Opening a betting account in Ireland: age and identity checks explained

The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 sets two linked duties. Section 169 requires the operator to verify your identity and your age before it opens your account. Section 158 bars children from taking part in gambling and from holding an account.

A "child" is a person under 18 (s.2). Both sections have been in force since 5 February 2026.

• Who checks: the operator, not the regulator.
• What is checked: identity and age.
• When: before the account is opened.

Bottom line: The operator must verify who you are, and that you are 18 or over, before your account exists.

The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 (Verification of Identity and Age) Regulations 2026, S.I. 315/2026, were made by the GRAI on 6 July 2026. As we read them on 7 November 2026, they give an operator one additional method of verification.

That method combines three items:

• a document showing your photograph and date of birth;
• a document showing your address;
• a bank statement from the last 6 months.

These rules bind operators. They are not instructions for comparison sites, and this page is not legal advice.

Bottom line: The regulations describe an extra verification route for operators; they do not tell you which route a given site uses.

What an operator asks for is written in its own terms and help pages. We have not yet recorded those pages for the operators in our matrix, so every cell below is open.

To fill the table we need the verification clause of at least three operators, each with its page address and the date we read it. Until then this page states the legal duty only.

Bottom line: Operator-specific document lists are not yet recorded here; read the verification section of the operator's own terms.

Identity documents are personal data. The GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 apply, and the Data Protection Commission supervises them.

Before you upload anything:

1. Find the licence number on the site and match it to the GRAI register (see the domain check).
2. Send documents only through the operator's own account area, not to an address in an unsolicited message.
3. Keep a copy of what you sent, with the date.
4. If a request seems wrong, ask the operator in writing, then see where to complain.

Bottom line: Check the licence first, upload only inside the operator's account area, and keep a dated record.

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