Illegal gambling platforms operate freely in the country, study reveals.
Illegal betting platforms continue to operate while authorized sites prepare to go offline. The provisional measure signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this Friday (September 25th) prohibits new deposits in licensed companies and mandates that their websites and applications be deactivated starting this Tuesday (October 6th).
Veja magazine's report recorded on video bets placed on a platform identified as irregular. The test exposes a loophole in the market: while authorized operators comply with the restrictions, clandestine websites continue to receive money normally.
Veja magazine deposited R$20 into one of these platforms, played Tigrinho, and saw its balance drop to R$0,27 in less than half an hour. Tigrinho, the popular name for Fortune Tiger, is a virtual slot machine that is on the list of online games included in the ban. In each round, the player pays, sees the result in seconds, and can play again immediately. The game gained visibility on social media, where influencers were investigated for promoting illegal platforms with misleading promises of winnings.
The report also recorded open bets for the friendly match between Brazil and Australia, played this Tuesday (September 29th). One of the websites displayed different possible results and the amounts to be received if the bet was correct. At another point, upon returning to the homepage of a platform, the team received a bonus offer of R$ 0,30. To multiply the amount by five, they simply had to make a new deposit.
Size of the illegal market
The scenario uncovered by the report reflects a significant clandestine presence that predates the prohibition. A study by LCA Consultoria Econômica, commissioned by the Brazilian Institute for Responsible Gaming (IBJR), estimated that illegal operators concentrated between 38% and 44% of bets and moved between R$ 32,9 billion and R$ 43,3 billion per year.
A survey by the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) highlights the size of the challenge for enforcement. On Saturday (September 26), the entity detected for the first time 1.689 domains classified as illegal betting sites. In 1.197 of them, it confirmed a betting page was operational. In the interval between Thursday (September 24) and Saturday (September 26), 4.189 domains were detected, of which 1.418 had active pages.
ANJL provided Veja with examples of addresses that it classifies as irregular;
⇒ h2bet.games
⇒ qgbet.site
⇒ jonbet.top
⇒ betao.top
⇒ esportiva.win
⇒ vaidebet.top
⇒ betfast.games
⇒ kingpanda.win
⇒ sorteonline.site
⇒ novibet.site
⇒ bigbet.site
Some of these websites use names similar to those of federally authorized operators, such as H2bet and Novibet, but do not include the .bet.br extension, which is required for companies licensed to operate in the country. According to ANJL, this similarity can confuse bettors looking for these brands.
Criticism of the government
Bernardo Cavalcanti Freire, legal advisor to ANJL and partner at the Betlaw law firm, states that the measure's scope is insufficient. "Combating the illegal market is necessary, but it cannot justify a measure that transfers the cost of previous state inaction to the regulated market," he declared. Freire argues that the government should have intensified its oversight of clandestine platforms while authorized companies were still operating under federal regulations.
The government says it intends to block illegal websites, remove apps, and restrict the payment methods used by these platforms. Until these actions are implemented, the clandestine websites will continue to receive deposits.
