COUNTRY GUIDE

Portugal Online Casino Guide

Legal casino gambling age in Portugal

Illustrated globe, atlas and casino games

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Portugal runs three separate gambling systems side by side.

Land-based casinos are operated under exclusive state concessions in designated “gaming zones”.
The traditional lotteries and land-based sports pools are reserved to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), a charitable institution.
Online gambling has been open since 2015 to private operators that obtain a licence from the Gambling Regulation and Inspection Service (Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos, SRIJ), part of the national tourism authority, Turismo de Portugal.

This guide explains the legal basis of each system, how online licensing and enforcement work, the position of players, taxation, and the main developments up to 2026.

Key points

Online casino games and sports betting are legal when offered by an operator licensed by SRIJ under Decree-Law 66/2015. In mid-2025, 17 operators held 30 online licences.
Running online gambling for Portuguese players without a licence is a crime, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment. SRIJ had ordered the blocking of 2,501 illegal websites by mid-2025.
The law does not make it an offence for an adult simply to play on an unlicensed site. It does penalise play by persons who are prohibited from gambling, such as minors.
Online casino games are taxed at 25% of gross revenue and fixed-odds sports betting at 8% of stakes. Winnings from licensed online gambling are paid to players in full.
SRIJ runs a national self-exclusion scheme covering every licensed online operator, and the public addiction institute runs a free helpline on 1414.

Last reviewed: 5 October 2026.

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Historical development

Portuguese gambling law starts from the principle that the right to operate games of chance belongs to the state. The state may exercise that right itself or grant it to others by concession. A concession is a contract under which the state grants an exclusive right for a fixed period, in return for fees and obligations.

Two strands developed on that basis. Casinos were organised under the Gaming Law, Decree-Law 422/89. It divides the country into gaming zones, each served by an exclusive concessionaire. Lotteries, lotto-type games and sports pools, known in Portugal as “social games”, were entrusted to the SCML. The SCML still operates draw-based games such as Totoloto and EuroMillions, instant scratch cards and the Placard sports betting product in retail outlets. According to a 2025 practice guide by Lektou, published in the Chambers Gaming Law 2025 guide, SCML gross sales in 2024 were €3.14 billion and prizes paid were €2.07 billion.

Online gambling had no specific legal framework until 2015. Decree-Law 66/2015 of 29 April approved the Legal Regime for Online Gambling and Betting (Regime Jurídico dos Jogos e Apostas Online, RJO). For the first time it opened online casino games and online fixed-odds betting to licensed private operators. The RJO has been amended several times since then. The latest change listed in the consolidated text kept by the Lisbon Prosecutor-General’s Office was made by Law 2/2020.

Legal framework

The Chambers guide identifies the following main statutes:

Decree-Law 422/89, the Gaming Law, for land-based casinos and bingo;
Decree-Law 66/2015, the RJO, for online gambling and online betting;
Decree-Laws 67/2015 and 68/2015, for land-based sports betting and horse-race betting;
Law 83/2017, Portugal’s anti-money-laundering law, which treats gambling operators as “obliged entities” with customer due-diligence duties.

Gambling advertising is governed by the general Advertising Code (Decree-Law 330/90), whose Article 21 contains rules specific to gambling.

The RJO sets out who may not gamble, the licensing conditions, the technical obligations of licensees, and the criminal and administrative sanctions. Its main sanctions are:

Unlicensed operation. Article 49 makes the unlawful operation of online games and betting a crime, punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 500 days. Attempt and negligence are also punishable.
Fraud. Article 50 punishes fraud in online gambling with three to eight years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 600 days.
Disobedience. Article 51 covers failure to obey the regulator’s orders.

As a member of the European Union, Portugal must also respect EU law. The European Commission notes that there is no sector-specific EU legislation on gambling. Member states are free to organise their gambling markets as they see fit, provided they comply with the fundamental freedoms of the EU Treaties. Portugal’s mixed model, with exclusive rights for lotteries and casinos and open licensing for online gambling, operates within that latitude.

Regulator and licensing model

SRIJ supervises both land-based and online gambling. The Chambers guide describes its position as a service within Turismo de Portugal, I.P., which falls under the Ministry of Economy. For online gambling, SRIJ:

issues licences;
certifies games and technical systems;
monitors licensees through real-time data links;
runs the self-exclusion system;
takes action against illegal websites.

Online licences are issued separately for each category of game: fixed-odds sports betting, horse-race betting and “games of fortune or chance”, which is the Portuguese legal term for casino-type games. According to the Chambers guide, licences last three years and are renewable. Applicants must be companies established in Portugal or EU/EEA companies with a registered branch in Portugal. The SRIJ report for the second quarter of 2025 lists 17 licensed operators holding 30 licences: 13 for sports betting and 17 for games of chance. SRIJ also publishes a register of licensed entities, showing each operator, its website and the games it is authorised to offer.

Land-based casinos remain under the concession model. The Chambers guide reports that nine of the ten gaming zones were active in late 2025, and that the government had launched public tenders for the Algarve, Espinho and Póvoa de Varzim zones, covering five casinos. In May 2026 those concessions were awarded for 15 years to the casino operator Solverde, according to Yogonet. The report gives upfront payments to the state of €100.6 million across the three zones, and fixed annual payments of €6.7 million.

Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced

The Chambers guide lists the online products that can be licensed:

slots;
roulette, blackjack and baccarat (punto banco);
poker and bingo;
fixed-odds sports betting;
horse-race betting.

SRIJ’s quarterly figures give a picture of the regulated market. In the second quarter of 2025:

Gross revenue from online gambling was €287.0 million, an increase of 9.6% on the same quarter of 2024. Gross revenue means stakes minus winnings.
Games of chance generated €177.8 million (62.0%) and sports betting €109.2 million (38.0%).
The special online gambling tax raised €81.2 million.
About 4.87 million player registrations were held across licensed sites.

For the second quarter of 2026, SRIJ reported that online gross revenue was 14.4% higher than a year earlier. Revenue from casinos and gaming machines in land-based venues rose by 6% over the same period.

Enforcement against unlicensed websites relies mainly on notification and blocking. SRIJ first notifies an illegal operator to close its site. If the site is not closed, SRIJ instructs internet service providers to block access to it. The RJO places specific duties on these “intermediary network service providers”. Serious cases can be referred to the Public Prosecutor for criminal investigation. The Q2 2025 report gives these figures:

Measure	Q2 2025	Total since 2015
Notifications to close	97	1,522
Sites blocked	110	2,501
Referrals to the Public Prosecutor	1	49

The Chambers guide notes that SRIJ also uses actions against payment providers. It reports industry estimates that a substantial share of online play still takes place on unlicensed sites. Those estimates come from the industry and are not official statistics.

Position of players

Adults may lawfully gamble with licensed operators. The RJO prohibits certain people from gambling online, including minors (under 18), people who are legally incapacitated, and people excluded by court order. Article 57(3) makes it a “serious” administrative offence, punishable by a fine, for any such prohibited person to play.

The RJO’s criminal provisions, by contrast, are aimed at those who operate unlicensed gambling, not at those who play. Our review of the RJO’s criminal and administrative provisions found no offence of simply playing on an unlicensed website as an adult. Secondary summaries that suggest otherwise should be treated with caution. Even so, there are practical consequences. Unlicensed sites are blocked, a player has no recourse to SRIJ in a dispute, and none of the Portuguese protections apply. Those protections include identity checks, self-exclusion and deposit limits.

Taxation

Online operators pay the Special Online Gambling Tax (Imposto Especial de Jogo Online, IEJO). The consolidated text of the RJO sets these rates:

Product	Rate	Applied to
Games of fortune or chance (online casino)	25%	Operator’s gross revenue (Article 89)
Fixed-odds sports betting	8%	Amount staked (Article 90)
Sports betting where the operator earns only commission	35%	Commission
Mutual (pool) horse-race betting	25%	Gross revenue (Article 91)
Fixed-odds horse-race betting	8%	Amount staked (Article 91)

The proceeds are shared between the regulator, Turismo de Portugal, the state budget, sports bodies and public addiction services, in proportions set by the RJO. Land-based casinos pay a different combination of concession fees and percentage levies under their concession contracts.

Players are treated differently depending on the operator. According to a guide published by the state bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos, prizes from SCML games above €5,000 are subject to 20% stamp duty, deducted at source. These prizes do not need to be declared for personal income tax. Winnings from licensed online gambling outside the SCML are paid in full, without stamp duty, because the tax is levied on the operator through the IEJO.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

SRIJ’s guidance on gambling-control tools describes the measures available to online players:

deposit and betting limits, set by day, week or month;
voluntary breaks from play;
access to their own gambling history;
self-exclusion, either for a fixed period of at least three months or for an indefinite period.

Limits set on one operator’s website apply only to that site. Self-exclusion requested through the SRIJ platform, however, applies to every licensed operator in Portugal. Self-exclusion has grown quickly: SRIJ recorded 326,400 self-exclusions at the end of June 2025, 27% more than a year earlier. For land-based casinos a separate procedure exists, under which a person can be prohibited from entering gaming rooms.

Free support is available through the 1414 line, which is run by the Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD). SRIJ’s player support page describes it as an anonymous, free and confidential psychological counselling service. It operates on working days from 10:00 to 18:00 and can also be reached by email at [email protected]. Further general information is available in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

Three developments stand out for 2025 and 2026.

Casino concessions. The award of the Algarve, Espinho and Póvoa de Varzim concessions in May 2026 sets the structure of a large part of the land-based casino sector for the next 15 years. The Chambers guide notes that policymakers have also debated whether to replace zonal concessions with a licensing model in future.

Advertising. The Chambers guide reports that legislative proposals to tighten gambling advertising were submitted to the Assembly of the Republic in September 2025 and sent to committee. They include restrictions on broadcast hours, bans on endorsements by athletes and influencers, tighter limits on bonuses, and closer oversight of social-media marketing. We could not confirm their final status. Until a new law is enacted, the existing Advertising Code rules continue to apply.

Technical standards. SRIJ continues to update the technical rules for licensees. In 2025 it issued instructions on data reporting formats for game types and financial transactions.

Casino listings for players in Portugal

The listings below are generated from our casino database. Their inclusion does not by itself mean that an operator holds an SRIJ licence or may lawfully offer gambling to residents of Portugal. Check the exact website and company in the SRIJ register of licensed online operators before using any service.

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Portugal Online Casino Guide

Key points

Online casinos for Portugal

Historical development

Legal framework

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced

Position of players

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Portugal

Sources and further reading

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