Legal casino gambling age in Nicaragua
Nicaragua permits casinos and slot halls under a national licensing system and has, on paper, allowed licensed casino operators to offer internet gaming since 2011. The governing statute is Law No. 766, the Special Law for the Control and Regulation of Casinos and Gaming Halls, together with its 2015 implementing regulation. Since 2015 the sector has been supervised by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público, MHCP), which took over the role from the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (INTUR). Lotteries are a separate field, run by the state-owned Lotería Nacional. This guide sets out the legal framework, the licensing model, the rules on online gambling, the position of players, taxation and the protection measures that exist.
Key points
- Casinos and slot halls are governed by Law No. 766 (2011), as amended by Law No. 884 (2014), and by Executive Decree No. 06-2015, its regulation.
- The MHCP is the licensing authority and acts through its Office of Casinos and Gaming Halls; a Control and Regulation Council hears appeals and issues general rules.
- Law 766 allows holders of a Nicaraguan operator licence to offer internet games, and the regulation restricts this to Category “A” venues with prior written authorisation. No public register of authorised online operators could be found.
- The law sets no penalty for players. Persons under 18 may not enter, stay in or play at a casino or gaming hall.
- Operators pay a monthly tax of US$500 per gaming table and US$40 per gaming machine under the Tax Concertation Law; casino prizes of C$25,000 or more are taxable income of the winner.
- Casinos and gaming halls are reporting entities for anti-money-laundering purposes, supervised by the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF).
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026.
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Historical development
Before 2011 Nicaragua had no dedicated casino statute. Gaming and betting fell within the powers of INTUR under Law No. 298, the law that created the tourism institute. As recorded in Law No. 884 of 2014, those powers were later transferred to the Ministry of Finance. The link to tourism explains why the 2011 law still describes casinos as part of the country’s tourism offer.
The National Assembly approved Law No. 766 on 25 May 2011. It was published in La Gaceta, the official gazette, No. 124 of 5 July 2011, and entered into force 150 days later (Law No. 766, text as published). INTUR was the first enforcement authority, acting through a Directorate of Casinos and Gaming Halls. A first regulation, Decree No. 46-2011, was published in La Gaceta No. 173 of 13 September 2011.
In September 2014 the government sent the Assembly a reform bill to move supervision from INTUR to the MHCP. According to a report in Estrategia & Negocios (24 September 2014), the then Finance Minister, Iván Acosta, told the Assembly’s budget committee that the aim was to ensure that the activity “contributes what it has to contribute” and is properly supervised. The same report put the number of casinos at 16 and their annual tax contribution at about US$3 million, plus about US$2.2 million from monthly machine taxes.
Law No. 884 was approved on 16 October 2014, published in La Gaceta No. 215 of 12 November 2014 and took effect on 1 March 2015. It renamed the statute the Special Law for the Control and Regulation of Casinos and Gaming Halls “of Games of Chance” and ordered a consolidated text, which appeared in La Gaceta No. 238 of 16 December 2014 (as cited in Article 1 of Decree No. 06-2015). A new regulation, Decree No. 06-2015, followed in March 2015 and repealed the 2011 decree.
A 2016 article in La Prensa described the practical effect of the change. It reported that a specialist saw the move as treating casinos mainly as a tax source, and that the 11 casinos belonging to the industry chamber CEIJA operated in Managua, León, Chinandega and Matagalpa, with new venues opening in Estelí, and employed about 700 people directly.
Legal framework
The main legal instruments are:
- Law No. 766, the Special Law for the Control and Regulation of Casinos and Gaming Halls of Games of Chance (2011), in its consolidated text of December 2014.
- Law No. 884 (2014), which made the MHCP the enforcement authority.
- Executive Decree No. 06-2015, the regulation of Law 766, approved on 25 February 2015 and published in La Gaceta No. 47 of 10 March 2015.
- Law No. 822, the Tax Concertation Law (Ley de Concertación Tributaria, 2012), as amended by Law No. 987 (2019), which sets the taxes on gaming tables, machines and prizes.
- Law No. 977 against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, which lists casinos and gaming halls as reporting entities.
