Simon’s Guide to Gambling and Casinos in Bolivia

As mentioned in the introduction, casino regulation in Bolivia is quite complex. Casino gambling has been legal since 2002, after which many investors, especially from Russia, began to flock to the country to enjoy the opportunities provided by the loose regulations.

The Bolivian government decided to strike down on the casino gambling activities, and a new gambling law came into effect in 2011. The law introduced stricter regulations as well as increased taxes on casino operators and players alike. As a result, several of the country’s gambling establishments were forced to shut down. After continued efforts on the government’s part to prevent casino gambling illegal under the new regulation, the country’s largest casino and Bingo hall, Bingo Bahiti was also closed, and after a while no licensed casinos remained in Bolivia.

The 2011 gambling law also created a new authority on gambling regulation and licences, the Autoridad de Fiscalización y Control Social del Juego (AJ).* The first casino license after the purging was given to one of two remaining licensed operators, and Flamingo Casino was allowed to open in 2014. The other operator, Max Entertainment is expected to receive a land-based casino license as well in the near future.

Despite all the efforts by the Bolivian government to regulate casino gambling, they don’t seem to be concerned with online casino gambling. Currently there are no licensed casino sites in Bolivia, but there are also no laws in place preventing any Bolivian player from accessing foreign online casino sites.

Bingo had been illegal in Bolivia until 2002, but was legalised along with casino gambling. The largest casino in Bolivia, Bingo Bahiti, was actually a large Bingo hall which also offered some casino games in the forms of video machines. However, Bingo Bahiti was shut down in 2011 due to legal issues.

While Bingo is quite popular in Bolivia, online Bingo games never became widespread. The main reason for this was likely the simplicity of playing live Bingo, while Bingo Bahiti and its several franchised establishments were in operation.

Since Bingo Bahiti has been shut down, online Bingo became the most easily accessible option for Bolivian players. Although there are no Bolivian online Bingo sites, foreign online Bingo platforms are freely available.

Prior to the legalisation of gambling establishments in Bolivia, Poker games were hard to find within the country. Between 2002 and 2011, many gambling halls began offering both live Poker games and video Poker machines. However, after the 2011 gambling law, 500 such establishments were shut down, and live Poker once again became extremely rare. The freshly licensed casino, Casino Flamingo offers live Poker along with several other table games.

With the scarcity of available legal options, online Poker is the best choice for Bolivian Poker players. There are no online Poker sites licensed in Bolivia, but players are free to participate in games offered by international online Poker sites.

Sports betting was illegal until 2002 along with other forms of gambling. Since it has been legalised, some licensed sportsbooks have appeared, but they seem to have trouble competing with the previously established illegal bookmakers.

There are also no licensed online sports betting sites in Bolivia. Gamblers looking to wager on sports events should turn to international online sports betting sites, many of which accept bolivianos as a form of payment.

Traditional lottery games are a monopoly of the state in Bolivia. The national lottery is called  Lotería Nacional de Beneficencia y Salubridad. Revenues from the games serve to support sports and health programs. While the national lottery has a website where winning numbers can be viewed, there is no online version available.

With a lack of Bolivian online lotteries, the only option for gamblers are foreign online lottery sites. Several such international websites welcome Bolivian gamblers.

Bolivia’s central bank, El Banco Central de Bolivia has issued a statement saying all currencies not issued by the government are banned, including Bitcoin and all other cryptocurrencies.*

As a result, while gambling on foreign gambling sites is not prohibited, Bolivians would have a hard time trying to use Bitcoin in the country.