Sports betting law in Georgia is built around a compliance regime: an organizer is not merely a holder of the right to arrange betting — it carries active duties covering the rules of placing bets, player protection, age verification, video recording, and prohibited locations. On this page we explain the requirements facing a betting organizer and which rules, if broken, can prove costly for both the organizer and the player. Whether you operate a totalizator or are a player who wants to know your rights, this material is your guide.
Rules of play and their publication
The foundational rule is simple and decisive for players: the rules of the game must be posted at the place where the game is held and must be presented to the player upon first request. The conditions of placing bets can therefore never be an organizer's hidden information — reviewing them is the player's right. An organizer of systemic-electronically organized gambling and/or profitable games may use cash desks existing at facilities organized under its own permit; may arrange cash desks at facilities organized under permits issued to other persons; and, where it pays the gambling business fee, may arrange the cash desk defined by law — the place where funds are deposited into, or paid out of, a player's account through a cashier.
The organizer's core duties
The law imposes a broad set of obligations on the organizer. It must ensure public order and safety at the venue and protect the lawful rights and interests of players and other persons; register paid winnings and create an electronic database; conduct the game and pay winnings in accordance with the published regulations or the agreed rules of systemic-electronically organized play; issue a written certificate of winnings on request; decide player claims within the timeframe set by the regulations; keep data on amounts won and lost by players secret and disclose it only where the law so provides; and pay fees, taxes, and the selected person's charges on time.
Player-protection rules matter just as much: the organizer must not impose additional conditions on a winning player when paying out winnings, except where the law so provides; must not allow a player to transfer funds to other players' gaming accounts; and must notify the Revenue Service in writing before suspending or renewing its activity. Where the organizer's monthly income exceeds ten thousand GEL, cash and valuables transportation operations must be carried out through specialized cash-in-transit services. A holder of a totalizator permit (other than for systemic-electronically organized play) must conduct the game through a terminal supplied by the selected person and authorized by the Revenue Service, with the authorization procedure set by a legal act of the Minister of Finance.
Video surveillance and physical security
Facilities intended for betting are subject to specific technical requirements: a building specially arranged for a casino, gambling club, slot machine hall, totalizator, lotto, or bingo must be supplied with a permanent power source and equipped with automatic video equipment installed in the gaming hall, at the cash desk, at the entrance, and on the outer perimeter, conforming to requirements defined by government decree. Video recording in the gaming hall, at the cash desk, and at the entrance must run during the entire working period of the facility, and on the outer perimeter — permanently. Recordings must be kept for at least thirty days in a duly protected place and, upon a substantiated request, must be submitted immediately to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and/or other authorized bodies. The cash desk must be equipped with an armored window and an alarm signal connected to a security service.
Age restrictions and restricted persons
Age control in betting works in both directions. First — it is prohibited for a citizen of Georgia under twenty-five years of age, and for a foreign citizen or a stateless person under eighteen years of age, to enter a gambling venue for play or to participate in a game, including systemic-electronically organized games. The organizer must request from each person entering the venue an identity document or another document confirming identity and identification data, in paper or electronic form, and through it verify the person's age. Second — entry and participation are prohibited for persons included in the list of dependent persons and/or the list of prohibited persons. The organizer must apply to the Revenue Service regarding each specific person wishing to participate, and the service provides only information about the prohibition of participation.
For systemic-electronic organization, the organizer ensures the registration, identification, and verification of every player according to their identification data, and — from the day of verification — annual re-verification. Such information is stored in a specially created electronic database for five years, is confidential, and may be transferred to third parties only in cases provided by law. A separate prohibition binds holders of international organization permits: they may not admit citizens of Georgia to systemic-electronically organized games.
Prohibited locations
Where betting may not take place: it is prohibited to organize lotteries, gambling, and profitable games (except stimulatory draws) and to sell or distribute tickets (except stimulatory draw tickets) in children's, medical, and educational institutions, cult buildings, children's sanatoriums, libraries, museums, administrative buildings of state power and municipal bodies, and in other places (territorial zones, buildings) prohibited by decision of the relevant municipal body. At the same time, the relevant municipal body is empowered to define the places where gambling and profitable games may be organized — so the territorial decision is taken locally, within the boundaries set by law.
Prohibitions imposed on the organizer
The law directly prohibits two practices connected with players' financial vulnerability: first — the organizer may not lend money to a player for placing a bet; second — it may not conclude an employment contract with a minor under which the person is to work at the place where the game is conducted, or to control its organization and conduct. The rationale is evident: a betting organizer must not become a source of debt for the player, and must not involve minors in the gaming environment. Failure to fulfill these obligations is treated as a violation of permit conditions, and liability measures are determined by Georgian legislation — so when building a compliance program, place particular emphasis on exactly these prohibitions.