About the Kahnawake Jurisdiction

The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory is an Indian land reserve in Quebec, Canada. The reserve has 48 square kilometers and is situated on the St. Lawrence River just across from Montreal. The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory has an independent government, and therefore, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission is the only online gambling licensing authority in North America.

Kahnawake was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to recognize the opportunities afforded by the interactive gaming industry and for over 11 years the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has been continuously licensing and regulating a wide range of interactive gaming sites. Online gaming operators that are licensed by the Commission must be hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, a data centre located within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and managed by Continent 8 Technologies.

The Commission's primary function is to protect players who choose to participate in the online gaming offered by the companies licensed in Kahnawake. The Commission uses a variety of means to ensure that interactive gaming is conducted responsibly, fairly and honestly; and the operators of interactive games treat players fairly; that they pay winners promptly and that all information related to player accounts is confidential.

Kahnawake Licenses

Currently, the Commission issues four types of licenses under its Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming:

1. Interactive Gaming Licence, issued to an approved hosting facility in Kahnawake;

2. Client Provider Authorisation, issued to approved entities that want to provide interactive gaming services from the hosting facility in Kahnawake;

3. Secondary Client Provider Authorisation, issued to approved entities that want to provide interactive gaming services from the hosting facility in Kahnawake but whose primary operations are located in another jurisdiction recognized by the Commission;

4. Key Person Licence, issued to at least one person who performs a managerial function for the entity that holds a Client Provider Authorisation.

The Commission also issues Poker Room Licences under its Regulations concerning Poker Rooms to approved terrestrial poker rooms operating within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.

The first step in the application process for a Kahnawake gaming license is paying a $5,000 CAD application fee. Then a company has to pay $15,000 CAD in order to cover software testing and an investigation of the company. Once the tests have been passed, the company is required to pay $10,000 CAD in annual license fees.

Resolution of Complaints and Disputes

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission handles any disputes that arise between players and casino operators. The Commission regulations provide a number of dispute resolution mechanisms to address player complaints, including the possibility of third party arbitration. What is more, the Commission's staff includes a full time Dispute Resolution Officer to ensure that all player complaints are addressed in a timely way.

Summing up

After UltimateBet and Absolute Poker cheating scandal some people have questioned Kahnawake Gaming Commission requirements, but the fact that the Commission ordered UltimateBet to refund $22 million back to players who had been cheated, and issued a $1.5 million fine proved that Kahnawake jurisdiction takes care of players problems.

For more information visit the Kahnawake Gaming Commission’s website at http://www.gamingcommission.ca/default.htm

Online casinos with a licence granted by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission:

• All Jackpots Casino

• All Slots Casino

• Aztec Riches Casino

• BlackJack Ballroom Casino

• Break Away Casino

• Captain Cooks Casino

• Casino Classic

• Casino Kingdom

• Casino La Vida

• Casino Share

• Challenge Casino

• Colosseum Casino

• Desert Dollar Casino

• First Web Casino

• Fortune Room Casino

• Golden Tiger Casino

• Grand Hotel Casino

• Intertops Casino

• Nostalgia Casino

• Phoenician Casino

• Platinum Play Casino

• Play United Casino

• Players Palace Casino

• Quatro Casino

• Red Flush Casino

• Royal Vegas Casino

• SciFi Casino

• Sky Kings Casino

• UK Casino Club

• Vegas 7 Casino

• Vegas Joker Casino

• Vegas Palms Casino

• Vegas Slot Casino

• Vegas Towers Casino

• Vegas Villa Casino

• Villento Las Vegas Casino

• Virtual City Casino

• Zodiac Casino