Portugal, with its population of just 10.6 million people, offers its citizens a good variety of gambling options, ranging from sports betting and the lottery, to full scale casinos. Offshore Portuguese online casinos are also available.
List of 150 Portuguese Online Casinos
| Supported Languages | Portuguese |
| Currencies | Euro (EUR) |
| Preferred Payment Methods | Multibanco |
Gambling in Portugal
Portugal runs a state run gambling industry, with the games divided into two major sectors. Sports betting, the lottery and other so called 'social games' are operated by the Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa (SCML) by this government group's Games Department.
Other games, which include poker, casino gaming and bingo, are operated and regulated by the Inspeccao General de Jogos. The government is hesitant to provide casino operating licenses and has only issued 10 in recorded history, and there are currently nine casinos in operation. Casino games may not be played outside of the casinos, nor is the advertising of casino gambling allowed. Portuguese casinos include the Casino Solverde de Espinho in Aveiro, and Lisbon's Casino Estoril.
Online Gambling in Portugal
The Portuguese government makes attempts to halt online gambling that is not run by the monopolies, even going so far as to forcing local ISPs to block the websites of offshore gambling sites. However, these local laws expressly go against the free trade treaties of the European Union, which is in an ongoing battle to get Portugal to change its legislation to accommodate foreign entities in its online gambling market.
In the meantime, gamblers are able to find top quality offshore Portuguese online casinos, where gameplay is offered in English or Portuguese and payment is in Euros. There are hundreds of these sites, powered by top software groups such as Net Entertainment and Microgaming, who support Portuguese. Payment is made for gambling entertainment through credit cards, debit cards, Multibanco and Citadel Direct.