Portugal’s online gambling market may see new licensure in March, according to reports emanating from Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos headquarters.
The Portuguese online gambling market has resembled a spaghetti western for some time now.
The doors of the once vibrant online gambling halls are hanging from their rusted hinges; tumbleweed rolls down the dusty streets, the good guys have gone, and the undesirables have pitched up a few tents in the hope of grabbing the attention of those that are stuck.
It’s been more than six months since the likes of PokerStars, Full Tilt, and William Hill decided to shut up shop and leave the Portuguese market. It wasn’t a Bridges of Madison goodbye, more of a ‘see you soon’ sort of farewell.
The Portuguese had work to do. They needed to build a new online gambling regime. Those doing business at the time felt it would be sensible to leave and let them get on with it, vowing to return when all was shiny and new.
According to Pokerfuse, that might happen very soon – March in fact. The poker news site picked up this fresh green shoot of growth from a Portuguese website called PokerPT, where it was reported the Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) were busy putting their software through the final rounds of testing.
While it’s great news for some, there are others who won’t bat an eyelid. In Dec, Portugal’s SRIJ Director and Head of Online Gambling, Manuela Bandeira, brought tears to the eyes of every Portuguese online poker player, after announcing, out of the blue, that the new online poker regime would be a ring-fenced one.
A month later and the Associação Nacional de Apostadores Online (ANAon) – a group established to protect the interests of online gamblers in Portugal – announced that their members would boycott all new sites offered licenses under the new regime. The move was in protest of Bandeira’s decision to follow the blind mole rats leading the charge in France, Italy and Spain.
According to reports, at least, 11 operators applied for licenses back in November.
