Official language: Portuguese
Population: 10,676,910
Currency: Euro (EUR)

Current Exchange Rate
1 GBP = 1.0681 EUR
1 USD = 0.6754 EUR

Quick links
Online casinos in Portugal
Online poker in Portugal
Online sportsbooks in Portugal
Online bingo in Portugal

Gambling in Portugal
All forms of gambling are legal in Portugal. All "social games", including sports betting and lottery, are run under the Games Department of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML). The SCML monopoly on lotteries and sports betting in Portugal is state-sanctioned, so even though it defies EU fair trade laws, it remains intact. With over 5000 points of sale, the SCML gambling franchise is a huge money-maker for the state.

Other gambling, such as bingo, poker and casino gambling, is regulated by the Inspecção General de Jogos. Casinos can be operated by any entity that has been granted a license by the Portuguese government. These licenses are very difficult to obtain, and less than 10 have been handed out to date. All table games and machine games in Portugal are restricted to casinos, and are illegal everyplace else.

Online Gambling in Portugal
Online gambling in Portugal shares a different fate. The SCML monopoly that controls lotteries and sports betting in the country is extended to the internet, and they control the entire market of legal internet gambling in Portugal. The Portuguese government actively works to prevent its citizens from using foreign online gambling sites by forcing local ISPs to block the websites of major gambling websites.

The state monopoly on internet gambling in Portugal and the blocking of foreign online gambling sites run counter to EU fair trade laws, and the Portuguese government has received strong pressure from EU officials to break open the monopoly and let foreign interests take their share of the gambling market. The Portuguese government is standing strong, and there does not appear to be change on the horizon.