The long-awaited vote on the legalization of gaming in Brazil will come in February. This was confirmed after the Chamber of Deputies passed an “urgency” measure to approve the considering of a bill written by Federal Deputy Felipe Carreras that would legalize gaming, including integrated casinos in resorts, urban casinos, sports betting, bingo and horse racing, along with the Brazilian animal game, jogo do bicho. Chamber President Arthur Lira, who put together a working group in September to weigh the options, promised that each side would get to offer their views over the next two months.
Although opposition was strong from religious organizations, the urgency measure passed overwhelmingly, 293-138.
“This issue of the legalization of gaming in Brazil has been debated for a long time,” said Lira. “Whoever defends legalization will say why, and whoever opposes it will say why.”
“Legalization has to be done in an open way, with a lot of debate,” he continued. “As we discuss it, we’ll see who wants gaming to remain illegal as it is today. Everyone knows that there are casinos, bingos, slot machines, virtual bets debited from people’s credit card and paid abroad and jogo do bicho. But does it have to exist underground to continue without generating formal jobs in Brazil and without paying roughly R$20 to R$25 billion (US$4.4 billion) in taxes?”
