Venezuela online casinos for Real Money

You don’t have to go that far back to find a time when Venezuela was doing incredibly well. In 1997, the richest country in South America legalised gambling. However, under the woeful leadership of Nicolás Maduro, runaway high inflation, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, has ensured that virtually all land-based casinos have since gone bust. To remedy this, Maduro introduced the Petro as Venezuela’s official cryptocurrency. To encourage its use, he created the world’s first crypto-only casino.

Online gambling is also legal in Venezuela and has been since 2012. However, given the dire financial situation many Venezuelans find themselves in, precious few can afford to gamble online. Venezuela licensed two operators (located on the Isla de Margarita) in 2012, but neither of these casinos remains active. Sporadic internet access and a near-unregulated industry mean that many Venezuelans who want to bet often choose to do so at offshore casinos.

In summary, virtually all forms of gambling are legal in Venezuela. However, the country lacks the regulation and a wealthy population to properly support a gambling sector. At least for the time being. We may be painting a bleak picture of the Venezuelan gambling industry here, but that is the reality of the situation on the ground.

Venezuela’s National Commission for Casinos, Bingo Halls and Slot Machines (known locally as the Comisión Nacional de Casinos, Salas de Bingo y Máquinas Traganíqueles) has jurisdiction when it comes to handing out gambling licenses to Venezuelans. Any land-based casinos in the country (and there aren’t many left) but be located in tourism zones and attached to hotels.

Online gambling licenses are also awarded by the same commission. As touched on, only two have been officially awarded, and one of the prerequisites to obtaining a license to be affiliated with a brick-and-mortar casino in the country. Given the lack of licenses, most Venezuelans choose to bet at offshore casino sites. This is technically illegal, although, in a country where internet shortages are now the norm, there is virtually nothing the government can do to prevent you from betting.

Most forms of gambling are legal for Venezuelans aged eighteen or older. Sports betting is popular in Venezuela, but it is run by a state monopoly. The same is true of lottery games. Online poker is unregulated, while online casinos are legal, but virtually no licenses have been awarded to operators.

Venezuela’s gambling games and sites tend to be in-house affairs, so precious few offshore providers and game developers have seen fit to get involved in the sector. There are one or two exceptions, but it won’t surprise you to learn that software developers aren’t queuing up to get in the door of a market that is on the verge of collapse. Venezuelans who want to bet tend to do so at more secure offshore casinos, where the future is a lot brighter for them.

Venezuela’s online casinos accept cryptocurrencies nowadays, rather than the Venezuelan Bolívar (VES), which for all intents and purposes, is near worthless. Maduro decided to unveil the Petro, a cryptocurrency unique to Venezuela, in a bid to ignite the economy. This hasn’t really worked. Instead, Venezuelans prefer to bet using other currencies (which are a lot more stable) and primary crypto options such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and others.

Given the collapse of the Bolívar, it won’t surprise you to learn that Venezuelans tend to keep money in other currencies. This means that they also use payment methods located offshore, such as e-wallets, cryptos and prepaid vouchers. This gives them more bang for their buck in Venezuela but is also ideal when they are playing at foreign sites.

Players are taxed on whatever they win in Venezuela, and it won’t surprise you to learn that the taxes are heavy, at 34%. Winnings from horse racing and lotteries are taxed at a lower rate of 16%, but even this is a notoriously high tax rate in a country with such a poor population. To get around this, Venezuelans tend to play at crypto casinos, where they can expect a touch of anonymity to protect them.

It is not often we will say this, but there is practically no reason to play at Venezuelan licensed casinos. Firstly, they aren’t really any. Secondly, the tax rate is insane. Finally, you will get literally no purchase trying to use Venezuelan Bolívars, as the currency is essentially worthless. Therefore, we can’t blame Venezuelans for heading to offshore casinos. While unregulated, it isn’t technically illegal for them to do so, either. The Venezuelan authorities don’t prosecute players for doing so. Internet outages are a problem, though.

Plenty of offshore casinos will accept Venezuelan bettors, but they will almost always refuse to accept the VES currency. The Petro isn’t accepted outside Venezuela, either. Venezuelans who choose to gamble at foreign casinos will want to use alternative currencies/cryptocurrencies where possible. Gameplay in Spanish should still be easily possible in the country. The level of regulation at foreign sites (even Curacao-licensed ones) is superior to what you’ll get in the limited array of Venezuelan-licensed casinos out there, too.