🇲🇴For operators · Tax, marketing & compliance
Macao gambling regulation for operators
Casino gaming is licensed by concession (at most six, land-based, to 31 December 2032). Online, only SLOT's sports-lottery betting on its official website is legal; online casino and poker are crimes to run or promote under Lei 20/2024.
Product by product
Macao has no online licence: casino gaming runs on at most six land-based concessions awarded by public tender, and the only internet betting is SLOT's sports lottery.| Product | Status | Licensed by | Tax | Key restriction | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online casino and slots | Banned | None; no interactive-games concession has been awarded | Not applicable | Running, promoting or organising online gambling in Macao without authorisation is a crime of 1 to 8 years, wherever the systems are installed (Lei 20/2024 art. 7). How the market gets round it: the Judiciary Police record proxy betting, where a person in a licensed casino live-streams a table to customers in the Mainland and bets on their instructions (cases of 9 July and 22 August 2026, sent to prosecutors). Nearly 60,000 illegal gambling websites were blocked in the first half of 2025. No offshore site was read from a Macao connection for this edition. | Promoting it is a crime (Lei 20/2024 art. 7) |
| Online poker | Banned | None; poker is a casino game for the land-based concessions only | Not applicable | Online poker is online gambling under Lei 20/2024 art. 7, with the same proxy-betting and website-blocking picture as online casino | As for Online casino and slots |
| Sports betting (online and retail) | Limited | SLOT, under its non-exclusive sports-lottery concession, to 5 June 2027 | Not published in the instruments cited | Internet bets only on SLOT's official website (Despacho SEF 38/2019); any other online betting is a crime. The police's June 2026 campaign says illegal operators lure young people into 'outside football' betting through social media and messaging apps | From 1 January 2027 only in SLOT's establishments and on its official website |
| Lotteries | Limited | SLOT (instant lotteries, to 5 June 2027) and Wing Hing (Chinese lotteries, to 31 December 2026) | Not published in the instruments cited | Each runs under its own concession contract; an unauthorised lottery is a crime (Lei 20/2024 art. 8) | From 1 January 2027 only in the concessionaire's establishments and on its authorised official website |
| Casino (land-based) | Limited | Six concessionaires, by Chief Executive award after a public tender | 35% special gaming tax plus 2% and 3% contributions | At most six concessions, running to 31 December 2032; 6,000 tables and 12,000 machines across all of them; no tender open | Only in the gaming areas of the casinos |
Coming up1 Jan 20271 January 2027
What changes when the Advertising Law takes effect?
Lei 7/2026 bans gambling advertising in any form from 1 January 2027. The exceptions are the gaming establishments and authorised official websites of concessionaires running mutual bets, interactive games or public-offer operations; the gaming areas of the casinos; and conventions and exhibitions of gaming machines, equipment and systems. Casino concessionaires get no website exception. Breaching the ban costs MOP 5,000 to MOP 80,000.
Regulator and player protection in Macao
Regulator
Application authority and enforcement body
Self-exclusion scheme
DICJ self-exclusion and third-party exclusion from all or some casinos
How players exclude themselves; what it covers is in the player guide
Mandatory RG controls
No limit imposed on players
Deposit limits or reality checks the law requires operators to offer
Which casinos & betting sites are licensed in Macao?
See the full official list of licensed operators and their authorised domains.
Heads-up for operators
5 items · last change 10 Nov 2026
Lei n.º 7/2026, the Advertising Law (Boletim Oficial n.º 19/2026, 11 May 2026), enters into force on 1 January 2027. Its article 19 bans gambling advertising in any form, with three exceptions: advertising by the concessionaires authorised for mutual bets, interactive games or public-offer operations, in their gaming establishments and on their authorised official websites; advertising by the casino concessionaires in the gaming areas of their casinos; and advertising at conventions and exhibitions of gaming machines, equipment and systems. The official-website exception is not the casinos': theirs is limited to the gaming areas. As of 10 November 2026 no gambling bill is before the Legislative Assembly. The Specific Businesses and Activities bill (approved in general on 16 October 2026) would make the DICJ register prize draws and require internet cafés to filter gambling websites. SLOT's concession runs to 5 June 2027, renewable by agreement; Wing Hing's Chinese-lottery concession to 31 December 2026.
