but there isn’t a written text verifying that. For this reason, it won’t surprise you to learn that Pakistan doesn’t crack down on illegal bettors. There hasn’t been a case yet (at least, not a confirmed one) where the government has sought punishment for anyone caught gambling online. Moreover, there isn’t any indication that the gambling authorities in Pakistan even check. It seems that it is far more likely that devout family members might turn you in if they catch you.

More recently, it appears as though Pakistan is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they make it clear that Pakistanis cannot gamble online. On the other, they acknowledge that their laws only apply inside Pakistan and to Pakistani casinos. Offshore casinos, therefore, are theoretically on the table.

There are no gambling licenses issued in Pakistan, although regional authorities have the final say over whether a business can offer gambling services or not. When it comes to online gambling, there are, naturally, no such bodies of any kind.
While we don’t recommend playing at any online casino if you’re based in Pakistan, there are options for you to do so. If you’re intent on playing, we’d strongly recommend using a VPN and only signing up for trusted and verified online casinos. You can find a handful of those right here on this page. Pakistani players “shouldn’t” be penalised for enjoying online gambling, but there are no guarantees.

Pakistanis love to bet on sports, specifically the two legal options in the country – horse racing and cricket betting. Pakistanis don’t seem to have a huge interest in playing casino games (at least when we consider the entire population), although there are naturally those who fancy having a stab at slots and RNG table games. Live casino games aren’t particularly widespread at Pakistan offshore casinos.
As far as we’re aware, there are no major Pakistani casino software providers. However, there are a couple of Indian developers out there, and some of those produce sports betting software and both RNG and live dealer casino games for the market. Urdu is seldom made available for players at online casinos, so games are regularly played in English instead.

All Pakistani online casinos aren’t based in Pakistan. Instead, they are based offshore. Moreover, they don’t technically cater solely to players in Pakistan but to Asia overall. On top of that, these casinos also tend to offer sports betting options to make them more appealing to players in the Asian country. Given the state of Pakistan’s online gambling laws, we’d strongly suggest using a VPN when joining any casino or not playing at online casinos at all.