Online Casinos in Brazil. There are no online casinos in Brazil. Gambling in the country is in general prohibited and the state does not offer licenses for any gambling game, as of July 2018. Foreign internet casino sites are also not available in the country. Online Poker in Brazil. Poker in Brazil is not legal, as of July 2018. Online gambling: nowadays, online gambling isn't an illegal practice in Brazil, although in 2013 the Commission of Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication, and Computing (CCT) approved a law project, which aims to prohibit online gambling throughout the country. According to KPMG’s report, Brazil could have a very lucrative online gambling market if it legalizes and regulates these activities in a manner that combines a “sensible and effective” licensing regime, a taxation framework that is based on gross gambling revenue (and not on turnover as it is the case in several recently regulated jurisdictions), and the right measures for the socially responsible provision of online games and sports betting.
Gambling is illegal in Brazil, but that doesn't stop Brazilians from gambling. This article presents the common gambling practices in Brazil, and the legal or illegal aspects contained in them.
In Brazil the exploitation of gambling and games of chance was old, derived from the first years of the Brazilian Empire. Although, over the centuries, those practices were forbidden and allowed many times by the government.
The explanations were always very similar. Those who agreed to the extinction of it affirmed that those injured moral principles, while the ones that defended it highlighted the economic importance and financial movement that this market gradually conquered.
In 1946, then-President Dutra condemned these practices for a long time. Cities like Lambari and Poços de Caldas (Minas Gerais),Petrópolis (Rio de Janeiro)and other cities –that attracted players and gamblers from all over the world –were shut down. Even the casino hotel constructed in the city of Petrópolis, supposed to be the largest one of Brazil – the Quitandinha Palace – saw its doors closed.
Current Gambling Legislation
Nowadays Brazil condemns some types of gambling, as well as, the realization of games of chance. The practices below are only allowed when operated by establishments, companies, or services authorized by the Brazilian government.
- games in which the winning or the losing depends – exclusively or mainly – on luck
- horse race betting outside the racecourse, or outside any place not authorized to realize this practice
- sports betting
According to the country's constitution, it's forbidden to “establish or exploit games of chance in a public place or accessible to the public'. The practices are illegal if realized in:
- particular houses - between individuals who are not part of the family who lives there
- hotels or houses of collective housing - between their inhabitants
- company's headquarters, society establishments or associations
- establishment designated to exploit this type of game.
Lottery
The Lottery is a raffle system of awards distribution to a group of punters. In Brazil, the Lottery began in 1784, in Vila Rica (now Ouro Preto). Lotteries have spread rapidly throughout the country, being –during the twentieth century – improved in order to give more credibility and transparency to the process.
Legalization and Restrictions
From there until the 1960 decade, lotteries' administration was the responsibility of individuals selected by public bidding, and the term of the lease was 5 years. In 1961, then-President Quadros determined the Union and the State as the only ones competent to legislate over the lottery system, which means that only these two agents were allowed to conduct lotteries in the country.
Nowadays lotteries are very famous and common in Brazil, lots of Brazilians are used to gamble time or another, and some of them actually gamble on it every month. The Quadros determination is still in force, with Caixa Econômica Federal as the one responsible for their administration. There are nine federal lottery products:
- Federal Lottery
- Instant Lottery
- Mega-Sena
- Double-Sena
- Quina
- Lotomania
- Lotogol
- Loteca
- Lotofácil
In addition to the federal lotteries in Brazil, each state is free to regulate their respective ones. In São Paulo, for example, the state lottery is administered by Banco Nossa Caixa. The 46% of the total amount collected by lotteries is distributed in prizes and the rest is designated to the Federal Government. The money is used for investments in health, education, security, culture, and sports.
Bingo
Bingo is a very traditional game in Brazil, that after then-President Dutra Law, it was only legalized again in 1993. The Law Zico was born to promote sports activities in the country by conceding part of the bingo houses' revenue to sports clubs and federations. In the following year, the first bingo establishments appeared in São Paulo and spread over the whole nation.
