is it illegal in costa rica to have a “casino” that has live games for online but no players there betting?

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Question by trapt246: is it illegal in costa rica to have a “casino” that has live games for online but no players there betting?
They have blackjack, roulette, and bacarat all are online and use live dealers and a live roulette wheel. But I read that the only legal casino’s in costa rica must be located at/in a 3 star or better hotel and all others would be imprisoned. Also read that the game of roulette is outlawed in Costa Rica? Any info. on this? Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by N P
I wouldn’t trust it. Costa Rica is very corrupt

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2 users responded in " is it illegal in costa rica to have a “casino” that has live games for online but no players there betting? "

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David Merry said, in November 30th, 2011 at 10:57 pm

Operating an online casino in Costa Rica is perfectly lawful providing the casino holds a current online gambling license and complies with the regulations upheld there.

The key anwser to your question is to remember that a land based casino and a live online casino are 2 different things – you can’t walk into a live online casino and place a bet as it is simply a studio which provides the live service to online users, therefore any rules which may apply to land based casinos, such as the 3 star hotel rule, may not apply in the studio. These operations fall well within the gambling law so there is no need to worry on that part.

In answer to the last commenter – Over the years there has been a few rogue casinos that have come out of Costa Rica, however you shouldn’t paint all of them with the same brush. Our company headquarters are based in London however we also operate a very fair and safe live online casino licensed in Costa Rica, this has better payout rates than a lot of our competition based in ‘safer’ locations.

tico times directory said, in November 30th, 2011 at 11:21 pm

Gambling has been an ongoing problem, but it is not what you are asking, it is government wanting a piece of the action. Years ago when the US cracked down on online gambling, hordes of bookies/online betting etc ran to CR. For a while San Jose was the online betting/casino capital of the world.

http://ticotimes.com/costa-rica/gambling-online-betting-casino-bookies

http://ticotimes.com/costa-rica/gambling-tax-income-bill

http://www.ticotimes.com/costa-rica-gambling-betting-casinos/

CR is open to just about all gambling (read the above articles) and it does not need to be a 3-star hotel/establishment, take a look at the BLUE MARLIN, it is nice, but no 3-star place.

However, a few years back the government did set some rules of who, what and where a gambling house/casino could operate and has implemented a licensing fee that, while not highly expensive, it has many feeling the license is completely useless and not enforced. In otherwords, anyone with money can get a license.

The two main reason why to do not see a lot more gambling house is 1) the expense it takes to open one up. I heard around $500,000 USD, so that is a huge investment for anyone and 2) Many gambling and online establishments are moving out of CR, because they are afraid that the government will somehow make a law to get a piece of the action.

For years, the biggest online gambling house in CR was Bodog, who 4 years ago moved to Antigua, where the government was more lax and many more have move to other places like Panama.

And yes, roulette is legal in CR and the government runs bets, bingos and lottery through the Junta de Protección Social, the organization in charge of Costa Rica legal gaming.

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