Panamanian online casinos for Real Money

Panama is renowned as a provider of gambling licenses. However, that’s not all. Gambling in the Central American country has been legal since 1886. Until 1997, it was only state-run operators that were permitted to cater to players. In 2002, Panama took steps to open its country to online casino gambling, too.

The Online Gaming act (2002) states that online gambling is legal in Panama. There isn’t much in the way of regulation when it comes to online casinos, something which backfires a bit. However, land-based enterprises and brick-and-mortar casinos are regulated to ensure that they agree with Panama’s rather loose interpretations of gambling law.

It is possible for Panamanians (including the many expats and tax dodgers that live there) and tourists alike to gamble in the country, but only at land-based sites. Online gambling sites in Panama are not permitted to accept players from the country. The irony in this is staggering. In short, Panama will license casinos to cater to players in other countries (even if those countries don’t permit their residents to gamble) but won’t allow their own players to join those sites. This is just another reason why so many players feel quite strongly about Panamanian licenses and casino sites in general.

The Panama Gaming Control Board has long been known as a provider of gambling licenses to betting sites. However, with licenses costing as little as $40,000 and a validity period of seven years, they aren’t quite highly respectable licenses. Moreover, the Gaming Control Board in Panama doesn’t regulate casinos. They simply offer licenses. Because of this, Panama-issued gambling licenses aren’t particularly valued. Any license is better than no license, but even then, you still need to look hard at what a Panama-licensed casino is offering.

As a tax haven, there has been plenty of negative press relating to money laundering and organised crime (in relation to gambling) concerning Panama. Cheap licenses and no corporate tax are other reasons that casinos flock to Panama for a license. However, it is often only the dubious, small-scale or scam casinos that try this method. Most others know that Panamanian licenses aren’t worth much to players, so they seek the services of the licensing authorities in Curacao, in Europe or beyond.

Panama-licensed sites are amongst the biggest offenders when we look at rogue, blacklisted, and scam casinos. In the early 2000s, many Panamanian licensed casinos were home to immense money laundering operations. In recent times, this may have switched over to cryptocurrency and Bitcoin betting sites. We strongly suggest that any casino player take a second look at their site’s history and services before deciding to play at Panama-licensed casinos.

Betting on bingo in Panama is legal and has been since 2002. Many Panamanians take full advantage of that. Similarly, poker has also been legalised. Sports betting is also a popular pastime, while Panama does have lottery games that you can bet on. Panamanians tend not to play casino games at sites licensed in their country, but those that opt to play at offshore sites do love a crack at slots and RNG table games. Live dealer games don’t seem to be a hit with Panamanians, but cryptocurrency casino games are.

Panama is home to many businesses that want to avoid corporate tax. However, few of the major casino software providers have offices out there. Doing so would put them in hot water with licensed European casinos, which is where many of those software providers do their most business, and in some cases, are based. As a result of this, you won’t find many software providers either originating in Panama or based in the Central American country.

Any online casino that is licensed out of Panama is naturally forbidden (by its own licensing authority) from catering to Panamanians. You simply won’t find any Panama-licensed casino accepting players from the country, which is nothing short of baffling.

However, rival licensing authorities tend to get their own back. The Government of Curacao and other licensing bodies do this by accepting players from Panama, or rather, some of the casinos licensed by them choose to do so. If you are based in Panama and want to gamble at online casinos, you have little recourse but to sign up at non-Panamanian betting sites.