Portugal Gambling

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Gambling

A little history on casinos in Portugal Although casinos in Portugal are not in a great quantity, the history of legal gambling began more than a hundred years ago. The national charity quiz in 1783 was the first example of gambling in Portugal and the first casino was opened in 1904. Try your luck at some of the best Portugal Casinos. Stay & play at one of 49801 casino hotels in Portugal and let the games begin.

It isn’t unusual for a country that allows gambling on its territory to be a significant tourist destination. For Portugal in particular, this comes as a considerable source of income. In fact, last year’s GDP of Portugal was around $210 billion, and the revenue from online gambling was $122 million – which makes up for 0.05%. This is just a small part of what is about to come in the upcoming years.

The Laws Behind the Gambling Industry – Which Games are Regulated

Online gambling is a fresh phenomenon in Portugal, and it is due to the fact that the government had recently changed it’s gambling laws, which now include online betting. This means that online casinos and sportsbooks are completely legal, licensed, and regulated by the nation’s Regulatory and Inspection Services of Games and Tourism of Portugal or RISGTP administration for short.

While it is somewhat strange that a governing body that answers for tourism in the country would also be responsible for regulating any type of gambling activity, it’s not very surprising. In the regulatory code, it states that “the practice of games of chance may be held only in casinos located in specific law-determined gaming zones”. So far, 10 areas have been approved, every single one of which sees its fair share of tourists.

The Taxes are Merciless

Something that makes a big impression in the online casino and sportsbook sectors is the amount of tax those businesses pay in Portugal. The online gambling tax is 44%, and yes, it is considered to be quite high. Because of that, many economists projected that the online business in the country would decline, but what happened was quite the opposite. Today, there are many new companies lining up to apply for an online gaming license.

Online Gambling Laws are Recent in the Country

Portugal Gambling

In order to be able to start issuing licenses, a government needs to cover a particular set of requirements. Portugal fulfilled its own in 2015. After the legislation was passed, it required testing labs and online operators to obtain licenses in 4 different fields – horse race betting, fixed odds sports betting, bingo, and games of chance, such as poker, roulette, slots, and other casino games. Today, there are many land-based and online gambling venues that provide people with the actions they’re looking for.

Tourism is a Unity of Sports Gambling and Cultural Events

Last year, it was reported that the revenue from tourism in Portugal was around $23 billion – which makes up for almost 11% of the national GDP. This includes entertainment events such as sports games, concerts, and even cultural events. A lot of tourist regions include fascinating beaches and coastlines, castles, shrines, city squares and parks. In truth, Portugal holds around 14 awards as a more preferred tourist destination in more than 10 categories.

Improvement of Social Welfare Programs

Portugal Gambling Operators

It is an all-known-fact that the state of public administrations and social welfare programs in Portugal were in a very poor state even since the beginning of the 90’s. The country is also renowned for having an outstandingly slow and inefficient administrative structure, which results in slow, over-blown bureaucratic proceedings. As the European Union announced its decision to help Portugal out of the financial crisis, measures were taken to improve the government’s overall public system.

Some Challenges Remain to Be Tackled

As Portugal is making its slow recovery from a dynamic decade of financial woes, there are many other issues that await to be resolved. While this is happening, the country continues its steady rise by providing superior tourist destinations and services to its visitors and re-developing its national industries. Despite the difficulties, you can expect many great things to happen for Portugal in the future!

Online gambling laws in Portugal are undergoing a fair amount of change right now but on this page I’ll provide a brief overview of the recent history and explain what we’re expecting to see going forward. There are both positive and negative aspects to recent changes that will ultimate determine if Portugal becomes a major player in the global gaming market.

Most forms of gambling are legal in Portugal. The country has 11 land-based casinos and a few options for government-sanctioned internet betting. Until recently, the market was closed to foreign operators in favor of a government-supported monopoly.

Gaming legislation enacted in 2015 opened the market to international betting brands, but high taxes and excessive regulation have so far put a damper on any excitement we once held that Portugal would finally embrace the reality of online gambling. To date, a total of five gaming companies have received online betting licenses in Portugal.

License or no license, plenty of gaming sites are still happy to accept residents of Portugal. Most of the big brands have Portuguese-language versions of their websites and they all accept Euro deposits. Some of the popular deposit methods for the country include Multibanco, PayPal, Ukash, credit card, Neteller and electronic bank transfer.

Best Portugal Betting Sites

Betting Site
Portugal

Portugal Gambling Authority

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Portugal finally got around to issuing its first gambling license to Betclic.pt in early 2016. More licenses eventually followed, but Betclic was the first site authorized by the government to accept real money wagers from Portuguese citizens. Other companies/sites that received licenses include CasinoPortugal.pt, the Betclic Everest Group and Bet Entertainment Technologies (BET).

Previously, unlicensed operators had free reign to advertise their wares in Portugal. The Portuguese government now prohibits such advertising and even orders internet service providers to censor the internet to block access to these sites. Of course, savvy internet users are easily able to get around the blocks.

