Legal casino gambling age in Guatemala
Guatemala has no modern gambling law and no gambling regulator. The basic rule comes from the Penal Code (Decree 17-73), which makes it a crime to run or own a house of games of chance, fines people who attend such houses, and fines anyone who sells tickets for lotteries or raffles that are not legally authorised. Lotteries and raffles are the main lawful exception: they need a government permit and are overseen by the Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio de Gobernación). The best-known lottery is Lotería Santa Lucía, which has funded services for blind and deaf people since 1956. Online gambling is not regulated, and no Guatemalan licence exists for online casinos. Since September 2025 Congress has been considering Bill 6645, which would toughen the Penal Code against unauthorised slot machines. This guide explains the framework, how it is enforced, the position of players, taxation and the main gaps in consumer protection.
Key points
- Article 477 of the Penal Code (Decree 17-73) punishes owners and managers of houses of games of chance with one to five years in prison and a fine of Q1,000 to Q10,000. Article 478 fines people who attend such houses Q200 to Q2,000.
- Lotteries, raffles and similar games are lawful only with a permit. They are governed by Government Agreement 54-2015 of 12 February 2015 and a ministerial regulation, Ministerial Agreement 317-2015.
- There is no gambling regulator and no licensing system for casinos, sports betting or online gambling. Trade press describes a legal vacuum for online play.
- Police and prosecutors regularly seize unauthorised slot machines (tragamonedas) in shops and small businesses.
- Bill 6645, presented on 23 September 2025, received a favourable committee report on 4 November 2025. It would add new offences for slot-machine operators, tax fraud through gambling and letting minors play. No plenary approval had been reported by October 2026.
Last reviewed: 7 October 2026.
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Historical development
Lotteries have a long history in Guatemala. A December 2014 historical article in Prensa Libre traces the first institutional lottery to the Lotería del Hospicio, founded in 1857 to support an orphanage. It became the Lotería Nacional in 1948. A second state-linked lottery, the Lotería Chica Proalfabetización, was created in 1947 under President Juan José Arévalo to fund literacy programmes. The same article reports that both lotteries disappeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The reasons it gives are economic difficulties and alleged fraud by employees. Short-lived instant scratch-card lotteries followed.
Lotería Santa Lucía was founded in 1956 by Dr Elisa Molina de Stahl, on the basis of Government Decree 577 signed by President Carlos Castillo Armas (Prensa Libre, 2019). Trade publication Focus Gaming News gives the foundation date as 19 February 1956 and the first draw as 15 September 1956, held in the Parque Centenario. The first jackpot was Q6,000. Its proceeds support the Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala, a private non-profit committee for the blind and deaf, and Focus Gaming News reports that its board includes representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Comptroller General’s Office. By 2014 Prensa Libre described it as the only traditional lottery still operating.
The criminal law on gambling is older than the current Penal Code. A 2026 analysis by the Latin American gaming publication SoloAzar states that Guatemala’s gambling rules have their origins in 1880 and were never updated for casinos, sports betting or online play. The Penal Code itself, Decree 17-73, dates from 1973. Its gambling articles have stayed in force while gaming technology has changed around them.
There have been several attempts to create a proper regulatory system. According to SiGMA News (March 2025), Bill 4294 proposed a National Gaming Commission and a Gaming Superintendent to regulate the sector. It was approved by Congress’s Economy Committee but was later archived without being enacted. SoloAzar describes the same bill as a proposed law on the regulation of betting, casinos, video lotteries, bingo and games of chance. SiGMA also refers to Bill 4685, which dealt with the risk that gambling could be used for money laundering in the absence of solid regulation. Neither proposal became law.
Legal framework
The Penal Code (Decree 17-73)
Gambling is mainly regulated through criminal law. The Penal Code, Decree 17-73 contains three short articles that apply to gambling. The text of Article 477 is quoted in a 2018 report by Focus Gaming News on a slot-machine seizure, and Articles 477 and 478 are summarised in a 2017 report in Prensa Libre:
- Article 477 (illicit games): “the bankers, administrators, entrepreneurs, managers or other persons in charge and the owners of houses of games of luck, wager or chance” are punished with one to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of Q1,000 to Q10,000.
- Article 478: people who attend houses of games of luck, wager or chance are punished with a fine of Q200 to Q2,000.
