Decision
Is My Prize Draw or Giveaway Regulated Gambling?
Is My Prize Draw or Giveaway Regulated Gambling?: short answer
In Cyprus it turns on whether players pay. Gambling is defined as any game of chance, or of mixed chance and skill, played for money or money's worth, so a genuinely free entry draw sits outside it and a paid one does not. Cyprus publishes no monetary thresholds. Malta does.
Reviewed by Doviandi Limited, licensed by ICPAC as an administrative service provider, certificate E645/F/2014.
| Cyprus test | Game of chance, or of mixed chance and skill, played for money or money's worth |
|---|---|
| Free entry with no consideration | Outside the Cyprus definition, because nothing is played for |
| Cyprus monetary thresholds | None published |
| Malta limited commercial communication games | Stake up to 2 euro, prize up to 250 euro, 5,000 a month and 50,000 a year per organiser |
| Malta commercial communication games | 100,000 a month, 500,000 a year, no single event above 50,000 |
| Malta permit | Single event only, 25 euro, applied for seven working days ahead |
Marketing teams, creators and consumer app founders reach this question through a giveaway, a competition or a paid prize mechanic. The Cyprus definition is wider than most expect because it catches games of mixed chance and skill, so calling something a skill competition does less work here than in Malta.
The Cyprus test is wider than most people expect
Cyprus does not define gambling by reference to chance alone.
Under the Betting Houses, Gaming Houses and Prevention of Gambling Law, Cap. 151, to gamble means to play or engage in any game of chance, or game of mixed chance and skill, for money or for money's worth.
Two things follow, and both cut against the way promotions are usually designed.
Describing a promotion as a skill competition does less work in Cyprus than in Malta. The phrase "mixed chance and skill" is in the definition, so the presence of a skill element does not by itself place a game outside it. The question is whether chance is material to the outcome, not whether skill is present.
The escape route is narrow and the burden sits on the player. The Law provides that playing is not gambling where the person proves, to the satisfaction of the court hearing the offence and having regard to the circumstances including the stakes, that they played for social amusement and recreation and not for gain. That is a defence to be established rather than a starting assumption.
The threshold is consideration. The definition requires the game to be played for money or money's worth. A promotion that is genuinely free to enter, where nothing of value is required to participate, is not being played for money or money's worth and therefore falls outside the definition on its face. Where entry requires a purchase, a paid credit, or anything else of value, it does not.
Cyprus publishes no thresholds, which is the practical finding
There is no numeric safe harbour in Cyprus for a promotional game. No stake ceiling, no prize cap, no monthly or annual limit per organiser, and no permit route for a small promotion.
The two statutes approach the question differently and neither supplies a figure.
Cap. 151 is place based. A gaming house includes any place kept or used for gambling, and a place is treated as used for gambling even on a single occasion. It predates the internet and reaches premises rather than connections.
The Betting Law 37(I)/2019 reaches bets, and its definition of a bet requires a stake, odds fixed by the organiser before or at the time the bet is placed, and an event in which natural persons participate and which actually takes place. A prize draw with no fixed odds and no real-world event is not a bet, which means the Betting Law's licences are neither available nor relevant to it.
Malta does publish thresholds, and they are specific
Malta treats promotional games as a category of low risk games in the Fifth Schedule to the Gaming Authorisations Regulations, which have not been amended since Legal Notice 243 of 2018. There are three categories:
| Category | Limits |
|---|---|
| Non-profit games | Stake not exceeding 5 euro per player |
| Commercial communication games | Organiser not exceeding 100,000 euro in prizes in any calendar month and 500,000 euro in any calendar year, with no single event awarding a prize above 50,000 euro |
| Limited commercial communication games | Stake not exceeding 2 euro per player and prize not exceeding 250 euro, with organiser caps of 5,000 euro a month and 50,000 euro a year |
The Malta Gaming Authority requires a low risk games permit. It is valid for a single event only and expires when the event concludes, the application fee is 25 euro, a further 25 euro applies where the application is filed fewer than seven days before the event begins, and applications are made through the Licensee Portal at least seven working days beforehand.
Where a paid mystery box or loot box sits
The design that causes difficulty is the one where a participant pays, and what they receive is determined by chance and has a variable value.
