Play971 UAE: We Tested the First Legal Online Casino & Sportsbook

Our Quick Verdict on Play971

After testing Play971, our team found a platform that offers a stable and genuinely regulated online gambling experience in the UAE.

Usability is strong, with fast loading times and smooth navigation between Casino, Sports and Racing, even without a dedicated mobile app.

The casino section is still limited, with only a couple of providers and a small selection of games, but it works reliably and will likely expand as more suppliers receive approval.

In contrast, the sportsbook is surprisingly complete for a new market, offering a wide range of sports, deep markets, live betting and even streaming.

Racing is also well developed, with structured racecards and live viewing on selected events.

Play971 operates without bonuses or promotions, which appears to be part of the regulatory framework. Instead, the platform focuses on responsible gambling, offering strong player controls such as deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion.

Overall, Play971 feels like a credible and carefully regulated starting point for the UAE’s new online gambling landscape: functional, safe and clearly built to grow over time.

Is Play971 Really the First Legal Online Gambling Site in the UAE?

The most important question is the one every player is asking: is Play971 genuinely legal?

According to the platform’s own regulatory information and knowledge base, the answer is yes. Play971 states:

“We are the first fully licensed and regulated iGaming site in the UAE, authorized by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA).”

This matters because the GCGRA is the newly created federal authority responsible for regulating commercial gaming in the UAE.

Play971 is operated by:

• Coin Technology Projects LLC
• A limited liability company incorporated in Abu Dhabi
• Commercial licence number: CN-3762798
• Registered at: P1, Twofour54, Yas Creative Hub, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Who Can Register and Play on Play971

Play971’s Terms and Conditions reveal one of the strictest eligibility frameworks we have seen in the gambling industry.

Because the UAE is building regulation from scratch, the rules go far beyond what players might expect from European or offshore platforms.

The requirements include being:

• at least 21 years old
• physically located inside the UAE
• a legal resident or verified visitor
• outside any restricted geographic zones
• not on exclusion or sanctions lists
• not associated with criminal or dishonest activity
• the sole user of a single personal account
• the authorised owner of the bank card used

These rules shape who can participate and reflect the regulatory emphasis on identity, financial integrity, and player responsibility.

To give our readers a clearer view, here is a simplified breakdown:

Registration and eKYC Verification

Opening an account on Play971 is a structured experience.

During our test, we encountered a multi-layered verification system designed to comply with GCGRA rules. The platform requires:

• full personal details
• documentation proving identity
• a recent photograph
• facial scan for biometric match
• phone and email verification
• geolocation checks
• validation of payment method ownership

Unlike offshore sites that allow quick access, Play971 performs continuous checks: meaning your eligibility is reassessed periodically.

This is consistent with modern regulatory expectations around anti-money-laundering, fraud prevention and responsible gambling.

Casino Experience: A Small but Promising Start

When we entered the casino section, our first reaction was that the catalogue feels limited, especially when compared to established international operators.

That explains why the library feels compact: you will find a little bit of everything, slots, tables, live casino, but not the huge variety most players may expect.

Popular global titles such as Aviator, Sweet Bonanza, Big Bass series, or major Megaways franchises are not yet available.

And that’s not necessarily a flaw; it’s simply a reflection of where the UAE market stands on day one.

Play971 can only offer games from studios that have been approved under the new GCGRA licensing framework.

As more suppliers receive clearance, the catalogue will grow. You can almost feel that the casino is designed to scale, not to impress on launch day.

We would describe the Play971 casino today as:

• limited but solid
• minimal but stable
• more of a foundation than a final product

In the context of a brand-new regulated market, that’s understandable, and honestly, expected.

Sportsbook Experience: Surprisingly Mature and Impressively Deep

If the casino feels like a starting point, the sportsbook feels like a finished product.

This is where Play971 genuinely surprised us.

For a first-of-its-kind platform in a brand-new regulatory environment, the sports offering is shockingly broad.

We found extensive coverage across football, cricket, tennis, basketball, table tennis, golf, ice hockey and dozens more. Even niche categories like volleyball, cycling, and handball are already included.

But it is not just the number of sports that impressed us: it’s the depth of the markets.

Major football fixtures, for example, include full-time results, totals, handicaps, player markets, team props and various combinational bets. Live betting is well integrated, with smooth odds updates and clear visualisation during in-play events.