- Article 479: according to secondary summaries, people who organise or sell tickets for lotteries or raffles that are not legally authorised are punished with a fine. We could not check the text of this article against an official copy.
The phrase “games of luck, wager or chance” (juegos de suerte, envite o azar) is a traditional Spanish legal term. It covers games in which the result depends wholly or mainly on chance and on which money is staked. The Code does not define a casino, a gaming machine or online gambling. Applying it to modern products therefore depends on interpretation by prosecutors and courts. SoloAzar notes that the existing penalties “do not specifically apply to modern casinos, sports betting, or online gambling”.
Lotteries, raffles and similar games
Lotteries and raffles are lawful only when they are authorised. A 2023 procedures manual of the Ministerio de Gobernación names two current instruments: Government Agreement (Acuerdo Gubernativo) 54-2015 of 12 February 2015, which sets rules for games, raffles and lotteries, and Ministerial Agreement 317-2015, the Reglamento para Lotería, Rifas y Juegos Similares (Regulation on Lotteries, Raffles and Similar Games). Within the Ministry, the Registration and Processing Coordination unit (Coordinación de Registro y Trámite) issues certificates for lotteries, bingos and similar games, both for-profit and non-profit.
SiGMA News (2025) describes lotteries as operating legally “under specific regulations” despite the general prohibition, with Agreement 54-2015 as the framework and the Comptroller General’s Office (Contraloría General de Cuentas) among the supervising bodies. It also notes that many lotteries fund programmes for people with visual and hearing impairments. We could not confirm the number or date of the older statute often referred to as the Law on Raffles and Lotteries (Ley de Rifas y Loterías) from an official source, so this guide relies on the 2015 instruments that the Ministry itself cites.
Casinos and gaming machines
No Guatemalan statute provides for casino licences, and there is no casino regulator. SoloAzar and SiGMA both describe a legal vacuum in which there is no modern framework, no licensing authority and no technical standards. This sits uneasily with Article 477, which treats running a house of games of chance as a crime. In practice the main area of conflict has been slot machines, known locally as tragamonedas. Many are placed in corner shops, groceries and small businesses without any permit.
Regulator and licensing model
Guatemala does not fit neatly into the usual models. In a monopoly model the state reserves gambling to a single operator. In a licensing model private operators may offer gambling if they hold a licence from a regulator. In a prohibition model gambling is banned outright. Guatemala combines a criminal ban on houses of games of chance with a permit system for lotteries, raffles and similar games. It has no regulator for any other form of gambling.
The institutions involved are:
- Ministerio de Gobernación (Ministry of the Interior): issues permits and certificates for lotteries, raffles, bingos and similar games under the 2015 regulations (Ministerio de Gobernación, 2023). Prensa Libre (2014) also describes it as the lottery supervisor.
- Departmental government officials: according to Prensa Libre (2019), they attend Lotería Santa Lucía’s public draws with Comptroller representatives to vouch for transparency. We found no official source on their role in authorising other raffles.
- Contraloría General de Cuentas (Comptroller General’s Office): audits lotteries, according to Prensa Libre (2014) and SiGMA (2025).
- Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) and Ministerio Público (MP): the national police and the public prosecutor’s office enforce the Penal Code. The MP decides whether owners of seized machines are criminally liable (Prensa Libre, 2017).
No official list of authorised gambling operators is published, and there is no licence for land-based casinos, sports betting shops or online operators.
Online gambling
Guatemalan law does not mention online gambling. There is no online licence, no regulator that could issue one, and no specific offence aimed at remote operators. SoloAzar (August 2026) reports that international operators offer their services to Guatemalan players without a specific licensing or supervision regime. It also notes that there are “no specific rules on player protection, responsible gambling policies or technical controls” for digital operators. Specialists quoted in the same analysis call for a wider reform that would license online betting and add responsible gambling and anti-money-laundering rules.
Whether Articles 477 and 478 apply to a website based abroad has not been settled. The articles refer to “houses” of games of chance, a term written for physical premises. We found no published court decision that applies them to online gambling. Nor did we find evidence that Guatemala blocks gambling websites through internet service providers or blocks payments to gambling operators. Blocking means ordering internet providers or banks to cut off access to, or payments to, unlicensed sites. Guatemala has no specific rules on gambling advertising.