Law 766 defines a casino as a commercial establishment in which slot machines and gaming tables are operated, and a gaming hall (sala de juegos) as an authorised establishment in which slot machines are commercially exploited. It does not define “games of chance” as such; it uses the wider notion of “betting games”, meaning games in which a stake must be placed in order to take part (Article 2). Article references in this guide follow the 2011 text as published; the consolidated text of December 2014 was not obtained. Decree 06-2015 cites Articles 2 to 34, 51 and 53 for the same subjects as the 2011 text, but cites Articles 41 to 46 for seizure and destruction of machines (the MHCP cited Articles 42 to 46 in 2026), which the 2011 text covers in Articles 35 and 36. Later article numbers, including those on sanctions and internet gaming, may therefore differ in the consolidated text.
The law contains several location and conduct rules. Casinos and gaming halls may not be set up within 400 metres of schools, churches, hospitals and similar sites, subject to exceptions (Article 53). Operators may not set up at fairs and festivals (Article 50). Venues must display notices warning against human trafficking and sexual exploitation (Article 52). Importing, operating or trading in prohibited games is expressly banned (Article 35).
Regulator and licensing model
Nicaragua uses a licensing model: private operators may run casinos and gaming halls if they obtain the required licence and permits, and there is no fixed cap on the number of licences in the law. Under Law 884, the MHCP is the enforcement authority (Autoridad de Aplicación) and acts through an Office of Casinos and Gaming Halls whose director is appointed by the Minister. The Office supervises the import and sale of machines and tables, approves the catalogue of games, appoints inspectors, reports monthly to the Directorate-General of Revenue (DGI) and may close unpermitted venues.
A Control and Regulation Council acts as the rule-making body and the second and final administrative instance for appeals. Its members are the Minister of Finance (who presides), the Director-General of Revenue, the Director-General of the National Police and the Director of the Financial Analysis Unit, with the Office director as secretary without a vote (Law 884, Articles 5 and 5 bis).
The law classifies venues into four categories according to size (Article 9; the bank balances and bonds are set in Articles 18 and 19):
| Category | Minimum equipment | Bank balance required | Guarantee bond |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 71 or more slot machines and/or 3 or more tables | US$100,000 | US$50,000 |
| B | 25 to 70 slot machines, with tables | US$50,000 | US$40,000 |
| C | 16 to 24 slot machines, in smaller towns | US$25,000 | US$20,000 |
| D | 10 to 15 slot machines, in towns under 30,000 inhabitants | US$10,000 | US$10,000 |
Operators need two authorisations. The operating licence (Título-Licencia de Operación) is valid for 20 years and is renewable; the application form alone costs US$2,000 (Articles 18 and 21). Each venue also needs an annual operating permit (Permiso de Funcionamiento), renewed every year on payment of US$20 per slot machine and US$100 per table (Articles 25 and 27). Category A and B venues must show a minimum investment of US$200,000 and at least 30 direct jobs. Licences and permits cannot be transferred (Article 22). The regulation adds documentary requirements, including police certificates and, for foreign companies, proof of the origin of funds (Decree 06-2015, Article 22).
No official register or count of licensed casinos and gaming halls could be found on the MHCP website as of 8 October 2026. The most recent figures located are the press estimates from 2014 and 2016 cited above.
Lotteries
Lotteries are outside Law 766. The Lotería Nacional describes itself as an entity of the state with its own legal personality, created by Decree No. 2-95 of 10 January 1995 as the successor of the earlier Lotería Popular para la Salud y Bienestar Social. It sells draw tickets and instant games through concessionaires and resellers and, according to its website, by WhatsApp ordering with home delivery; no online ticket shop was visible. According to Focus Gaming News (6 March 2025), its profits are split between the Ministry of the Family, Adolescence and Childhood and the Nicaraguan Sports Institute, and transfers reached a record C$344 million (about US$9.3 million) in 2024.
Online gambling
Nicaragua is one of the few Central American states whose casino law mentions internet gaming expressly. Article 48 of Law 766 provides that internet gaming operations carried out by holders of an operator licence with an operating permit may be offered to nationals, residents and tourists, either directly or through a partner that supplies the technology. Article 49 makes similar provision for sports betting banks. The law does not define internet games and leaves the details to the regulation.
The 2015 regulation narrows this considerably. Under Article 21 of Decree No. 06-2015, “only Category ‘A’ casinos and gaming halls” may add sports betting and internet betting to their operations, and they must first apply in writing to the MHCP for authorisation. Applicants must file their contracts for the betting system, odds and sports signal, each for at least one year. The authorisation cannot be transferred, and all prizes from such bets must be paid “only by non-negotiable and non-transferable cheque”.
