Course taken about permit needed for gambling game (8)
I believe the answer is:
roulette
'for gambling game' is the definition.
(roulette is a kind of gambling game)
'course taken about permit' is the wordplay.
'course taken' becomes 'route' (I've seen this before).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'permit' becomes 'let' ('let' can be a synonym of 'permit').
'route' enclosing 'let' is 'ROULETTE'.
'needed' is the link.
(Other definitions for roulette that I've seen before include "Gambling game with small ball and revolving disc (8)" , "Casino game" , "it's for the better, supposedly" , "Half of 1D [GAME OR BIRD]" , "it's a gamble" .)