What stood out even more was the live streaming available directly from the interface. Streaming is usually a feature reserved for large global operators that negotiate content rights through established suppliers, so seeing it available at launch is noteworthy.

The sportsbook feels:

• mature
• ambitious
• international-grade

Unlike the casino (which has room to grow), the sportsbook already feels like a fully formed betting environment. If this is the benchmark for regulated UAE gambling going forward, it sets expectations extremely high.

Racing Experience: Fully Featured and Surprisingly Polished

Horse racing and greyhounds often sit in a separate tier within gambling platforms because of the data requirements, stream integrations and licensing considerations.

We expected Play971’s Racing section to be minimal at launch but it turned out to be one of the platform’s most polished verticals.

When exploring the Racing lobby, we found:

• upcoming races clearly listed by time and location
• race class descriptions
• track conditions (such as “Good to Soft”)
• detailed racecards with jockey names and trainers
• fractional and decimal odds
• and, impressively, Watch Live access for selected races

The interface feels clean and structured, closer to the racing sections you might find on UK or Australian bookmakers than a first-day Emirati platform.

The Racing vertical appears to serve a very specific purpose: it shows that Play971 is not only positioning itself as a general gambling site but as a full-spectrum operator capable of handling data-heavy, high-integrity content from day one.

Payment Methods

One of our priorities during testing was understanding how deposits work.

The cashier reveals two authorised payment channels:

The platform displays preset deposit options (AED 10, 60, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000), but manual amounts are also possible.

The terms explicitly forbid business cards, third-party cards, and cards previously used on excluded accounts. Again, compliance dominates the design.

Withdrawals are not fully explored here, as Play971’s withdrawal policy evolves with verification stage but the interface clearly supports UAE banking channels.

Responsible Gambling Features

One of the strongest impressions we had during testing is that Play971 takes responsible gambling seriously and not in a superficial, checkbox way.

The platform includes the types of controls normally found in mature markets like the UK and certain US states.

Inside the Player Controls section, we found:

• Deposit limits with adjustable daily, weekly and monthly settings
• Time-out tools for short breaks from betting
• Self-exclusion options for longer-term restrictions
• Detailed account history, including deposits, wagers and gameplay
• Clear messaging on safe gambling expectations
• Verification checks that ensure the account holder is the one playing
• Restrictions on underage and third-party play
• Financial safeguards relating to card ownership and affordability

Setting a deposit limit in particular is simple and transparent: choose the amount, select the timeframe (from 24 hours up to 30 days) and confirm.

Once set, limits cannot be instantly bypassed, which prevents impulsive behaviour.

Play971 is not built like offshore gambling sites. It is built like a compliance-first platform, aligning itself with the kind of regulatory frameworks seen in established global markets.

Mobile App Availability

During our testing, we attempted to locate any reference to a Play971 app, either for iOS or Android, and found no downloadable mobile application available.

This is not unusual for a platform that has just launched in a newly regulated market.

Instead, Play971 offers a fully responsive mobile browser version, which worked smoothly in our experience. The menus, betting slips, and casino games adjusted well to phone screens, and the navigation felt intuitive.

It is reasonable to assume a dedicated app will arrive in the future, especially given how mobile-focused the UAE market is. However, as of now:

• No official app exists
• The mobile browser experience is the primary method of play
• Nothing on the site suggests an imminent app launch

If or when a Play971 app becomes available, the review can be updated accordingly.

Conclusion

Our time testing Play971 left us with a clear conclusion: this is not just another gambling site, it is the first real test case of what regulated online gambling will look like in the UAE.

It feels legal, structured and deliberately conservative, especially in how it handles verification, payments and responsible gambling.

• The casino is still basic and clearly in its early stages, with a small pool of providers and a limited game selection.
• The sportsbook, on the other hand, is already strong, with wide coverage, deep markets and a level of functionality that would not look out of place in a mature European market.
• Racing is handled with the same level of care, offering proper racecards and live viewing.

There are no bonuses, no aggressive promotions and no shortcuts around verification.

That will not appeal to everyone, but it is consistent with a compliance-first model and a regulator that is trying to build this market carefully from the ground up.

In short, Play971 feels like a foundation rather than a finished product: a credible, locally licensed platform that prioritises safety and structure over hype.