Casino concessions end
The Chief Executive may exceptionally extend them by up to three years in total.
Advertising Law in force
Lei 7/2026 bans gambling advertising in any form, with exceptions for casino gaming areas, the mutual-bet concessionaire's establishments and official website, and gaming-equipment exhibitions.
Show all 5Show fewer
Wing Hing Chinese-lottery concession ends
As extended by the contract of 9 December 2025.
Specific Businesses and Activities bill
Approved in general on 16 October 2026; would make the DICJ register prize draws and require internet cafés to filter gambling websites. Not law.
Not yet in force: drafts, laws adopted without a start date, and sections of the law still to be commenced. An item moves to the timeline below on the day it takes effect.
Getting licensed: no online licence route
Why there is no online licence, and what exists instead, are in the licence guide
No private operator can be licensed online. The legal basis, what the law allows instead and what an operator or supplier can do are set out there.Read the licence guide
Gambling tax: 35% special gaming tax, plus contributions of 2% and 3% of gross gaming revenue (land-based casinos)
By vertical
- Casino (land-based concessions)35% of gross revenues of the operation of games, plus 2% and 3% of gross gaming revenue as contributions, which the Chief Executive may reduce or exempt (Lei 16/2001 arts 22, 27).
- Sports lottery (SLOT)Outside Lei 16/2001; the tax or royalty rate in the SLOT concession is not published in the instruments cited.
Detail
Casino concessionaires (land-based) pay a special gaming tax of 35% of the gross revenues of the operation of games (Lei 16/2001 art. 27), monthly by the 10th, plus two contributions on gross gaming revenue: 2% to a public fund for cultural, social and other purposes and 3% for urban development, tourism promotion and social security (art. 22(1)(2)-(3)). The Chief Executive may reduce or exempt the two contributions, not the 35% tax, for public-interest reasons such as widening the market of customers from foreign countries (art. 22(3)); Regulamento Administrativo 54/2022 and Despacho CE 216/2022 base any reduction on the gross gaming revenue from foreign customers, and fix no percentage.
- On top
- a 5% final tax withheld on commissions paid to game promoters (art. 29), the annual premium in each contract (Wynn and SJM: MOP 30,000,000 a year fixed, plus MOP 300,000 or MOP 150,000 per table and MOP 1,000 per machine), and the Complementary Tax on profits (art. 28).
- The tax of the sports-lottery concession (SLOT) is not published in the instruments cited.
Macao's gambling tax next to neighbours and nearby markets
Each bar is the headline operator tax as that country's own page states it, for Macao, the nearest other markets (marked “nearby”) that tax gross gaming revenue. Hover or tap a bar to see what it is made of.
Which foreign licences Macao accepts
Macao recognises none of these 8 foreign licences.
BannedMalta (MGA) · United Kingdom (UKGC) · Curaçao (CGB) · Alderney (AGCC) · Kahnawake (KGC) · Anjouan · Isle of Man (GSC) · Gibraltar (GRA)
Not recognised: running, promoting or organising online gambling in Macao without authorisation is a crime of 1 to 8 years (Lei 20/2024 art. 7), whatever licence the operator holds elsewhere and wherever its systems are installed.
Bonus rules: welcome bonuses restricted
Inducement ads: Channel-restricted
No law has a bonus-specific rule. A bonus message is gambling advertising, so from 1 January 2027 it may appear only where Lei 7/2026 allows gambling advertising, and it must state its terms.
What the player can claim
- Welcome bonus
- Restricted
- VIP schemes
- Restricted
- Loyalty schemes
- Restricted
- Cashback
- Restricted
- Online casino and poker have no legal route; online betting only with SLOT.