Some lawful lottery products are sold digitally. However, this guide has not found any official framework that authorises online casino games. SiGMA (2025) notes that in the event of disputes or fraud involving such platforms, local authorities would not be able to intervene.
Position of players
Guatemala is unusual in that its Penal Code also covers people who gamble. Under Article 478, a person who attends a house of games of luck, wager or chance can be fined Q200 to Q2,000. Prensa Libre (2017) described it as applying to those who frequent, use or make use of places with slot machines. In practice, reported enforcement has targeted machines and their owners rather than players. The police operations summarised below resulted in seizures and closures. We found no reports of fines on individual players.
For online gambling, the position is less clear. SiGMA (2025) states that players take on a double risk: using an unregulated market and incurring legal sanctions. We found no recorded prosecution or fine of a player for gambling online. That does not make online casino play lawful. No operator holds a Guatemalan licence to offer it, and players have no local protection or complaints route if an offshore operator withholds winnings or closes an account. Buying tickets from an authorised lottery, such as Lotería Santa Lucía, is lawful.
Taxation
Because there is no licensed casino or online sector, Guatemala has no specific gaming tax on operators’ gross gaming revenue (GGR, the amount staked minus prizes paid). Taxation of gambling is mainly a matter of income tax on prizes.
The Tax Update Law (Ley de Actualización Tributaria, Decree 10-2012) lists “prizes from lotteries, raffles, draws, bingos and similar events held in Guatemala” among the forms of capital income covered by income tax (Article 4). A 2022 explainer in Prensa Libre on capital gains confirms that these prizes are subject to income tax (Impuesto sobre la Renta, ISR). According to PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries, Guatemalan-source capital gains are taxed at a flat rate of 10%. For lottery winnings in particular, Prensa Libre (2014) reported that winners pay 10% income tax and 3% stamp duty. We could not check the exact article that sets the rate and withholding for prizes against an official consolidated text. Winners of large prizes should ask the tax authority (Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria, SAT) for guidance.
Bill 6645 would also create an offence of tax fraud through gambling. It is described in more detail below. The proposal reflects concern that unauthorised machines generate revenue that escapes tax entirely.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Guatemala has no national self-exclusion register, no statutory limits on deposits or losses, and no gambling helpline run by the state. We could not identify any of these from official sources. SoloAzar (2026) confirms that there are no specific rules on player protection or responsible gambling. The main protective tools are the criminal law against unauthorised gaming houses and the permit system for lotteries.
Concern about minors is the main driver of policy. A police spokesperson said in 2017 that slot-machine operations aimed to “prevent young people, adolescents and children from being drawn into the vices of these games of chance” (Prensa Libre, 2017). Bill 6645 would make it an offence to let children and adolescents use gambling machines, and its sponsors cite effects on young people’s behaviour, mental health and school performance (Focus Gaming News, 2025). In 2022 Lotería Santa Lucía issued a special draw ticket with the Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons (SVET) to raise awareness of child protection (AGN, 2022).
People concerned about their own gambling or someone else’s can find general guidance and international support resources in our responsible gambling guide.
Enforcement against slot machines
Most visible gambling enforcement in Guatemala is directed against unauthorised slot machines. Published examples include:
- December 2017: the PNC’s criminal investigation division carried out about 38 raids on shops and groceries in Villa Nueva and seized about 75 machines (Prensa Libre).
- August 2018: the PNC and the Municipality of Guatemala removed 56 machines and closed two establishments in zones 6, 17 and 18 of Guatemala City (Focus Gaming News).
- July 2019: the PNC, supported by the MP, removed 130 machines in Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango, after 63 machines had been removed in other areas in February 2019 (Focus Gaming News).
- March 2020: 108 machines were seized in Coatepeque, which Focus Gaming News described as operating “without permission” (Focus Gaming News).
- January 2026: the MP and PNC seized 61 slot machines during 28 raids in Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Alta Verapaz, and in San Benito, Petén. The raids also targeted drug sales and illegal firearms (Emisoras Unidas).