The law was replaced by the Law Pelé (1998), that not only continued to authorize the existence of bingos in the country, it allowed the exploitation of slot machines as well. But contraventions started to be reported to the Public Minister and the law was rescinded. The administration of bingos was passed to the Caixa Econômica Federal until the 2001.
After that the country present a period with no federal regulation for game and gambling houses. The bingo house owners conquered injunctions through the court in many States, which allowed them to continue their activities. In 2004 more than 1.1 thousand bingo houses were operating in Brazil, moving more than 200 million BRL per year.
Criminalization
In the same year the President Lula signed a temporary measure that finally determined the closing of bingo establishments and the usage of slot machines in the whole country. The measure wasn't approved by the National Congress, but the practice is still considered a crime.
This unfortunately isn't a barrier to bingo players. In São Paulo only, more than 600 bingo houses continue to operate illegally in the city. The game it's very popular among Brazilians. The houses have employed many strategies to avoid being caught red-handed.
All of them functions in secret places, only known by the players, while some of them opt to change regularly their establishments to avoid being tracked by the police. The Public Ministry has already received information that the police members may be involved in the bingo's schemes, receiving money in order to avoid the closure of these places.
Jogo do Bicho
As the bingo scheme presented, the illegal games in Brazil became one lucrative business for criminals. The police and politicians are involved with criminals, taking advantage of the high amount of money involved in this “sector”. With jogo do bicho, there isn't any difference, the game is an illegal betting scheme in which individuals gamble over numbers that represents animals.
It was launched in 1892 by a Brazilian Baron in Rio. He was an owner of a zoo and that's how the game got his name: game of animal. The period, in which it was created, was marked by an intense financial speculation and gambling on the stock market that resulted in a trade crisis.
To stimulate sales, traders instituted raffles and premiums to buyers. The Baron watched these new ideas and decided to create a cash prize in the zoo. The visitor who receives an animal card equivalent to the one selected by the zoo in secrecy, would win the prize at the end of the day, when one of the 25 animals would be announced.
Criminalization
Within that time, the animals started to be associated with numbers series of lotteries and the jogo do bicho started to be widely played outside the zoo. Currently, the game continues to be practiced on a large scale in the streets of major cities, even being considered a criminal practice by the Brazilian law. In 2013, the game completed 121 years of operation and 71 prohibitions by the Criminal Offences Act. The prohibitive legislation did not change the setting scenario of illegality of jogo do bicho in Brazil. According to the study of the portal BNLData, the game has an annual turnover of 12 billion BRL in bets.
Other Types of Gambling
- Online gambling: nowadays, online gambling isn't an illegal practice in Brazil, although in 2013 the Commission of Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication, and Computing (CCT) approved a law project, which aims to prohibit online gambling throughout the country. According to the text, to establish, operate or exploit through internet bingo, betting, or any type of gambling is not allowed and may result in imprisonment from two to five years, and more fines.
- Gambling in cruise ships: ships that have casinos can land in the country. Their passengers, if they were outside the territorial waters, are also allowed to gamble or play games of chance in the ship.
- Gambling in other countries: there's also Las Vegas for those who want to gamble, but for Brazilian residents, it's easier to cross the frontier to a South American country with a less rigid legislation for gambling. Another alternative is the access of foreign gambling sites that offer casino-related games. The Brazilian government doesn't have control over these sites and that's why gamblers usually play their favorite games through them.
Starting an online casino in Brazil is among the most popular topics in online gaming today, because exactly these days the history of Brazilian gambling is being created. A lot can change in the positive way in the near future. If the proposed Laws 442/91 and 186/2014 regulating internet casinos, bingo, and lotteries are finally approved by the Chamber of Deputies, a new era for iGaming will start, opening vast opportunities to local and international operators.