No statute regulates welcome bonuses, free bets or wagering requirements. A bonus from an unlicensed online site cannot be lawfully advertised: promoting online gambling without authorisation is a crime.
What the operator can advertise
- Channels off-limits
- Television and radio
- Outdoor
- Online, except the mutual-bet concessionaire's official website
- Social media and influencers
- Penalties
From 1 January 2027: MOP 5,000 to MOP 80,000 for breaching the gambling-advertising ban, and MOP 2,000 to MOP 50,000 for an advertising ambassador or live-streaming professional (Lei 7/2026 art. 41). Promoting online gambling without authorisation: 1 to 8 years (Lei 20/2024 art. 7).
A casino concessionaire that breaks the gambling-publicity rules of Lei 16/2001 art. 42-A is fined MOP 600,000 to MOP 1,500,000.
An advertisement for a promotion must state its duration, any limited quantities, how to take part, mandatory extra costs and the conditions to meet (Lei 7/2026 art. 6(5)); misleading advertising is banned (art. 7).
Advertising: limited
Until 31 December 2026 the general advertising law (Lei 7/89/M art. 8(1)(b)) bars advertising games of chance as the essential target of the message, and casino concessionaires may disclose gambling information only inside the gaming areas of their casinos (Lei 16/2001 art. 42-A(1)). From 1 January 2027 the Advertising Law, Lei 7/2026, bans gambling advertising in any form (art. 19(1)), with three exceptions: the concessionaires authorised for mutual bets, interactive games or public-offer operations, in their gaming establishments and on their authorised official websites (in practice SLOT, the sports-lottery concessionaire); the casino concessionaires, in the gaming areas of their casinos; and conventions and exhibitions of gaming machines, equipment and systems. Promoting unlicensed online gambling is a crime under Lei 20/2024 art. 7.
| Channel | Status | Vertical & Platform Split (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Ads | Restricted | From 1 January 2027 online gambling advertising is banned except on the authorised official website of a concessionaire running mutual bets, interactive games or public-offer operations; the casino concessionaires have no online exception. Platforms must restrict or suspend illegal advertising once they know of it (Lei 7/2026 art. 12(3)).1 |
| Meta (FB/IG) | Restricted | Social networks and apps are listed advertising media; whether a concessionaire's own social media account counts as an authorised official website is not stated in art. 19, and no instruction from the economic services bureau (DSEDT) on it has been issued.1 |
| TV & Radio | Banned | Television and radio are listed media, and the ban on gambling advertising 'in any form' has no broadcast exception (Lei 7/2026 art. 19); before 2027 the same follows from Lei 7/89/M art. 8(1)(b) and Lei 16/2001 art. 42-A(1).124 |
| Sponsorships | Restricted | No rule mentions sponsorship, sports kit or stadiums. The 2027 ban covers gambling advertising in any form and its exceptions do not name sports venues; whether a sponsorship message is gambling advertising has not been settled.1 |
| Digital OOH | Banned | From 1 January 2027 outdoor gambling advertising is banned outside the casinos' gaming areas and the other art. 19(2) exceptions; electronic screens are listed media. Until then, Lei 7/89/M and Lei 16/2001 art. 42-A(1) keep it inside the gaming areas.124 |
Channel rules for Macao reflect each platform's published policy and the sources numbered in each row (listed under Methodology & sources). Verify with the local regulator and your ad-platform account manager before launching.
How Macao enforces against unlicensed operators
Enforcement is criminal and police-led: the Judiciary Police pursue illegal online gambling, proxy betting and unauthorised currency exchange under Lei 20/2024, and the DICJ supervises the concessionaires and applies the administrative fines.
- 29 October 2024: Lei 20/2024 entered into force. Running, promoting or organising online gambling without authorisation is punished with 1 to 8 years' imprisonment, wherever the systems are installed (art. 7).
