Online casino gambling in Brazil is currently not explicitly regulated. However, there are very serious changes on the horizon regarding the online casino regulations of Brazil – see the section on the future of Brazilian online casinos for more details.

At the moment, gambling in Brazil is regulated by a law created in 1941 and amended in 1946. With the amendment of 1946, all forms of gambling, including casino gambling, were banned in Brazil. The only legal gambling options are those explicitly legalised by a law.

Naturally, the laws of 1941 and 1946 make no mention of online casinos or any other form of online gambling. Still, as all forms of gambling not explicitly legalised are banned, this probably covers online casinos as well, at least in theory. Therefore there are no licensed and legal online casinos based in Brazil.

Fortunately for gamblers in Brazil, the authorities have not made many efforts to effectively stop online casino gambling (using foreign online casinos). It should be noted that they do not have many tools to do so either: while online casinos themselves are prohibited, there are no laws against individuals wagering on online casino sites. Players are not currently prosecuted.

This means that Brazilian players are free to choose from any international online casino sites available to them with no repercussions, at least for now. The new online casino regulation may easily change this, but for the moment, most online casinos welcome players from Brazil.

Brick and mortar casinos, along with pretty much all other forms of gambling, were outlawed in the Criminal Contravention Act of 1941 and its amendment in 1946. The main reason behind the prohibition was the amount of criminal activity intertwined with Brazilian casinos.

Originally, this ban had included slot machines as well. In the 1990s, the Brazilian government adopted a more lax stance on slot machines, and they became the most popular – and only legal – form of gambling in the country. In 2004, slot machines were briefly banned yet again, when government officials were discovered to have been part of a bribery scandal.

After about 9 months of prohibition, slot machines were legalised again, and by now there are over 100 000 gaming machines spread throughout the country. These range from simple slot machines to networked gambling kiosks, with a wide variety of electronic casino games available.

Apart from gambling halls with such gaming machines, there are no legal casinos in Brazil. Of course, as the scandal of 2004 showed, illegal casino gambling is still thriving in various parts of Brazil, but in a country of this size that is hardly surprising. The revenues from illegal gambling activities are estimated at $6.4 billion.

There are some legal ways for Brazilians looking for some action as well. Uruguay, where casino gambling is legal, is a very popular destination among Brazilian gamblers. Cruise ship casinos are another option: although the casinos must be closed when on Brazilian waters, locals are free to play in such casinos outside of the territory.

Although the aforementioned Criminal Contravention Act effectively banned most forms of gambling in Brazil, there are some types of online gambling that are still legally available within the country. Online horse race wagering is among these, as it had been exempt from the Criminal Contravention Act from the beginning.

While betting on horse races is legal, other forms of sports betting are not – at least in theory. In practice, there are several betting shops operating in Brasil undisturbed by authorities, and the national lottery of Brazil has draws based on the results of football matches as well. Currently, however, none of these betting options are available online.

The national lottery of Brazil exists because lottery is also exempt from the ban on gambling. Tickets to the most popular national lottery, Mega Sena are available online. As Brazil is a Federative Republic consisting of 26 states, some of these states have their own lotteries available online as well.

All in all, Brazilians have some local options when it comes to online gambling, but these options are rather limited. Fortunately for Brazilian gamblers, there are no laws stopping them from playing on any international online gambling sites available to them – the government has made some efforts to block such sites, but with very limited success.

Although online casinos are not explicitly regulated at the moment, an online gambling bill has been under preparation in Brazil for years now. It was expected to be passed in 2016, but the vote was delayed. There are currently two draft versions of the bill, but neither seems to be about to come into effect.

The main argument for legalising online casinos is an effort to help the country’s frail economy and budget deficit through licensing fees and taxes. Others worry, however, that the addictive nature of online casinos might actually have a negative effect on the economy.

While the online casino gambling law seems to be stuck, the Brazilian government seems to be adamant about making sure locals can’t play in foreign online casinos. The central bank of Brazil is expected to blocking payments to and from online casinos.

There are serious doubts about the expected success of these measures, as there are several countermeasures that can be taken, the most simple of which is the use of electronic wallets (all online casinos accept 3-5 digital wallets at least). Without introducing locally licensed online casinos, a ban on international ones would likely have very little effect.