Colombia

Colombia became the first Latin American country to regulate online gambling, with Coljuegos — the state company administering the games-of-chance monopoly, attached to the Ministry of Finance — issuing online operator concessions since 2017 under Law 1753/2015. Online sports betting and horse-race betting are both regulated within this licensed monopoly, with a minimum age of 18 and KYC obligations; Coljuegos blocked over 10,000 illegal sites in 2025. A major recent development is taxation: a 19% VAT on player deposits imposed in early 2025 was, as of January 2026, replaced by a 19% VAT on gross gaming revenue. Prediction markets have no legal pathway: in late September 2025 Coljuegos declared Polymarket illegal and ordered an ISP block, citing the absence of a Colombian licence and the statutory ban on betting on electoral outcomes.

Many forms of gambling are available in Colombia. The country legalized brick-and-mortar casinos decades ago and continues to regulate the industry through modern times. Gamblers have access to a wide range of table games, sports betting options, slot machines, poker at some of the larger casinos and a national lottery.

The legality of online betting sites in Colombia was a big question mark for a long time, but new laws passed in 2016 offered much-needed clarity and set the stage for an open market. Colombia’s eGaming Act officially legalized nearly every form of online gambling to include casino games, sports betting, poker, betting exchanges, fantasy sports and more. International operators are able to apply for licenses to serve the Colombian market in a fully legal capacity.

Colombia Betting Sites

Colombia updated its gambling legislation back in 2016, when Coljuegos approved the regulation for games of chance operated over the internet, and many online betting sites have been serving the market for years. Coljuegos has now authorized a range of online operators to do business in Colombia. The earliest licensees included Wplay.co, Colbet.co, Codere.com.co, Zamba.co and Betplay.com.co; today the authorized roster is Wplay.co, Betplay.com.co, Betsson.co, Zamba.co, Codere.com.co, Luckia.co, Sportium.com.co, Rushbet.co, Rivalo.co, Yajuego.co, Bwin, Stake.com.co, Betano.co, Bingo Casinos and mryoker.co. Only the sites Coljuegos has authorised may lawfully take bets in Colombia: the regulator invites the public to play responsibly solely at its authorised sites, and online games may be offered only by companies holding its official authorisation.

A UK Gambling Commission licence does not make a site lawful in Colombia. Coljuegos keeps the official list of platforms authorised to operate legally in the country precisely so that players can tell authorised operators from unregulated pages, and it has issued 58,916 orders to block websites that operate and promote illegal betting.

Colombia’s authorised operators run local sites and take peso deposits directly, so no currency conversion is involved. To register, a player must be of legal age, open a user account on the interactive channel enabled by the operator and be domiciled in Colombian territory; after registering, deposits can be made through the means each operator enables, such as debit cards, credit cards, rechargeable cards or cash at authorised physical points.

Colombia Gambling Laws

Columbian gambling laws permit most forms of in-person gambling. Casinos are licensed and regulated under the authority of the government’s Coljuegos division. Coljuegos is responsible for overseeing the industry, issuing licenses to casinos and ensuring that all establishments meet the standards set forth in Colombian law.

Gambling in Columbia was legalized under legislation passed in 1943. Since then, casino operators have been free to offer their games to all citizens and visitors aged 18 or older. Coljuegos came into power in 2011 after the previous agency in charge of gambling, Empresa Territorial para la Salud (ETESA), was disbanded due to rampant corruption and an inability to properly regulate gaming in the country.

Bogota is home to at least a dozen casinos. Medellin is also a popular gambling destination for locals and international tourists alike. Dog racing, horse racing and a national sports lottery are also permitted under government supervision. Intralot runs the sport lottery which is offered through thousands of gaming terminals in addition to online gaming options.

Colombian betting websites were a difficult subject to properly address for years due to outdated gambling laws. Prior to 2016, existing laws made no mention of the internet and therefore left the legality of internet betting a grey area. At one point, Coljuegos issued warnings to offshore operators in 2013 that the government would prosecute anyone offering internet games to Colombian citizens.

There were two problems with the warning. First, Colombian law did not specifically outlaw online gambling so it was questionable that prosecution could even occur. Secondly, offshore gaming operators had no physical presence in Colombia and operated under the laws of their own jurisdictions. The government was limited on options in following through with its threat.

As a result, foreign gambling sites continued to accept Colombians for years without proper licensing. Colombians faced no penalties for playing online and were, therefore, able to play real money games online wherever they wanted. This situation was not tenable and eventually, the government had to act.

2016 Colombian eGaming Act

In 2013, the government asked Coljuegos to get to work drafting a licensing and regulatory framework for online gaming. Coljuegos drafted a number of proposals and eventually came up with what would eventually become known as the eGaming Act.

The eGaming Act was approved by the Colombian government in 2016 and regulators immediately went to work finalizing regulations and getting the new legal framework put in place. The eGaming Act was broadly written with the intent to give licensed operators a great degree of freedom in choosing which forms of gaming to offer players. Licensed betting sites in Colombia were given the green light to offer online sports betting, poker, fantasy sports, and casino games.

Colombian online betting law calls for a 15% tax on gross gaming revenue for games that offer at least an 83% return to players and a 17% tax on all games with lower return-to-player percentages. CalvinAyre.com also reported that licensed operators pay an administration fee no higher than 1% to Coljuegos.

Operators welcome the low tax rate, but there are concerns that some of Colombia’s general taxes will result in a hefty cumulative tax burden. Licensed operators must also operate on .co domain names, which is why the authorised roster runs sites such as Wplay.co, Stake.com.co and Betano.co; this gives the government additional oversight and the ability to enforce regulations.

Of particular concern at one time were rumors that a restriction on player pooling for online poker and betting exchanges would be enforced. Those concerns were alleviated in 2017 when Coljuegos announced it would allow licensed poker sites and exchange betting sites to share liquidity on an international basis. In other words, poker players and people betting on exchanges are able to participate with/against people from other licensed, regulated jurisdictions.

Coljuegos now runs that internet blocking scheme rather than merely planning it: it has issued 58,916 orders to block websites that operate and promote illegal betting, including 437 social media profiles promoting unauthorised bookmakers.