Bet Entertainment Technologies Ltd. is the second firm to receive a gaming licence by Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos to provide interactive gaming services in the country’s recently regulated market.
Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos announced that Licence 002 has been issued after Betclic Everest Group became the first online sports betting operator to enter the country’s market.
Bet Entertainment has already went online with its Portuguese website (bet.pt) and is operated by a popular developer and provider SBTech. The gambling operator said in a statement that the company has worked hard on securing its “place of reference” in the local market.
The Portuguese lawmakers introduced new regulations for the country’s online gambling industry in 2015, however, it took quite some time before the first online sports betting license was issued. When Betclic’s website went live in May this year, Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos said that more licences would be granted very soon.
It was also reported that Portuguese players would not be able to play online poker before at least November this year. According to several sources, the delay in issuing poker licenses is due to shared liquidity issues.
Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos said last year that shared liquidity for online poker would not be permitted within Portugal’s borders, however, the regulator has changed its position on the matter and is now considering the move to permit international liquidity sharing.
Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos currently reviews two online poker-related proposals and once the regulator decides on the best option for the provision of online poker in the country, the selected proposal would be further considered by the European Commission which should make its decision no sooner than three months which means that the first online poker license would not be issued before November 2023.
