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

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

Sports Betting in Portugal
The Games Department of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) has exclusive rights to all sports wagering in Portugal. Even though the monopoly is controlled by a private company, it is state approved. They run two sports betting games – Totoloto and Loto2. There are no fixed-odds bets in Portugal, so all betting is mutual.

There are 5000 ticket sellers in Portugal licensed to sell SCML products. The biggest reseller of sports lotto and other sports betting tickets in Portugal is CAMPIÃO. At 150, it is the oldest lottery house in the world. CAMPIÃO spread its operation after WWII, and now comprises over 1/3 of all Portuguese sportsbook ticket sellers.

Online Sports Betting in Portugal
SCML also controls the monopoly on online sportsbooks in Portugal. No other entity, foreign or domestic, has been given a license to offer gambling on the internet. The monopoly is very well protected by the Portuguese government. In 2005, Bwin, the huge international online sportsbook, tried to sponsor the Portuguese Football League. The case ended up in court, and even after an appeal hearing, Bwin lost the battle.

Interestingly, Bwin still offers a Portuguese version of their site. The Portuguese government has instituted a ban on all foreign internet betting and other gambling sites. They have even ordered Portuguese ISPs to block traffic from major foreign gambling sites so local players cannot visit them. But in the end the ban is difficult to enforce, and players still manage to bet on sports at foreign online bookmakers.