Gambling and Gaming Business Loans: Who Funds Casinos, Card Rooms and Gaming Operators

By MercFinancial · Published 2026-10-21

Licensed gaming businesses are financed by private real estate lenders, equipment lessors, private credit and revenue-based funders, not by SBA lenders or most banks. What exists, the licensing gate and how a file is placed.

Gambling and gaming business loans come from private commercial real estate lenders, equipment lessors licensed to deal in gaming devices, private credit funds and revenue-based funders, and every one of them starts with the same question: is the operator licensed, and does the regulator allow the loan. The SBA excludes any business that derives more than one-third of gross annual revenue from legal gambling, several large online lenders list gambling as restricted, and most banks decline the industry outside a handful of regional institutions, so the capital for a casino, card room, route operator or gaming venue is non-bank capital placed deliberately.

This guide covers why gaming is a restricted industry, the licensing gate every lender checks before reading the numbers, the capital that exists product by product, what a funding source underwrites and the documents to have ready, the mistakes that get gaming files declined, and how a brokerage places one.

In gaming the license is the asset, and a lender who cannot get the regulator's blessing on the loan has nothing to lend against.

Why gaming is a restricted industry for most lenders

Four separate rules keep conventional lenders out of gaming. The first is the SBA's: under 13 CFR 120.110(g), a business deriving more than one-third of gross annual revenue from legal gambling is ineligible, and under 120.110(h), any business engaged in activity illegal under federal, state or local law is ineligible regardless of revenue. A casino, a card room or a route operator fails the first test outright. The one-third test is worked through in the SBA one-third gambling rule explained.

The second is policy. Several large online lenders list gambling on their restricted-industry lists, and most banks decline it for reputational reasons and because a gaming customer brings Bank Secrecy Act obligations of its own: casinos and card clubs above a revenue threshold are financial institutions under the Act and keep their own anti-money-laundering programs, which a bank must then evaluate.

The third is regulatory. In many jurisdictions the gaming regulator must approve, register or find suitable anyone who lends to a licensee or takes a lien on gaming devices or on the proceeds of gaming, and a gaming license itself generally cannot be pledged or transferred without regulator consent. The fourth is legality. Sweepstakes and skill-game formats are lawful in some states, contested in others and prohibited in the rest, and no lender funds a format its counsel cannot confirm is legal where it operates.

The licensing gate every gaming lender checks

Before any funding source reads a gaming business's revenue, it reads the license. The questions are specific.

• What is licensed, and by whom. A casino operator license, a card room license, a terminal or route operator license, a location license for a bar with machines, or a distributor license for equipment. Each is issued by a state gaming commission, lottery or similar regulator, and the lender wants the certificate, the expiration and the regulator's correspondence.
• Who else must be licensed. Owners above an ownership threshold, key employees and, in some jurisdictions, the lender itself. A change in ownership triggered by a loan, a conversion right or a foreclosure may need regulator approval before it can happen.
• What the regulator allows. Whether a lien on gaming devices is permitted, whether an assignment of gaming revenue is permitted, and what notice or approval the loan requires. Counsel in the licensing state answers this, and the lender will want the answer in writing.
• Whether the format is legal. For anything other than a commercial or tribal casino, a licensed card room or a state-sanctioned terminal program, the lender asks for a legal opinion on the format in that state.

The capital that exists, product by product

• Commercial real estate loans. Private and non-bank CRE lenders, and some regional banks, finance the building a casino, card room or truck stop operates from, sized to appraisal and to coverage from the whole business. The property is usually the largest piece of a gaming capital stack and is covered in casino and card room financing.
• Gaming equipment leasing and loans. Manufacturer programs, participation leases and third-party lessors licensed as distributors finance slot machines, tables, kiosks and systems, with the regulator's consent to the lien. The product is specialized enough to have its own guide: gaming equipment financing.
• Private credit term loans. Non-bank term lenders and credit funds write secured term debt to licensed operators with a history of regulator-reported revenue, usually with a lien on non-gaming assets, an assignment of revenue where the regulator permits it, and a personal guaranty for smaller operators.
• Revenue-based financing. Available against the card-processed, non-gaming receipts of a venue, such as food, beverage, hotel and retail, since funders generally cannot take gaming revenue without regulator approval. See how revenue-based financing works.
• Unsecured loans on owner credit. Case by case, for smaller amounts, from lenders that underwrite the guarantor and the deposits rather than the industry.
• Seller financing and partner capital. In an acquisition, the seller commonly carries a note, and in expansions the operator's partners often fund the equity the lenders will not.