In practice, therefore, lawful online gambling in Nicaragua is tied to a land-based Category A licence. There is no separate stand-alone online licence for operators without a physical casino in the country, and no published list of operators that have received an Article 21 authorisation could be found. Foreign-licensed websites that accept Nicaraguan players do not hold a Nicaraguan licence merely because they are reachable from the country.
The research for this guide found no evidence of website blocking, payment blocking or a published blacklist of unlicensed online operators in Nicaragua. Enforcement reported in 2026 has been directed at physical machines. In July 2026 the MHCP, acting through its Office of Casinos and Gaming Halls, supervised the destruction of 369 seized slot machines, citing Law 766 and Decree 06-2015 (Focus Gaming News, 20 July 2026). In August 2026 a further 500 machines that had entered the country without the necessary permits were destroyed with the participation of the National Police, the Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Focus Gaming News, 31 August 2026). The ministry presented the July destruction as a measure to prevent addiction, protect minors, combat money laundering and curb organised crime.
Neither Law 766 nor its regulation contains a general ban on gambling advertising.
Position of players
Law 766 regulates operators, not players. The sanctions in Articles 37 to 39 are aimed at the persons who commit infractions in operating or supplying gambling, and no provision of the law or of Decree 06-2015 makes it an offence for an adult to place a bet, whether in a venue or online. No reports of prosecutions or fines of individual players for gambling, including with offshore websites, were found. This does not make unlicensed websites authorised: they fall outside Nicaraguan supervision, leaving players without recourse to the MHCP.
Several admission rules affect players in venues. Under Article 11 of the law, the following may not enter, remain in or play at a casino or gaming hall: persons under 18, visibly intoxicated persons, persons carrying weapons, and persons whose behaviour threatens others. The regulation instructs the National Police to close a venue immediately if anyone under 18 is found inside and to notify the MHCP within 24 hours (Decree 06-2015, Article 37). Owners, managers and employees of an operator may not play in its venues (Law 766, Article 32). Operators may refuse admission on objective grounds stated in posted house rules, but measures that discriminate on grounds of nationality are prohibited (Decree 06-2015, Article 17).
Taxation
Operators. Casinos and gaming halls pay a specific tax on each table and machine in commercial operation, set out in Articles 233 and 234 of Law 822 as amended by Law No. 987, approved on 27 February 2019 and published in La Gaceta No. 41 of 28 February 2019. The tax is the córdoba equivalent of US$500 per gaming table from 2020 (US$450 in 2019) and US$40 per gaming machine, converted at the Central Bank’s official exchange rate. It is charged monthly and constitutes the definitive minimum payment of annual income tax, replacing the ordinary minimum payment on gross income. The bill had proposed US$600 per table and US$50 per machine before committee changes (Focus Gaming News, 19 February 2019). Operators also pay the permit fees noted above and bear the costs of regulation and oversight (Law 766, Article 3). Law 766 states that internet and sports-betting operations are taxed under the general tax legislation (Articles 48 and 49).
Players. Under Law 822, income from games and bets is a capital gain (Article 15), and prizes from lotteries, raffles, draws, bingo and games in casinos and other venues in the country are Nicaraguan-source income (Article 16). Two exemptions apply (Article 79): lottery prizes of C$50,000 or less, and prizes from casinos, gaming halls, raffles, draws and bingo below C$25,000. Prizes above those thresholds are therefore taxable. Following the 2019 reform, Article 87 sets a general rate of 15% for capital income and capital gains of residents and non-residents; it contains no separate rate for gambling prizes. That the 15% rate applies to taxable casino and lottery prizes is this guide’s reading of the statute rather than an official statement, and the withholding mechanism in the implementing regulation could not be verified; readers should confirm current practice with the DGI.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Nicaragua’s framework concentrates on public order, minors and financial crime rather than on gambling harm as such. The main protective elements are:
- Age limit: 18 years for entry and play in casinos and gaming halls, enforced by police closure of the venue (Law 766, Article 11; Decree 06-2015, Article 37).
- Vulnerable persons: operators must protect vulnerable groups (Law 766, Article 3) and keep an incident log (Article 12).
- Anti-money-laundering duties: operators must report cash transactions and adopt an anti-money-laundering manual (Law 766, Article 33). Casinos and gaming halls are reporting entities under Article 9 of Law 977, supervised by the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF). The UAF’s sectoral rule, Resolution UAF-N-009-2016, designates Category A, B and C venues as reporting entities. Decree 06-2015 requires suspicious-transaction reports to the UAF and customer due diligence for players who regularly wager large sums (Articles 39 and 40). Failure to file a suspicious-transaction report carries a fine of US$15,000.