Legal aspects
All types of land-based gambling in Brazil were banned in 1946 and numerous casinos were closed. Although nothing was said about Internet gambling in particular, it was presumed that online sites should fall under the general rules and regulations. There have been several attempts to ban online gambling on the governmental level. For instance, in 2010 the Brazilian congress tried to pass a bill prohibiting people in Brazil to make financial transactions at online gambling sites. In 2013, the Commission of Science, Technology, Innovation, Communication, and Computing even voted on law project which would ban online gambling in Brazil. However, this and several other law projects have failed so far.
Today, positive trends are evident. The Brazilian Gaming Congress (BgC) which took place in São Paulo in 2016 showed how much local businesses and international investors anticipate a positive decision on the new gambling law projects. The country officials have estimated the potential volume of profit that the country could get from legalizing gambling and proposed a set of laws to regulate this industry. The laws should define the licensing process, casino taxation and operation rules for both, land-based and online business. With this regulation in place, international operators will hopefully have an opportunity to run legal online casinos in Brazil and accept local players.
Market
With the population of 210 million, 57% internet penetration rate, and the historic love of local citizens to various games of chance, the Brazilian online gambling market is very attractive to international operators. Although legalization of online gambling is still under question and local players officially are not allowed to participate in online gambling, the government lacks resources to control and prevent this type of gambling and players from the country have free access to international websites. Internet gaming market in Brazil is now estimated at $265 million, with more than 300 of local websites working with both USD and Brazilian Real and serving Portuguese-speaking players. 186 of those are online casinos.
According to the latest estimates, legalized gambling will be raising $17 billion a year, and online casinos will make a significant share of this volume (illegal online gambling reportedly gathers $6 billion annually).
Currencies and Bitcoin
While the national currency in Brazil is real, it is a good idea to have it alongside USD as a payment option at an online casino.
Even more attractive, however, is to offer payments in Bitcoin. Bitcoin has seen unprecedented growth in the last months in Brazil. According to the report by a reputable information resource BitValor, bitcoin trading at Brazilian cryptocurrency exchanges during the first half of 2016 reached 47 million USD, while the gold trading was 44 million USD in the same period (7 percent less).
Another factor that plays in favour of Bitcoin is that the time of credit and debit card processing at Brazilian banks could be extremely long and it may take up to 28 days for a transaction, compared to just a couple of days in other countries.
This means people are eager to make bets in Bitcoin and it shall be there among credit card payments and other standard online casino payment services, such as Skrill and Neteller.
Languages
English as an international online casino language is good to start with, but consider having a website version in Portuguese to target as many local players in Brazil as possible.
Software
Brazil Online Gambling Marketing
The software for an online casino targeting Brazilian players shall meet several important requirements besides the regular ones such as security, simple and flexible administration, effective affiliate management system, bonuses, etc. These are multi-language support and Bitcoin payment functionality, if you are to attain an advantage over your competitors.
SoftSwiss casino platform meets the above requirements and with its vast experience in safe Bitcoin payment processing, and is eager to offer their support in English or Spanish to legal online casinos starting their way on the Brazilian market.
Games
Brazilians love the game of chance in all of its varieties, from sports betting, lottery and bingo to the famous Jogo do Bicho. In the online casino, their preferences do not differ much from those of international players. Slots take the first place, followed by the card games and roulettes. The more games by world known content providers a casino features, the more player interests it serves, the better its chances for success are. With the vast choice of our own top-class games and a pool of 15 game providers, SoftSwiss can serve the interests of the most demanding players in Brazil.
Marketing
Brazil Online Gambling Markets
Since online gaming is still in the grey zone, open marketing methods such as Google Ads or TV promotion haven’t been an option so far. If the anticipated law projects are accepted and online gaming websites in Brazil are made legal, these opportunities will open up and make casino promotion easier. For now, an effective marketing strategy includes building affiliate network, placing info on the casino in the reputable online resources, pay per click campaigns, and SEO.
Brazil Online Gambling Marketplace
All in all, it is certain that the iGaming market in Brazil is very promising in its recent development, which makes Brazil an attractive option for existing or prospective online casino operators.
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How to start an online casino with SoftSwiss software