Portugal gets its second licensed online sports betting operator

a-based Bet Entertainment Technologies Ltd has been announced as the second online operator to be awarded a license under Portugal’s new online gambling licensing regime.

Bet Entertainment will offer its services to Portuguese customers on the www.bet.pt domain, which operates on a platform provided by SBTech.

The Portuguese regulator, Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), granted the first license to offer regulated online games to French operator Betclic Everest Group at the end of May.

With Portuguese lottery operator Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa and the land-based Solverde casino having reportedly expressed interest in launching online operations, Bet Entertainment has said that it “intends to secure its place of reference in the Portuguese market”.

Portugal introduced its new legislative framework for online gambling in June 2015, which led to the withdrawal of operators including Betfair and William Hill.

PokerStars and Full Tilt will have to wait a while longer to re-enter the country, with the current SRIJ plan to share liquidity with other regulated online poker markets requiring the assent of the European Commission and a three to four month period to allow fellow EU members to comment on the proposed regulations.