Colombian online casinos for Real Money

Colombia has tolerated (although they never legalised) gambling halls ever since it gained independence from Spain in 1810. However, it wasn’t until 1991 that Colombia first legalised casinos and gambling rooms. When it did so, they were the immediate plaything of the state, run as a monopoly. This led to corruption and criminality, so a further change was made ten years later.

In 2001, the newly established Gambling Commission (Coljuegos) was established to run things properly. All land-based gambling establishments immediately came under the jurisdiction of this new authority. Despite the presence of a state-run monopoly, some other gambling businesses were allowed to set up shop, and the model has proven so successful that it is now being copied by many South American states.

2001 also saw another major change. The Colombian government decided that online gambling would be tolerated (though not specifically legal) that year. This, too, created a few problems, and these wouldn’t be rectified until 2016 when the eGaming Act was published. The first gambling license was awarded to the Italian lottery brand GTECH, and others have followed. Since then, bingo, instant win games and online scratch cards were made legal in 2021. All these games are regulated by Coljuegos.

Colombians are not supposed to venture to offshore casinos to play. However, the Colombian authorities don’t crack down on this as much as you might imagine. Therefore, Colombians can do so without being punished. However, given the flexible nature of the South American country’s laws and its abundance of betting sites, we do recommend locally regulated sites over dubious offshore ones.

All forms of gambling are now regulated by Coljuegos. Established as a new licensing and regulatory body (after the previous one was riddled with corruption), Coljuegos is the model for all South American gambling commissions and one of the most respected in the world. They have strict regulations that operators must follow, and these are predominantly designed to keep players safe.

It is possible to venture out to offshore casinos but doing so means you’re outside of Coljuegos’ jurisdiction. If you choose to play at international casinos, you’re going to need to ensure that any site you play at it is equally as well licensed and regulated as Coljuegos-approved casinos. There are a few licensing bodies which can do that, such as the UKGC and MGA, but most foreign sites accepting Colombians are licensed out of Curacao, where the regulation offered is far less than what Coljuegos provides. There are still state-run monopolies in Colombia that offer gambling games, but even these are subject to Coljuegos’ jurisdiction.

Colombians love to have a punt on all sorts of gambling games. Many players favour football betting, and much revenue is raised from these games. Poker is also a particularly big game in Colombia, with several notable players coming from the country. It is worth pointing out that legal players (18 or older) also like lottery and bingo-style games.

Slots and traditional casino table games can be played in Colombia, and they have their followers, too. More recently, live dealer titles began to take off and have proven popular with gamblers in the South American country. One of the only major game providers to come from Colombia is Rivalo, and they mainly cater to casinos based in the country.

Colombian casinos (those licensed by Coljuegos) are ideal for bettors based in Colombia. Oddly enough, they don’t exactly prohibit access to players residing in other countries, though. They do only cater to players who speak Spanish and require the use of the Colombian peso. However, this friendly nature seems to work both ways, with many offshore casinos accessible to Colombians.

Any international casino that accepts Colombians will also accept the Colombian peso, or at least the US dollar, offer gameplay in Spanish (and English) and be generally open to accepting players from other parts of South America to boot.