Portuguese Gambling Regulator Issues License to Bidluck

Published: 30/06/2020

Reading Time: 4 Min

Image: Shutterstock

Serviço de Regulação Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) is a renowned gambling regulator in Portugual. Recently, the regulator has issued a gambling license to Bidluck SA in order to initiate the working of online slots through its Bidluck.pt website.

The regulator had already issued 22 licenses before, and this is the 23rd that is granted in the sovereignty. Under this license, all online, as well as land-based casinos, lottery, bingo, poker, and sports betting are operated. This 23rd license has validity for only three years from the date of its approval. The license was approved by the regulator on May 22, 2020.

Table of Contents

iGaming Portuguese Market Reaches its Highest Revenue In 2020

The iGaming Market of Portugal crosses its one of the highest quarterly revenue this year. This Q1 revenue was found to be 69.8 million euros between January to March in 2020, which is just 47% higher than the previous year.

It was further lead by about a 60% rise in the year after year revenues in the sector of sports betting and over 56% increase from online casinos. Other gaming slots took a turnover of the initial quarter up to 70%. The other poker games saw a rise in their share of turnover up to 2% from the last quarter of 2019.

All these figures and information are drafted by Ficom Leisure that further follows the final information given by SRIJ. Ficom Leisure is a prominent advisory company of Europe that specializes in gaming and betting sectors.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, a bill was proposed in order to limit online gambling operations. The bill was passed in the Portuguese parliament that was raised by the members of PAN. Although the bill did not outline specifies of the restriction, rather it proposed a limitation on gambling practices in order to protect the citizens from harmful practices.

More about Other Portuguese iGaming License

This year in February, SRIJ has issued a number of licenses including the two that were granted to Betway. The license has enabled Betway to provide sports betting and operate its online casino in the markets of Portugal. Moreover, the nation’s Gambling Commission issued the license to Maltese based firm-Betway, GM Gaming Ltd, and enabled the operators to provide gambling through a website called Betway.pt.

This way the customers in the country can have access to a number of varied sports betting services and opportunities to experience and enjoy playing online games. Under the license, Betway also coordinates with one of the most active brands of Portuguese including Betclic, 888, and PokerStars. Furthermore, the license also enables Betway to operate in several markets of Europe such as Spain, the UK, Malta, and Denmark.

In last year, according to the survey by APAJO, many unlicensed casino operators had continued to thrive for complete three years after legal gambling was introduced. In research, it was also found that around 6% of players bet particularly via illegal and unlicensed websites. On the other hand, over 45% of gamblers found to gamble at the online sites permitted by the SRIJ.

About SRIJ

SRIJ is among one of the gambling inspection and regulation services which is responsible to look after the regulation and control of gambling practices. It supervises gambling in bingo halls, casinos, horse race betting, sports betting, and long-distance gambling via electronic or any other interactive medium.

The regulator monitors and controls the games such as Blackjack/21, Baccarat, American roulette, slot machines, and much more in the casinos. It also looks after the bingos that are operated in bingo halls and land-based casinos. It recently enabled the betting and gambling practices along with issuing legal protection framework for both gamblers and operators.