What a funding source underwrites in a gaming file

Have these ready, and a gaming file moves in weeks instead of quarters.

Mistakes that get gaming files declined

• Applying before counsel has answered what the regulator allows. The lender's first question goes unanswered, and the file stalls for months.
• Estimating SBA eligibility from a bar's revenue mix without the math. If gaming is near one-third, the lender does the arithmetic from the regulator's reports, not from the owner's estimate.
• Treating a sweepstakes or skill-game venue as a licensed business. If the format is contested in the state, no funding source will write it.
• Stacking advances on the non-gaming receipts. Two advances on the restaurant and bar make the whole business unfinanceable until they are cleared.
• Revenue reported to the regulator that the bank statements do not show. That gap is a decline and a compliance question.

Where MercFinancial fits

MercFinancial is a commercial funding brokerage in Houston, not a lender, and it has no authority to approve a gaming loan. What a funding specialist does is read the license file, the revenue by line and the collateral first, then identify, from more than 160 wholesale and institutional funding sources, the real estate lenders, equipment lessors, private credit funds and revenue-based funders whose policy allows gaming and the structure you need. One file goes to all of them, the offers are compared, and the regulator's approval process is built into the timeline from the start. Availability depends on the funding source, and when the format, the license or the numbers cannot be written, you are told plainly. The related guides are collected under gambling and gaming business funding, and the product families under business funding programs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a casino get an SBA loan?

No. A casino derives far more than one-third of its gross annual revenue from legal gambling, which makes it ineligible under 13 CFR 120.110(g). The same applies to card rooms and route operators. Casino capital comes from private and regional commercial real estate lenders, licensed gaming equipment lessors, private credit funds and, for non-gaming lines, revenue-based funders, each subject to the gaming regulator's approval of the loan.

Do banks lend to gaming businesses?

A few regional banks with gaming departments lend to established casinos, and some community banks will finance the real estate of a long-standing depositor with modest gaming revenue. Most banks decline the industry by policy because of reputational concerns and the Bank Secrecy Act obligations a gaming customer brings. For most operators the practical lenders are private and non-bank.

Can I get a loan for a sweepstakes cafe or skill-game room?

Only where the format is clearly legal and licensed in that state, and even then from a narrow set of funding sources. The legality of sweepstakes and skill-game venues varies by state and is contested in several. Lenders ask for a legal opinion on the format in the operating state, and a contested or prohibited format cannot be financed by anyone, under 13 CFR 120.110(h) and under lender policy alike.

Does the gaming regulator have to approve a business loan?

In many jurisdictions, yes, in some form. Regulators commonly require approval, registration or a finding of suitability for a lender to a licensee, consent to a lien on gaming devices or an assignment of gaming revenue, and approval of any ownership change a loan could trigger. Counsel in the licensing state confirms the exact requirement, and lenders want that answer in writing before they commit.

What documents does a gaming business need for financing?

The complete license file with the regulator's recent correspondence, findings of suitability for owners and key people, counsel's letter on what the regulator allows a lender to take, revenue by line reconciled to regulator reports, tax returns and bank statements, the anti-money-laundering program and latest examination, a real estate appraisal or equipment schedule, and the owner's personal financial statement.

MercFinancial is a commercial funding brokerage in Houston, Texas. MercFinancial is a broker, not a lender: every loan is made by a third-party funding source, every request is subject to that source's underwriting and credit approval, and loan amounts, advance rates, interest rates, terms, fees, collateral and guaranty requirements vary by funding source and borrower and are not guaranteed. Nothing here is a commitment to lend or an offer of credit, and financing is for business purposes only. Any example in this guide is hypothetical and illustrative; actual terms and outcomes vary. Businesses deriving more than one-third of gross annual revenue from legal gambling are ineligible for SBA financing under 13 CFR 120.110(g); gaming is licensed and regulated by each state, and financing availability depends on the funding source's policies. This guide is educational only and is not legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.