Are prize competitions gambling?
No — provided two conditions are met. Under the Gambling Act 2005, a prize competition sits outside gambling law if it requires a genuine element of skill, knowledge or judgement to enter, or if it offers a free entry route of equal standing alongside the paid one. A competition meeting either test is not a lottery and needs no Gambling Commission licence. Remove both and it becomes an unlicensed lottery, which is a criminal offence.
The two rules that decide it
The distinction is not about how a site looks or what it calls itself. It rests on section 14 of the Gambling Act 2005 and turns on two things:
- A genuine skill question. Entrants must answer a question requiring skill, knowledge or judgement, and answering wrongly must actually disqualify the entry. A question nobody could get wrong does not do the job.
- A free entry route of equal standing. Entrants must be able to take part without paying, usually by post, with the same odds as a paid entrant and no meaningful disadvantage.
What "equal standing" actually means
The free route cannot be a technicality. It must carry the same chance of winning, be genuinely available for the whole entry period, and be signposted rather than buried at the bottom of the terms.
This is where the market is weakest. A free route that is hard to find, or that quietly gives fewer entries, is the practice most likely to attract regulatory attention — and it is a reasonable test to apply to any site you are considering.
How to check a site for yourself
Four questions that separate a lawful competition from something else:
- Is there a skill question, and would a wrong answer really disqualify you?
- Is the free postal route explained clearly, with the same odds stated plainly?
- Does the site publish the total number of tickets, so the odds can be worked out?
- Does the draw happen on the published date whether or not it sells out?
What this is not
This is not a casino. There are no slots, no roulette, no blackjack and no betting on outcomes — those are licensed gambling activities and we will not build them.
It is also not a lottery. A lottery allocates prizes purely by chance with no skill element and no free route, which is exactly what the two rules above exclude.
Common questions
Does a skill question have to be difficult?
It must be a real question that a wrong answer disqualifies. The law asks whether skill, knowledge or judgement is genuinely involved — a question designed so nobody can fail is the weak point operators get challenged on.
Is the free postal route really the same odds?
It has to be. A free entry receives the same number of entries and the same chance of winning as a paid one. If a site cannot say that plainly, treat it as a warning sign.
Do you need a Gambling Commission licence?
No. A competition meeting the skill and free-entry conditions falls outside the licensing regime. We hold no gambling licence because none is required for what we run.