- First half of 2025: the Judiciary Police, through a three-party mechanism with the DICJ and the gaming companies, blocked nearly 60,000 illegal gambling websites (Secretariat for Security assessment of 19 September 2025).
- July and August 2026: proxy-betting cases in casinos, where a person streams a table to customers in the Mainland and bets on their instructions, were sent to the Public Prosecutions Office as illegal online gambling.
- June 2026: the Judiciary Police's World Cup campaign warned that betting on illegal 'outside football' is itself a crime.
Enforcement cases in Macao: 4 recent
Material regulator actions, court rulings, and high-profile fines from 2016–2026 against operators serving Macao. Each entry includes the technical failure and a one-line read-across for other operators in the market.
- August 2026
Persons running proxy betting from a Cotai casino (not named)
Grey-MarketCase sent to the Public Prosecutions OfficeLive-streaming casino play to remote customers over an instant-messaging app and betting on their instructions was treated as illegal online gambling under Lei 20/2024 art. 7.
Read-across: Remote play through a person inside a licensed casino is prosecuted as online gambling, a crime of 1 to 8 years.
- July 2026
A proxy bettor in a NAPE casino (not named)
Grey-MarketCase sent to the Public Prosecutions OfficeThe same proxy-betting pattern for customers in the Mainland.
Read-across: Concessionaires' tables are the point of attack; the police act case by case.
- 2025-H1
Illegal gambling websites
Grey-MarketNearly 60,000 websites blockedThe Judiciary Police, through a three-party mechanism with the DICJ and the gaming companies, blocked them in the first half of 2025; the assessment does not name the legal basis.
Read-across: Unlicensed sites aimed at Macao are blocked in practice even though no law cited gives a blocking power.
- October 2024
All operators
LicensingLei 20/2024 in force (29 October 2024)The illegal-gambling law makes running, promoting or organising online gambling without authorisation a crime, wherever the systems are installed, and repeals Lei 8/96/M and 9/96/M.
Read-across: A foreign licence is no defence; directors answer jointly for a company's fine.
Licensed operators: ~6
As of 10 Nov 2026, approximately 6 operators hold an active licence in Macao. Size your entry against this base before committing capital. Check them yourself on the official DICJ register, which lists each licensee and its authorised domains.
Notable licensed operators
Wynn Resorts (Macau)
Galaxy Casino
Venetian Macau
MGM Grand Paradise
Traps operators hit in Macao
Specific operational risks that have caught new entrants in this market. Each item is country-specific. Generic gambling-ops issues (KYC, RG tools) are not included unless they have a local twist.
The casino market is closed until 2032
There is no licence to apply for. At most six casino concessions exist, awarded by the Chief Executive after a public tender; the six in force run to 31 December 2032 and no tender is open.
Online gambling is a crime to run or promote
Operating, promoting or organising online gambling in Macao without authorisation is punished with 1 to 8 years, negligence included, whatever licence you hold elsewhere and wherever your servers are (Lei 20/2024 art. 7). Directors judged responsible answer jointly for a company's fine (art. 19(1)).
Sources3
Promoter (junket) rules are strict
A promoter needs a licence from the Secretary for Economy and Finance, works with one concessionaire only, is paid only by commission (capped at 1.25% of net rolling, no share of casino revenue) and may not give gaming credit, which only a concessionaire may grant.
The 2027 advertising ban has narrow exceptions
From 1 January 2027 gambling advertising is banned in any form. Casino concessionaires may advertise only in their casinos' gaming areas; the official-website exception belongs to the mutual-bet, interactive-game and public-offer concessionaires. Fines run from MOP 5,000 to MOP 80,000, and MOP 2,000 to MOP 50,000 for an advertising ambassador.
Sources1
Casino images on gaming websites need permission
A concessionaire may not allow images of its casinos on websites meant to promote interactive games without the Government's authorisation (SJM contract cl. 94(3)).
Sources9
Timeline: rules in force
- 2 Jun 2026
SLOT concession extended
To 5 June 2027, renewable by agreement.
