Are betting shops open? The 10pm rule and Christmas Day
When a betting shop in Great Britain may trade: the 10pm-7am default licence condition, the section 183 Christmas Day ban, and how many shops remain.
Betting shops in Great Britain may trade on every day of the year except Christmas Day, when section 183 of the Gambling Act 2005 bars gambling on every premises licence from 00.01 on 25 December until midnight. On other days a default licence condition bars gambling facilities between 10pm and 7am.
This is an evergreen explainer. It answers “are betting shops open” with the rule rather than a directory, because each brand sets its own hours inside that rule and this desk has read no operator’s timetable. This desk read Parts 9 and 19 of the Gambling Commission’s Guidance to licensing authorities, with Part 19 marked “Published 1 April 2021”, and the Commission’s industry statistics for April 2025 to March 2026, on 18 October 2026.
Are betting shops open? The conditions that decide it
| Rule | Where it sits | What it says | Room to vary, per the text read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trading hours | Default condition, para 19.21 | No gambling facilities in betting premises from 10pm to 7am the next day, on any day | A default, not a mandatory condition; the page does not say how it may be varied |
| Christmas Day | Section 183, para 9.18 | No gambling facilities on any premises licence, 00.01 on 25 December to 00.00 on 26 December | None: para 9.4 says there is no discretion to omit or modify it |
| Under-18s | Mandatory condition, para 19.13 | A notice at every entrance that no one under 18 is admitted | Mandatory |
| Alcohol | Mandatory condition, para 19.18 | No drinking on the premises while gambling facilities are provided | Mandatory |
Conditions on a licence are enforced like any other duty; the Holland Park Leisure fine shows the Commission’s response when a licensee stayed outside a scheme it had to join.
What time do betting shops close in the UK?
Part 19 of the Commission’s guidance on betting premises licence conditions puts it in one sentence at para 19.21: gambling facilities “may not be offered in betting premises between the hours of 10pm on one day and 7am on the next day, on any day.”
Two points of drafting matter. The condition restricts gambling facilities being offered, which is the activity the licence covers. And it sits under the heading “Default conditions”, separate from the mandatory list at paras 19.13 to 19.20. The text this desk read does not set out whether or how a licensing authority may depart from it, so a shop trading outside 7am to 10pm is not, on this reading alone, evidence of a breach.
Inside that frame each operator sets its own hours, which is why the brand-hours pages that dominate this search differ shop by shop. This desk prints none of them.
Are betting shops open on Christmas Day?
No. Part 9 of the guidance on conditions attached by virtue of the Act states at para 9.18 that section 183 “applies a condition to all premises licences that facilities for gambling must not be provided on Christmas day”, running from 00.01 on 25 December until 00.00 on 26 December. The table after that paragraph marks s.183 against all premises licences, so casinos and bingo halls are covered as well as betting shops.
Para 9.4 removes any room for local variation: these conditions attach automatically and “there is no discretion to decide not to include them or to modify them”. The condition is written for premises licences; the paragraph says nothing about remote betting.
How many betting shops are there in the UK?
The Commission’s industry statistics for April 2025 to March 2026 put the number of betting premises in Great Britain at 5,617, a decline for the 12th consecutive reporting period and 208 fewer, or 3.6 percent, than at March 2025. Non-remote betting gross gambling yield was £2.4 billion, down 3.3 percent on the previous financial year.
Each of those shops holds a premises licence from its local licensing authority on top of the operator’s Commission licence; our guide to starting a betting company sets out that order.
Frequently asked questions
Are betting shops open today?
On any day except Christmas Day a betting shop in Great Britain may trade, and by default its gambling facilities sit inside the hours of 7am to 10pm under para 19.21 of the Commission’s guidance. Whether a particular shop is open today is its operator’s decision within that frame, so the shop or the operator’s own page is the place to check.
Are betting shops open on bank holidays?
Nothing in Parts 9 or 19 of the guidance singles out a bank holiday other than Christmas Day. Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Monday fall under the same default condition as any other day, which para 19.21 says applies on any day. Whether a shop opens on one is a decision for its operator.
Are betting shops open on Christmas Day?
No. Section 183 of the Gambling Act 2005 attaches a condition to every premises licence that gambling facilities must not be provided from 00.01 on 25 December until 00.00 on 26 December, per para 9.18 of the Commission’s guidance. Para 9.4 says there is no discretion to leave that condition out or modify it.
Bet Bulletin covers the licensed market as industry news, not as a guide to where or when to bet. Betting shops admit no one under 18, and anyone for whom gambling has stopped being a choice can find free, confidential support through GambleAware at begambleaware.org.