The repeated seizures show both that the machines are treated as illegal and that the existing law has not stopped them from spreading. That gap is what Bill 6645 is meant to address. We did not find a published ruling of the Constitutional Court (Corte de Constitucionalidad) on the legality of slot machines or casinos, so this guide does not report one.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Bill 6645 presented (23 September 2025). The Congressional Committee on the Interior (Comisión de Gobernación), chaired by Deputy Fidencio Lima, presented a bill to amend the Penal Code. It proposes five to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine equal to twice the tax evaded for tax fraud through gambling. It also proposes up to five years’ imprisonment for running establishments with slot machines and for allowing minors to use them, and the immediate closure of establishments that offer slot machines to customers (Focus Gaming News, 24 September 2025).
- Favourable committee report (4 November 2025). The same committee issued a favourable report (dictamen favorable) on the bill (Focus Gaming News, 5 November 2025). LatAm FDI reported that it found the bill consistent with the Constitution and that the measure was “awaiting approval by Congress”. It also listed higher penalties for repeat offenders (up to seven years) and, for officials who facilitate illegal operations, three to five years’ imprisonment plus a five-year ban from public office after the sentence. Reported penalty ranges differ between sources and should be checked against the final text.
- Status in 2026. A PDCC report of May 2026 and SoloAzar’s August 2026 analysis still describe the bill as having a favourable committee report. Neither reports a plenary vote. As of 7 October 2026 we found no report that Congress had approved Bill 6645 or published it in the official gazette. The bill concerns slot machines and land-based gaming. It would not create a licensing system for online gambling.
- Continuing enforcement (2026). Seizures of slot machines continued in early 2026, including the January 2026 operations in Alta Verapaz and Petén.
Casino listings for players in Guatemala
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed or authorised in Guatemala. Guatemala has no licensing system or public register for online casinos, and the Penal Code treats running a house of games of chance as a crime. The listings must not be read as an indication that offering or playing online casino games is lawful in Guatemala.
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Sources and further reading
- Congreso de la República de Guatemala, Código Penal, Decreto 17-73, record and text via Tobacco Control Laws (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Ministerio de Gobernación, Manual de Procesos y Procedimientos: Emisión de Constancia de novedad para Iglesias Evangélicas, Fundaciones, Loterías, Bingos y Juegos similares (June 2023).
- Congreso de la República de Guatemala, Ley de Actualización Tributaria, Decreto 10-2012, text via ICNL (accessed 7 October 2026).
- PwC, Guatemala: Individual – Income determination, Worldwide Tax Summaries (accessed 7 October 2026).
- Focus Gaming News, En Guatemala buscan regular máquinas tragamonedas y los juegos de azar con reforma al Código Penal (24 September 2025).
- Focus Gaming News, Guatemala avanza con el proyecto para regular máquinas tragamonedas y los juegos de azar con una reforma al Código Penal (5 November 2025).
- LatAm FDI, Guatemalan Gaming Industry Regulation: New Law Targets Illegal Slot Machines and Games of Chance (8 November 2025).
- PDCC, Guatemala lanza una ofensiva contra las tragamonedas ilegales (20 May 2026).
- SoloAzar (D. Valente), Guatemala caught in the legal vacuum of online gambling (3 August 2026).
- SiGMA News, Guatemala: juego en línea, regulación y vacío legal (7 March 2025).
- Prensa Libre (W. Oliva), ¿Hay máquinas tragamonedas en su barrio? PNC efectúa operativos para decomisarlas (11 December 2017).
- Focus Gaming News, Retiran 56 slots ilegales en Guatemala (14 August 2018).
- Focus Gaming News, Retiran 130 tragamonedas ilegales en Guatemala (26 July 2019).
- Focus Gaming News, Megaoperativo en Guatemala contra el juego ilegal (9 March 2020).
- Emisoras Unidas, Decomisan 61 máquinas tragamonedas en varios operativos (1 February 2026).
- Prensa Libre (B. Martínez), Feature on the history of Guatemala’s lotteries (21 December 2014).
- Prensa Libre (F. S. Illescas Barrientos), La Lotería de los guatemaltecos cumple 63 años (6 September 2019).
- Focus Gaming News, La lotería Santa Lucía de Guatemala cumple 65 años (2021).
- Agencia Guatemalteca de Noticias, Presentan billete de lotería en el marco de protección a la niñez y adolescencia (28 September 2022).
- Prensa Libre (M. Bojorquez), Declaración del ISR: Qué impuestos pagan las ganancias de capital en Guatemala (25 November 2022).
