BetClic Everest first sports-betting operator to move into new Portugal

lic Everest has become the first operator to launch in Portugal’s regulated online sports-betting market.

The operator says on its website that its Portuguese offering is primarily for the Portuguese market, but is available for all Portuguese-speaking players.

Sports-betting appears to be the only vertical on offer at the moment, though online poker and casino are also regulated, but that requires a separate licence, as does horseracing betting and bingo.

The launch comes after the Council of Ministers approved legislation last year that opened the market up to international operators and ended the monopoly of government-owned charity entity Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa and the new online gambling regulation was implemented in June.

Troika, a body made up of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, asked Portuguese authorities to regulate the industry in 2011.

Licences issued by the state are valid for three years and are renewable.

The basic tax rate is 15% of gross income from gambling games and 8% of gross income and commission from odds-type sports betting.

PokerStars was among the operators to withdraw its services from Portugal after the new law came into effect.