The reference shelf: licences, law, money and complaints
Plain-English guides to the rules that apply to betting in Ireland since 1 July 2026, when GRAI licences replaced the Revenue licences.
Each guide answers one practical question about licensed bookmakers: who holds the licence, what the law requires of them, how money moves in and out, who owns whom, what a price contains and where to take a complaint. The guides do not tip, predict results or promote offers.
Every fact carries a source and a date. Licence facts come from the GRAI public register; the law comes from the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 and GRAI guidance; bookmaker facts come from the bookmakers’ own Irish terms and help pages, marked “as stated by” the bookmaker. Where we have no source, the guide says we could not confirm.
Updated 4 October 2026 · 
GRAI register checked 4 October 2026 · For readers in Ireland, 18+
Seven guides to betting rules in Ireland
Start with the licence check if you are new to the register.
- How to check a GRAI licence
Find a bookmaker’s company in its terms, search the GRAI register for it and match the number, activity and dates.
- Gambling Regulation Act 2024
What the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 changed for bettors, which parts are in force and which are still to come.
- Payments and withdrawals
Debit cards, Revolut, Pay by Bank and PayPal; why credit cards are banned; the identity checks before a withdrawal.
- Exchanges and bookmakers
Remote Betting and Remote Betting Intermediary: two GRAI licences, two business models, and who holds which.
- Who owns which bookmaker
Brand, licensee and group for every company on the register, the brands that share a licence and why it matters.
- Bookmaker margins
How prices turn into probabilities, what the overround is, and how the atlas plans to measure it.
- Making a complaint
The order of a complaint: the bookmaker first, then the dispute service in its terms, then GRAI.
Records, method and help
- Register changes
A dated log of licences added, paused or gone, and of brands entering or leaving the atlas.
- Methodology
How the 0–10 atlas score is built: six criteria, fixed weights, and what never affects a score.
- Operator files
One file per bookmaker in the atlas: licensee, licence number, dates, safeguards and payment terms.
- Responsible gambling
Limits, time-outs, self-exclusion and free help in Ireland, starting with GamblingCare on 1800 936 725.
Reading the guides in order
The guides work on their own, but they follow a natural order. Check the licence first: a bookmaker without a GRAI licence is outside everything else on the shelf. Then read what the law requires of every licensee, because those duties (age checks before an account opens, no credit cards, deposit limits) are the same at every licensed bookmaker. Payments and ownership come next, and complaints last, when something has gone wrong.
- Check the licence on the GRAI public register.
- Read what the 2024 Act requires of every licensee, and what is not in force yet.
- Look at payments and withdrawals and at who owns which bookmaker before you open a second account.
- Keep the complaint guide for when you need it.
Updated 4 October 2026; GRAI register checked 4 October 2026. Rivoatlas is not a bookmaker and does not hold a gambling licence. Betting costs money and most bets lose. Set a deposit limit before you start. For readers in Ireland aged 18 and over.
