Portugal Gambling
Portugal’s regulated online gambling market broke its revenue record for the second consecutive quarter in the three months to June 30, with licenced operators generating a collective total of €48.3m (£44.0m/$53.3m). Portugal does offer land based casino gambling, although there are only 9 in total, and many feel that the government not issuing more casino licenses has stifled competition. Some of these casinos are fairly large though and the casino scene in Portugal is fairly vibrant in spite of the limited selection. Portugal's controversial new online gambling tax came into force at the end of June, prompting a number of online gaming providers to exit the country. Under the new regime, the gross revenues of companies providing online gambling services will be subject to a 15 percent tax if their annual income is less than EUR5m (USD5.48m). GamblingCompliance Regulatory Briefing: Portugal’s New Online Gambling Law With the participation of the Portuguese Gambling Regulator – SRIJ (speaker TBC) An in-depth look at the country’s new gambling regulation and what it means for the industry 14th October 2015, Hotel Myriad, Lisbon, Portugal. Top Portugal Casinos: See reviews and photos of casinos in Portugal, Europe on Tripadvisor.
Portuguese casino revenue has yet to fully recover from the impact of the global financial crisis, having fallen from a peak of €386m in 2008 to €309m in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available.
Land-based casinos in Portugal are restricted to specific gambling zones: Açores, Algarve, Espinho, Estoril, Figueira da Foz, Funchal, Porto Santo, Póvoa de Varzim, Troia and Vidago-Pedras Salgadas.
There are 12 casinos and one gaming room in operation in Portugal
Portugal Gambling License
Casinos can offer table games, including baccarat, blackjack/21, craps, cussec, American and French roulette and poker games.
The government may authorise other forms of games of chance at the request of existing operators, but the SRIJ must provide an opinion of the proposed activity. Casinos can also only use gambling material that has been previously authorised by the SRIJ.
Land-based poker is only allowed within casinos, either in cash games or tournaments, as it is considered a game of chance in Portugal.
Portugal’s gambling regulator, the Regulation and Inspection Service of Games (SRIJ), is a component of the Tourism Office.
Aside from casinos, the gambling market in Portugal is dominated by Santa Casa, an historic charitable organisation which holds a monopoly over lottery games, land-based betting on sports and horseracing.
Portugal Gambling Authority
A liberalised online gambling market was introduced in May 2016, but has faced challenges due in large part to a tough tax regime, with online casinos taxed at a variable rate of 15-30 percent of GGR, but is now worth roughly 4 percent of market-wide GGR.
It was confirmed in October 2018 that initiatives to soften Portugal’s online gambling tax regime, through a consolidation of online gambling tax at 25 percent of GGR, were to be excluded at the last minute from the 2019 Budget
Barcelona Gambling
A working group set up to analyse potential tax changes in Portugal was then due to report in February, 2019, but failed to publish any findings.