Portugal has issued the first online casino license in terms of the country’s newly regulated online gambling market.
On Monday, 25th July 2016, Portugal’s local gaming regulator, Servico Regulacae e Inspecao de Jogos do Turismo de Portugal (SRIJ), announced that Estoril Sol Digital Online Gaming and Products Services, SA had been issued with an online games of chance license that will allow it to operate using the domain Estroilsolcasinos.pt.
Estoril Sol currently operates three land-based casinos, namely Casino Estoril, Casino Lisbon and Casino da Povoa – which reported revenue of €182m last year, which is more than two-thirds of the total casino market value.
Macau casino icon and founder of the SJM Holdings casino business, Stanley Ho, is the Chairman of Estoril Sol.
Portugals new online casino site has already gone live and is licensed to offer Slots, Blackjack as well as Roulette. The new online platform is powered with software from leading Brussels based provider, Gaming1.
Estoril is the third online operator to be awarded a license by Portugal and follows the launch of French operator Betclic Everests’ sports betting site Betclic.pt in May of this year and Malta based Bet Entertainment Technologies Ltd’s online sportsbook earlier this month.
State lottery operator Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa and brick-and-mortar casino operator Solverde have also shown an interest in launching online casino sites in Portugal.