- 29 Oct 2024
Lei 20/2024, illegal gambling crimes
Online gambling without authorisation becomes a crime of 1 to 8 years; Lei 8/96/M and 9/96/M are repealed.
- October 2024
Law Criminalizing Online Gambling Enacted
The 'Law on Illegal Gambling Activities' (Law No. 20/2024) comes into force, creating the specific criminal offense of illegal online gambling.
Source: 13
- 1 Jan 2023
Six concessions begin
The six casino concessions awarded in the 2022 tender run to 31 December 2032.
- 22 Jun 2022
Lei 7/2022 rewrites the casino law
At most six concessions of up to 10 years, MOP 5,000,000,000 capital, a new sanctions chapter.
- June 2022
Gaming Law Amended for New Concession Period
Law No. 7/2022 amends the 2001 gaming law, setting the stage for a new 10-year concession period, increasing the operator tax to 40%, and reforming junket operations.
Source: 14
- 4 Feb 2019
Internet betting rules for the sports lottery
Despacho SEF 38/2019 sets the rules for bets at betting centres, by telephone and via the internet.
- 2012
Lei 10/2012, casino entry
Entry and gaming in casinos barred below 21; the DICJ's self-exclusion and third-party exclusion for up to two years.
- 2001
Lei 16/2001, casino gaming
The legal regime of casino games: concessions, the 35% special gaming tax and sanctions.
Operator myths vs reality in Macao
Common assumptions about gambling licensing that turn out to be wrong in practice.
- MythWe can apply to the DICJ for a gaming licence.
- MythAn MGA or Curaçao licence lets us accept players in Macao.Reality
No. Running, promoting or organising online gambling in Macao without authorisation is a crime of 1 to 8 years, whatever licence you hold elsewhere and wherever your systems are installed.
Sources3
- MythPromoters still share casino revenue and give credit.
- MythFrom 2027 casinos can advertise on their own websites.Reality
No. Lei 7/2026 gives casino concessionaires the gaming areas of their casinos only; the official-website exception belongs to the concessionaires authorised for mutual bets, interactive games or public-offer operations, such as SLOT.
Sources1
Markets that work like Macao
Compared on what our records hold for each country: whether online casino, betting, poker and lottery are licensed, state-run or banned, the licensing model, what the operator tax is levied on and its band, how most advertising channels are treated, and how foreign licences are treated. A point we hold for only one of the two countries counts for nothing.
- JapanChecked
Online casino and poker banned; betting limited; lottery licensed; licensed market; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly banned.
- AzerbaijanChecked
Online casino and poker banned; betting limited; licensed market; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly banned.
- IsraelCheckedTunisiaAI overview
Online casino and poker banned; betting limited; lottery licensed; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly banned.
- LiechtensteinChecked
Online casino and poker banned; betting limited; licensed market; most ad channels restricted.
Methodology & sources
The research behind our Macau coverage
Counted across every Macau page, not this page alone.
compiled 10 Nov 2026
11
official websites
regulators, legislatures, courts
140
pages cited
specific documents, not homepages
247
sourced data points
each traced to the instrument
Across every Macau page on this site: players, operators and the licence guide. The research report behind them cites official sources: the law, the regulator, the gazette, the courts and each platform’s own published advertising policy. Page sections not yet rewritten from the report may cite other sources.
The same research as a 91-page Macao report: every one of the 201 checklist questions, each answer cited to the instrument behind it.
Request the Macao reportOur Deep AI Scan took Macao through all 201 questions of our regulatory checklist, from 96 official documents, read on 10 Nov 2026. Our research team then traced every figure on this page to the document and sentence that states it. The full research report is due to go to our compliance team. Where a fact rests on a press report or a law-firm summary rather than an official document, the page says so.