On the Cyprus definition that is a game played for money or money's worth whose outcome depends on chance, which is the position the definition describes. The presence of a skill element in selecting or opening does not remove it, because the definition reaches games of mixed chance and skill.
Where the mechanic is delivered online and resembles a casino-type game, a second question arises before any VAT or commercial one. The Betting Law creates only two licences, and the Class B licence authorises electronic betting excluding online casino games of chance, so no Cyprus licence exists for that activity. Article 84 makes providing services for the conduct in the Republic of online casino games of chance a felony carrying up to five years imprisonment or a fine of up to 300,000 euro, or both.
Whether a particular mechanic falls on one side of that line or the other depends on how the product actually works, what the participant pays, and how the outcome is determined. It is a question to take on advice on the specific design rather than to resolve from a description of the category.
One consequence of the 1 October 2026 Malta changes
From 1 October 2026 the Maltese value added tax exemption for gambling in item 9 of Part Two of the Fifth Schedule to the VAT Act covers only what the Minister approves. Guidelines issued by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration on 6 April 2026 approved three things: low risk games, junket events held on an occasional basis, and facilities for gambling on a real-life event that can only be physically accessed where the event takes place.
Low risk games are therefore one of only three categories that remain exempt without credit, and the only one of the three that is not tied to a physical location. For an organiser running promotions at scale through a Maltese entity, the category now carries a value added tax consequence as well as a licensing one.
Cyprus has not narrowed its own exemption, which sits in Table B of the Seventh Schedule to the VAT Law N.95(I)/2000 and covers the acceptance of bets and other games of chance without conditions.
Common questions
Is a free prize draw gambling in Cyprus?
The definition in Cap. 151 requires a game of chance, or of mixed chance and skill, to be played for money or for money's worth. A promotion that is genuinely free to enter, where nothing of value is required in order to participate, is not played for money or money's worth and falls outside the definition on its face. Where entry requires a purchase or a paid credit, that reasoning does not apply.
Does calling it a skill competition keep it outside gambling law?
Not in Cyprus by itself. The definition expressly reaches games of mixed chance and skill, so the presence of skill does not remove a game from it where chance remains material to the outcome. Malta takes a different route, allowing the Authority to classify an activity as a skill game under regulation 7 of S.L. 583.05, but places the burden of proving that an activity is a skill game on the party operating or promoting it.
What are the Malta limits for a promotional prize game?
Commercial communication games are limited to 100,000 euro in prizes in any calendar month and 500,000 euro in any calendar year per organiser, with no single event awarding more than 50,000 euro. Limited commercial communication games have a stake of no more than 2 euro and a prize of no more than 250 euro, capped at 5,000 euro a month and 50,000 euro a year. Non-profit games are limited to a stake of 5 euro per player.
Does Cyprus have an equivalent permit for small promotions?
No equivalent permit route or published monetary threshold has been identified. Malta issues a low risk games permit for a single event at 25 euro through its Licensee Portal. In Cyprus the analysis is done against the elements of the definition in Cap. 151 rather than against a figure.
Who has to prove that a game was only for amusement?
The person who played. Cap. 151 provides that playing is not treated as gambling where that person proves, to the satisfaction of the court hearing the offence and having regard to the circumstances including the stakes, that they were playing for social amusement and recreation and not for gain. It operates as a defence rather than as an exclusion built into the definition.
Technical definition
Under the Betting Houses, Gaming Houses and Prevention of Gambling Law, Cap. 151, to gamble means to play or engage in any game of chance or game of mixed chance and skill, for money or for money's worth. Malta takes a different route, classifying low risk games in the Fifth Schedule to the Gaming Authorisations Regulations with express monetary limits.
Practical implications
The practical question in Cyprus is whether participation requires money or money's worth, and whether chance is material to the outcome. There is no numeric safe harbour to design against. In Malta there is, together with a permit that is valid for a single event, so the same promotion can be treated differently in the two jurisdictions.
Common misconceptions
It is widely assumed that describing a promotion as a skill competition removes it from gambling law. The Cyprus definition expressly reaches games of mixed chance and skill. It is also assumed that Malta's published categories are complete on the regulator's website, and they are not.