Grupo Pefaco’s Winfil casino has begun accepting cash bets in Porto Alegre, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul following a judge’s preliminary injunction that Military Brigade police could not seize its 460 slot machines.
Authorities said the casino violated Brazilian law by offering real money casino games. The country is currently in the midst of a series of gaming reforms, which could eventually lead to allowing several casinos to operate legally.
Lawmakers are lining up behind competing bills in each house of Brazil’s legislation. The Chamber of Deputies reportedly plans to bring its legislation to a vote sometime this month.
The casino opened October 19 in a soft opening, without cash. Rogério Dell’Erba Guarnieri, a partner, commented, “We always said that we would only open if we were 100 percent legal and this moment arrived. During the period in which we worked without income, we were able to preserve the jobs of all contracted employees.”
When the machines were seized, several Winfil executives were also detained until the signed documents.
However, Judge Túlio Martins, president of the communications council of the Rio Grande do Sul Court of Justice, clarified that the decision did not authorize he house to take cash bets, only that the police were not allowed to seize the machines.
A critic of the government and an admirer of the judge’s decision, attorney Marcelo Bruno Moraes Nascimento commented to Games Magazine: “Nobody understands this obsession with the state’s repressive moves in closing gaming houses alleging criminal contravention,” and praised the judge’s decision: “A brilliant decision, extremely courageous and technically perfect. A decree-law of the time of the dictatorship was not approved by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and can no longer be used to maintain the monopoly of the Caixa Econômica Federal on the bets in our country.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said it is reviewing the decision—which it considers to be mistaken. Rather than violating the order by seizing machines, the police have decided to merely seize the cash inside of the machines.