The Portuguese market has proven promising with significant revenues generated by the industry despite its young age and limited number of operators. However, high tax rates have severely limited the market, dissuaded operators from acquiring licenses and hurt competition.

The tax rates in Portugal are set at nearly unmanageable levels:

  • 15 to 30% on gross gaming revenue for casino games, poker and bingo
  • 8 to 16% on total betting turnover for sports betting

If this tax scheme applied to net profits, it would be one thing. That is not the case in Portugal. These rates are based on total gaming activity before operating expenses or net profits are even considered. It’s so bad that a handful of international gaming brands declared immediately that they had zero interest in applying for a gaming license in Portugal.

Year-end reports from 2016 showed that online gambling generated €82 million in gross revenue for the year, but nearly half that (€40 million) went straight to taxes. Local gambling groups have petitioned the government to lower the tax rate so the market can see its true potential and attract additional licensees. More competition among Portuguese bookmakers will be a good thing for players as well.

Portugal Gambling Companies

However, the industry has grown despite these issues. By September of 2017, Portugal had already issued a total of eleven online gambling licenses. Seven of those have been granted to online casinos and four have been granted to sports betting sites.

Portugal Gambling Laws

Barcelona gambling

Citizens of Portugal have access to most forms of gambling but the government strictly regulates who may offer what. There are exactly 11 land-based casinos in the country that offer all the staple games you would expect to find in a casino. Blackjack, roulette, slot machines, poker and all the rest are common sights inside any Portuguese casino.

Things look good from a distance, but the government maintains a tight grip over the industry. Each casino in the country had to be specially approved while all other forms of gaming are subject to a state-owned monopoly provider that we all know as the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML). The SCML is both a regulatory body and a government-controlled monopoly provider of the lottery and sports betting. It also offers a limited form of online betting through its website located here.

SCML takes a unique approach to sports betting. Rather than offering the odds like a traditional bookmaker, SCML operates in the parimutuel fashion in which the payouts are determined by the betting action of all the people betting on an event. SCML does not create the odds; it facilitates wagers between the people.

All casino games and poker are illegal outside of casinos in Portugal. You’ll have to visit a land-based casino to get that kind of action. The SCML on the other hand has thousands of ticket sellers spread across the country. Any time you’re in Portugal, you’re never far from an SCML lottery or sports ticket.

The Portuguese system worked well in the past, but the internet has changed everything. For years, Portugal has tried to fight the internet and protect its monopoly. The country instituted web-censorship programs to block access to sites and has refused to grant any gaming company the right to offer its services over the internet.

If the government had its way, gambling in Portugal would be done only at land-based casinos and with the SCML monopoly. Unfortunately for the government, prohibitions are notoriously difficult to enforce. Pressure from the EU has also prompted lawmakers to reconsider their stance on allowing Portugal gambling sites to operate.

Finally in June of 2014, the Portuguese government announced legislation that would allow for the licensing of foreign operators seeking access to the market. The regulations include licensing conditions, an explanation of taxes and other rules for the market. This will finally give big-name betting sites such the opportunity to obtain a license and possibly even advertise in Portuguese media.

The laws took effect in 2015 and many in the industry were disappointed to see high taxes and excessive regulation. Sports betting will be particularly hard-hit with rates while the government-controlled monopoly will pay as little as half as much in taxes.

The disparity between what online betting sites will pay and what the government-controlled monopoly will pay will likely draw the ire of foreign operators and the EU. The EU has already ruled numerous times against other nations that have tried to sneak in protectionist measures to benefit their state-held monopolies. But for now, we’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.

In any case, foreign operators are already accepting Portuguese residents. There’s the problem of web censorship, but that is easily bypassed with the help of cheap VPN services that can be found all over the internet. If the new laws don’t work out, you’ll still have plenty of options for betting online – they just won’t have the official government stamp of approval.

Portuguese regulatory body Serviço Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) issued its first online betting license to the Betclic Everest Group on 25 May, 2016. Betclic.pt is only authorized to offer real money sports bets for now, but regulators say they have plans to issue more licenses and authorize additional gaming verticals in the near future.

Calvin Ayre also reported that Betclic has expressed interest in obtaining an online casino license to go along with its sports betting business in Portugal. There are still issues of punitive tax rates to work through, but at least the Portuguese market appears to be taking a turn towards regulation and open competition after so many years of government-enforced SCML dominance.

Online Poker in Portugal

The online poker industry has been slow to develop in Portugal compared to casino gaming and sports betting. PokerStars became the first site to be licensed to offer real money poker online in Portugal in November of 2016. With no legal competition, PokerStars.pt grew quickly and remains the top (only) licensed poker site in Portugal.

Portugal Gambling Casinos

SRIJ has been slow in approving of online poker operators, but the regulator is likely issue additional licenses in the future. PokerStars has always been very good about compliance and will probably set a positive example of online poker done right, and this should make SRIJ comfortable with issuing additional licenses.

Additionally, Portugal recently signed a poker liquidity agreement with France, Spain and Italy. This agreement will allow poker sites in each country to share player pools with one another, which will create a healthier ecosystem (more players, bigger tournaments) and in turn attract interest from additional operators.