The first online casino license has been issued by Portugal under the country’s newly regulated online gambling market.
The local gaming regulator, Servico Regulacao e Inspecao de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ) announced on Monday, 25th July 2016, that Estoril Sol Digital Online Gaming and Products Services, SA had been issued an online games of chance license allowing it to operate using the domain Estroilsolcasinos.pt.
Estoril Sol already operates three land-based casinos – Casino Lisbon, Casino Estoril and Casino da Povoa – which reported revenue of an amount of €182m last year, which is over two-thirds of the total casino market value. Stanley Ho, a Macau casino icon who founded the SJM Holdings casino business, is the chairman of Estoril.
Estoril’s new online site has already gone live and is licensed to offer players Roulette, Blackjack and Slots. The new online platform is powered by Gaming1, a leading Brussels-based provider.
Estoril is the third online operator to be licensed by Portugal and follows the launch of French operator Betclic Everest’s sports betting site Betclic.pt in May of this year which was followed by Malta-based Bet Entertainment Technologies Ltd’s online sportsbook earlier this month.
Brick-and-mortar casino operator Solverde and state lottery operator Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa have also expressed interest in launching online casino sites. However, due to the government’s delay in seeking European Commission approval for liquidity sharing with other EU member states, Portugal may not welcome its first licensed online poker operator until November at the very earliest.