- Sanctions: infractions are minor (US$500 to US$5,000), serious (US$5,001 to US$15,000, with one to six months’ suspension) or very serious (US$15,001 to US$25,000, with possible permanent closure). Operating without a licence carries a fine of US$25,000 (Decree 06-2015, Articles 44 and 45). The 2011 text requires a public register of sanctions (Law 766, Article 41 of the 2011 text).
Neither the law nor the regulation creates a national self-exclusion register, deposit or loss limits, or mandatory responsible-gambling messages, and no national gambling helpline run by a public body could be identified. Concerned players should seek help from health services. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Raffle sellers (2024). In February 2024 consumer advocates and lawyers called for a specific law to register and supervise informal raffle sellers (riferos), some proposing that the Lotería Nacional supervise them. The call followed the sentencing of ten raffle sellers to 25 years’ imprisonment for money laundering, organised crime and other offences against a gambling company (Focus Gaming News, 1 February 2024). No such law had been located as of October 2026.
- Anti-money-laundering law (2024). A consolidated text of Law 977, keeping casinos and gaming halls among the entities supervised by the UAF, was published in La Gaceta No. 153 of 20 August 2024 (Banco Central de Nicaragua reproduction). In August and September 2025 the UAF trained compliance officers from designated non-financial businesses, including casinos and gaming halls (UAF Bulletin No. 87, 2025).
- Match-fixing (2024–2025). The Nicaraguan Football Federation (FENIFUT) banned one CD Ocotal player for life and suspended three others for ten years after leaked videos appeared to show a bettor directing players to lose matches in the 2024 season (Focus Gaming News, 6 March 2025).
- Destruction of illegal machines (2026). The MHCP destroyed 369 slot machines on 16 July 2026 and 500 more on 26 August 2026.
- Online gambling. No bill to create a separate online licensing regime, and no reform of Law 766 after 2014, was found as of 8 October 2026.
Casino listings for players in Nicaragua
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in Nicaragua, where online betting may lawfully be offered only by a Category A casino licensee authorised by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, and no public register of such authorisations is available. Readers should check an operator’s status with the MHCP before playing.
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Sources and further reading
- Asamblea Nacional de Nicaragua, Ley No. 766, Ley Especial para el Control y Regulación de Casinos y Salas de Juegos, La Gaceta No. 124, 5 July 2011 (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Asamblea Nacional de Nicaragua, Ley No. 884, Ley de Reformas y Adición a la Ley No. 766, La Gaceta No. 215, 12 November 2014 (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Presidencia de la República, Decreto Ejecutivo No. 06-2015, Reglamento de la Ley No. 766, La Gaceta No. 47, 10 March 2015 (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Asamblea Nacional de Nicaragua, Ley No. 822, Ley de Concertación Tributaria, La Gaceta No. 241, 17 December 2012 (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Asamblea Nacional de Nicaragua, Ley No. 987, Ley de Reformas y Adiciones a la Ley No. 822, La Gaceta No. 41, 28 February 2019 (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Banco Central de Nicaragua, Ley No. 977, Ley contra el Lavado de Activos, el Financiamiento al Terrorismo y el Financiamiento a la Proliferación de Armas de Destrucción Masiva (texto consolidado) (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Unidad de Análisis Financiero, Resolución UAF-N-009-2016, Normativa de prevención, detección y reporte de actividades relacionadas con el LA/FT a través de actividades y profesiones no financieras (2016).
- Unidad de Análisis Financiero, Boletín No. 87 (2025).
- Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público, Official website (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Lotería Nacional, Nosotros (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Lotería Nacional, Official website (accessed 8 October 2026).
- Estrategia & Negocios, Nicaragua: casinos aportan US$5.2M en impuestos (2014).
- La Prensa, Casinos con potencial turístico sin aprovechar (2016).
- Focus Gaming News, Nicaragua modifica la implementación de los impuestos (2019).
- Focus Gaming News, Nicaragua: exigen la creación de una ley que regule a los comerciantes que venden juegos de azar (2024).
- Focus Gaming News, Escándalo en Nicaragua por amaño de partidos (2025).
- Focus Gaming News, La Lotería Nacional de Nicaragua entregó USD687.538 en utilidades en febrero (2025).
- Focus Gaming News, Nicaragua destruye 369 máquinas tragamonedas ilegales (2026).
- Focus Gaming News, Destruyen 500 máquinas tragamonedas en Nicaragua (2026).
