Costa Rica Gambling Websites

The Central American country of Costa Rica is well-known for a number of things. A tolerant style of government, diversified goods and services, and environmental sustainability just to name a few.

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It’s also famous in the gambling industry for its relaxed attitude towards online gambling operators in the region, despite having very little in the way of specific legislation to deal with them.

In Costa Rica, it’s illegal for residents to gamble online. Plus, it’s illegal for the people to gamble at all on games that have any random outcome. However, according to Costa Rican law, the physical location of an online gambling operator’s server isn’t where gambling actually takes place.

Therefore, it’s legal for companies to offer online gambling services from Costa Rica, providing they don’t offer them to residents of the region.

Over the last 30 days, casino resorts in Costa Rica have been available starting from $78, though prices have typically been closer to $167. Price estimates were calculated on. LeoVegas Casino. Licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, LeoVegas is a multi-award-winning. Shop in Costa Rica and ask for your money. However, you should remember that a number of respected gambling sites still operate out of Costa Rica. It’s a beautiful country with a low tax rate and limited business-killing regulations. Not every gambling site in Costa Rica is there to take advantage of the licensing situation.

You can find more information on the gambling jurisdiction of Costa Rica below.

Licensing in Costa Rica

Due to the lack of specific online gambling legislation in Costa Rica, it’s relatively easy for an operator to establish itself in the jurisdiction.

A data processing license is needed; the requirements for which include having a physical office located within Costa Rica. There are authorized consultants in the region which offer assistance in obtaining such a license.

Due to a large number of gambling sites basing themselves in Costa Rica, an internet gaming license was introduced.

However, there’s no real regulation in place, and online gambling operators based in Costa Rica have a lot more freedom in what they can and can’t do.

Because of the lack of regulation in this jurisdiction, it doesn’t appear on the white-list of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. As such, gambling sites based in Costa Rica cannot market their services to UK residents.

The Future of Costa Rican Online Gambling Legislation

Costa Rica Gambling Websites Website

In 2013, the region began to move towards a more regulated environment. Plans to establish a gaming control board were announced and the Finance Ministry outlined drafts for regulatory practices.

At the time of writing nothing further has developed.

Costa Rica has a healthy gambling industry in the real world, but the country is best known as the place where online betting sites go to get licensed. Costa Rica is attractive in that regard thanks to its stable government, adequate infrastructure, relaxed gaming laws and low tax rate. Several hundred online casinos, sportsbooks and poker rooms are headquartered out of Costa Rica for these very reasons.

Best Costa Rican Betting Sites

The country’s relaxed gaming laws are also somewhat of a thorn in the side of governments who attempt to prohibit online gambling. Costa Rica has almost zero regulations for sites licensed in the country. This makes it a major destination for operators interested in pursuing “off limits” markets such as the United States.

Costa Rican betting sites are free to accept customers from every country in the world except one: Costa Rica. Any operator with a license is required to block access to locals. Locals, on the other hand, face no such restrictions. If you live in Costa Rica and want to gamble online, the world is open to you.

Costa Rican Gambling Websites

Even though Costa Rica is home to hundreds of local betting websites, these actually aren’t the best for locals. First of all, these sites aren’t even supposed to accept locals. Secondly, these casinos mostly cater to the US market. This means they use deposit methods designed for the United States, offer their services primarily in English and only accept the US dollar.

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So on this page we have a list of websites that are more suited for ticos. These sites are all headquartered in foreign nations but they are legit nonetheless. I have only listed sites on this page that are registered and licensed in the UK or one of its whitelisted jurisdictions. It may seem odd to recommend sites from other parts of the world when there are so many right here in Costa Rica, but gaming laws rarely make sense. Just be glad the government doesn’t attempt to block access to online casinos like so many other countries do.

You can deposit to most major gaming sites in colones but you cannot keep your account balance in colones. What happens is your deposit is automatically converted to some other currency such as the US dollar or Euro. When you withdraw again, your account balance is exchanged back into colones before hitting your bank account.

The easiest way to make a colon deposit to a Costa Rica betting site is to get an account with an e-wallet service. E-wallets are linked to your local bank account and act as virtual wallets for your money. You can use these services to process transactions to and from most large gambling websites.

Costa Rica Casino Hotels

Neteller: Neteller has long dominated the e-wallet service for online gambling. It was one of the first such services to cater to gamblers and poker players back in the early 2000s. The company is still going strong to this day and even has a regional office in Costa Rica. Read more here.

PayPal: PayPal serves 203 countries including Costa Rica. If you’re not familiar with the name, PayPal is the largest online banking service in the world. It is used by millions of customers to shop online, send money to friends and even make deposits to gambling sites in licensed countries. Read more here.

Skrill: Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) is yet another e-wallet that works in the same basic manner as PayPal and Neteller. If you have any trouble with either of the above options, Skrill should take care of you. Read more here.

These are just three of the most common deposit methods found at large betting websites. You can be sure to see more options when you log in to your account. Some sites accept certain prepaid debit cards and cash transfers services in addition to e-wallets. These other methods will come in handy if you don’t have a bank account or would feel safer depositing with cash.

Costa Rica Gaming Laws

Costa Rica’s gaming laws address the brick-and-mortar casino industry only. They regulate where casinos may be located, how many tables they may have, what types of taxes they must pay and so on. The official rule of law states that casinos may only be attached to hotels with at least sixty rooms and rated three stars or higher.

But if you ever visit Costa Rica, don’t be surprised when you see all kinds of small gambling parlors stuck between shops in downtown San Jose and other locations. These places openly advertise their wares despite not being attached to hotels. In some places, the gaming laws act more as suggestions than actual hard and fast rules.

Casinos in Costa Rica are prohibited from serving free alcoholic drinks to gamblers, allowing anyone under 18 to enter and allowing anyone under the obvious influence of alcohol or drugs to gamble. Again, these rules are treated more as suggestions in some places.

Costa Rica Online Gambling Licenses

Current gambling laws do not address the internet at all but Costa Rica has nonetheless become a major licensing jurisdiction due to its lax laws, low taxes and well-educated local work force. Getting an online gaming license in Costa Rica requires very little investment and very little personal information – which is important for anyone operating a site that caters to Americans.

Because the country has no licensing system for internet betting, companies wishing to enter the market must instead get a “data processing license.” This costs roughly $5,000 USD and that’s all that’s needed. There are no extensive background checks or software audits like you see with some other gaming jurisdictions. Costa Rica is kind of the Wild West of online gambling.

What’s interesting is there aren’t actually as many crooks operating out of Costa Rica as you’d think. The industry does a decent job at self-regulating because word spreads so quickly on the internet. Sure, there are bad operators in the country, but not nearly as many as you would expect in a place with such loose gaming laws.

There are two other advantages to setting up shop in Costa. One is there are no special gaming taxes like you see in many other countries. Two is even better: income earned overseas is earned tax-free. Only income earned inside Costa Rica is subject to the income tax, and Costa Rican law considers online gambling to take place at the location of the person making the bets.

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Government officials hinted in 2013 that they were interested in pursuing a more formal licensing procedure for the online gambling industry. This would include implementing new regulations, auditing potential licensees and basically making itself a more legitimate licensing authority on the world stage of internet betting. They haven’t mentioned anything since then, so we’re just waiting to see what happens next.