Documents cited on this page
- 1Lei n.º 7/2026, the Advertising Law (Boletim Oficial n.º 19/2026, 11 May 2026)
- 2Lei n.º 7/89/M, the general advertising law in force until 31 December 2026 (Boletim Oficial)
- 3Lei n.º 20/2024, the law against illegal gambling crimes (Boletim Oficial n.º 44/2024)
- 4Lei n.º 16/2001, casino gaming (republished by Despacho do Chefe do Executivo n.º 121/2022), DICJ
- 5Secretariat for Security: assessment of the gaming industry's effect on public security, first half of 2025 (19 September 2025)
- 6Judiciary Police: proxy-betting case of 9 July 2026 (press release, 14 July 2026)
- 7Judiciary Police: illegal online gaming case of 22 August 2026 (press release, 25 August 2026)
- 8Judiciary Police: 'prevent illegal football betting' campaign, 9 June 2026
- 9DICJ: concession contract between the Region and SJM Resorts, S.A., 16 December 2022
- 10Lei n.º 16/2022, concessionaires, game promoters, collaborators and management companies (DICJ)
- 11Despacho do Secretário para a Economia e Finanças n.º 90/2022, promoter commission cap (DICJ)
- 12Lei n.º 7/2024, credit for casino gaming (DICJ)
- 13Source
- 14Source
- 15Despacho do Chefe do Executivo n.º 136/2022, the 2022 public tender (DICJ)
The 10 documents this page relies on most
- Lei n.º 16/2001 (Regime jurídico da exploração de jogos de fortuna ou azar em casino), republished in full by Despacho do Chefe do Executivo n.º 121/2022 (text as altered by Lei n.º 7/2022)Law
- Regulamento Administrativo n.º 26/2012 (supply and requirements of gaming machines, equipment and systems), DICJ reference copyLaw
- DICJ, Requisitos Técnicos da Máquina de Jogo Electrónico (EGM), versão 2.0, com efeitos a partir de 1 de Setembro de 2021 (PT)Regulator
- Lei n.º 16/2022 (Regime da actividade de exploração de jogos de fortuna ou azar em casino): promoters, collaborators, management companiesLaw
- Lei n.º 7/2026 (Lei da publicidade), BO n.º 19/2026 (I Série), 11 May 2026, pp. 14-49Law
- Ordem Executiva n.º 67/2018 (Regulamento das Lotarias Desportivas: Apostas no Futebol)Law
- Lei n.º 20/2024 (Lei de combate aos crimes de jogo ilícito), BO n.º 44/2024 (I Série), 28 Oct 2024, pp. 2211-2222Law
- Concession contract between the Region and SJM Resorts, S.A., 16 Dec 2022 (BO n.º 50/2022, II Série, 2.º Suplemento)Regulator
- Lei n.º 10/2012 (restrictions on entry, work and gaming in casinos), DICJ reference copyLaw
- Regulamento Administrativo n.º 55/2022 (regulamentação da Lei n.º 16/2022)Law
Also cited on this page
- Despacho do Secretário para a Economia e Finanças n.º 38/2019 (Boletim Oficial n.º 5/2019): bets at betting centres, by telephone and via the internet
- Boletim Oficial n.º 23/2026, II Série: SLOT concession amendment of 2 June 2026
- Regulamento Administrativo n.º 54/2022, reduction or exemption of the 2% and 3% contributions (DICJ)
- DICJ: concession contracts page
- DICJ: list of game promoters (updated 29 October 2026)
- Social Welfare Bureau (IAS): hotlines
96 documents in all. Request the full research report for every source, answer by answer.
Looking for the player guide?
For consumer-facing information about gambling in Macao (tax on winnings, where to play legally, self-exclusion options), see the Macao player guide.
Disclaimer. This page reflects the law as we understood it on 10 Nov 2026. Rules change: always check the current position with Direcção de Inspecção e Coordenação de Jogos (DICJ, Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau), which supervises casino gaming and the lotteries; the Chief Executive awards the concessions after a public tender, and the Secretary for Economy and Finance issues game-promoter licences. We are not a legal adviser.