Stake, the crypto-focused operator that calls itself the world's largest online casino and sportsbook, has cut off players in Ireland after talks with the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI). It is the highest-profile gambling brand so far to leave the market since the country's new licensing regime took effect.
Key takeaways
- Irish users trying to reach Stake now see a message that access is unavailable "due to licensing restrictions".
- The GRAI says a major international online gambling platform and two major prediction markets have geo-blocked Ireland; reports identify them as Stake, Kalshi and Polymarket.
- The regulator says it is working with those operators so Irish customers are promptly refunded their deposits.
- Remote betting operators have needed a GRAI licence since July 1, 2026, and running an unlicensed service is now a criminal offence.
- The move follows a ban in Nigeria and continuing controversy in the UK over Stake's Everton sponsorship.
Irish media first noticed the change during the week beginning September 7. Customers opening the site are now shown the notice: "Due to licensing restrictions, access to Stake from your current location is not available." Stake, which reports more than 44 million customers in 169 countries, had been open to Irish players for years before the block.
Neither the company nor the regulator has said whether the withdrawal is permanent, and Stake has not published Ireland-specific guidance for customers who still hold balances. Its general terms say account restrictions should not stop players from withdrawing legitimate funds, that customers will be told how to retrieve balances when an account is closed, and that anyone with money in a locked or closed account should contact support.
What the Regulator Said
In a statement to The Irish Times, the GRAI did not name the companies involved but confirmed that several large platforms had chosen to switch off Irish access.
"Operators, including two major prediction markets and a major international online gambling platform, have geo-blocked their services, which means that they have voluntarily restricted access to their platforms for users from Ireland."
— Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, statement to The Irish Times
The authority added that it is "working closely with operators who have geo-blocked to ensure that consumers in Ireland are promptly refunded all monies deposited with these operators", and said several further operators had shut down their Irish betting offer after being contacted by the GRAI.
By restricting access itself, Stake appears to have avoided a public enforcement case. Notably, it blocked its whole platform, including casino games, even though the first phase of Irish licensing covers betting only and online casino licences are not yet available.
Ireland's New Regime Bites
The GRAI was created under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 and became operational on March 5, 2025. It is an independent state agency responsible for gambling both online and in person, with the exception of the National Lottery, which has its own regulator. Before the new framework, oversight of the betting sector sat with the Revenue Commissioners.
Remote operators came under the authority's remit on July 1, 2026, when it published its first register of licensed businesses. The rules bring obligations on age verification, paying out customer winnings, closing accounts and the use of credit, and offering remote betting without a licence is now a criminal offence. Some established brands paused Irish operations while they transferred: Betfred told customers in June it was taking a "temporary pause" at the end of that month.
According to the regulator, 33 licences have been issued so far. The first phase covers online and telephone betting operators and betting intermediaries, with licences for online gaming, lotteries and business-to-business suppliers expected during 2027 and 2028. Its enforcement toolkit ranges from compliance notices and criminal cases to High Court applications and financial sanctions, and the heaviest fines for serious breaches can reach €20 million or a tenth of an operator's turnover.
Prediction Markets Went First
Stake follows two prediction market operators out of the country. Kalshi was the first large platform to geo-block Ireland, and in July Polymarket became the second after the GRAI threatened High Court action against prediction markets operating without a licence. Polymarket now lists Ireland among 37 restricted countries.
The Irish Examiner reported that around €4 million had been wagered on Polymarket on June's Dublin Central by-election, spread across 12 names, some of whom never stood as candidates.
The regulator has made clear that its focus goes beyond household names. It says illegal gambling accounts for around 70% of betting activity in Europe, worth more than €80 billion, with some 6,000 operators targeting European consumers, and that its enforcement team is looking both at offshore sites that are illegal where they are used in Ireland and at unlicensed betting in pubs and unlicensed bookmaking. The GRAI is also examining 145 gambling websites linked in leaked documents to technology company Soft2Bet and its partners, following an international investigation published in July. Soft2Bet has rejected the allegations.
A Growing List of Regulatory Clashes
Stake was founded in 2017 by Australian entrepreneurs Ed Craven and Bijan Tehrani, whose games developer Easygo was set up a year earlier. The international site is run by Medium Rare N.V. under a licence in Curaçao, and its customers mostly deposit and withdraw in cryptocurrency.
Ireland is the latest in a run of confrontations with regulators. Days before the Irish block was reported, the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority, together with the regulators of 24 states in Nigeria's Federation of State Gaming Regulators, banned Stake from operating in the country, citing repeated warnings the company had ignored.
In Great Britain, Stake's locally licensed website closed in early 2025 after the Gambling Commission investigated an unofficial advert that used the brand; its UK white-label partner, TGP Europe, agreed to shut the site. The company has nonetheless stayed visible in English football. It became Everton's front-of-shirt sponsor in 2022 and signed a new deal for 2026–27, moving to the sleeve after the Premier League's ban on gambling brands on shirt fronts took effect. Rival Entain urged Everton last month to end the partnership, and the UK government plans to ban football sponsorship by unlicensed gambling companies as soon as August 2027.
At the same time, Stake has been building a licensed footprint. Since 2023 it has bought or obtained licences in Colombia, Italy, Peru, Brazil and Denmark, and in 2026 it has gone live in Greenland and Mexico. Ireland could become another such market once the GRAI opens online gaming licences, but for now Irish players who used the brand are locked out, and the regulator's message to offshore operators is plain: get licensed or leave.
